It's Natural

One of our unique skills as a species is to record the environment around us via 'mark-making'. This can be through paint, ink, stick, charcoal, or any other number of media. this skillset is inherent in each and every person, from birth. It has been a part of humanity for countless years, since we were taking burned sticks and writing on the walls of our caves. More recently, as children we all drew pictures, we all scratched images into the dirt with sticks. At some point, we're told we 'aren't that artistic' or we just don't have that 'gift'; I believe this is a lie.  Every one of us still possesses the ability to express ourselves visually, in a way that spoken words or writing cannot accommodate. 

As a point of inquiry: How many of you draw/sketch/doodle on a regular basis?

I'd guess it is less than a quarter.

We all have it in us, it's natural. we've just been told/taught to suppress it.

This evening, while enjoying a weekly ritual with my cousin I decided to test my theory. I challenged her (she is such a good sport) to draw an object that was right in front of us; this time it happened to be a salt shaker.

Here are her results:

1st Sketch: Using an observation method. She was allowed to look at the subject and sketch as much as she wanted. Timed for 5 minutes

2nd Sketch: this was using the Blind Contour Method. She was not allowed to look at the paper as she sketched the object. Timed for 2 minutes

This exercise was completely unexpected for her. It just came to me as we sat, enjoying a pint or two. Her results are quite good, both sketches have their qualities. It is remarkable that given method and time differences, the subject remains recognizable and quite similar.

I also took a shot at the salt shaker:

In my opinion this just goes to show, we have an amazing capacity to express ourselves; my question is:  why do we continue to limit ourselves to those methods that we feel most 'comfortable' with?

Get a pad of paper and a pen...draw everything you see, you may surprise yourself.