Ah, the joy of leaving the complexities of life behind so we can relax in the studio to… um… draw the complexities of life.
Students like Max (shown above) enjoy learning to draw things that tend to be marvelously complex. Last Thursday, Max distilled the essence of pine cones on a branch through keen observation of patterns, contour edges, and color.
It can be intimidating to sit across the table from an object we are are about to spend hours drawing. 😐 But if we take a few minutes to deeply study our subject, trepidation gives way to fascination. Through patient observation we begin to see shapes and patterns instead of the complex object in front of us.
Fascination with our subject then becomes meditation as a simple abstract design flows through the drawing hand onto paper. This arrangement of lines, shapes, and patterns eventually leads us to capturing the complexities of natural and manmade things we draw. Simple, right?
Founder and drawing coach at the Scribbles Institute, Rob helps adults and kids learn basic drawing skills for work, school, and enjoyment. He is the author of a number of how-to-draw books.