Learning to See

One of my first drawings
It's a business card idea fro my future farm
"Queen of Spades"
Clever, right?

So I remember in 4th grade thinking I was bad at only two things: drawing and minute math.

All along I've assumed I was defective in hand control or coordination. That my art skills lagged because of my flubby fingers, or general awkwardness.

Nope. It wasn't my hand. It's my eyes.

It's weird that you could live so long on Earth and somehow be oblivious to something so fundamental as sight. But I'm serious. When I started learning how to draw I realized I've been moving through the world in a virtual reality of my own making.

And so is everybody else.

Because you draw what you see. And if you can't draw. It's because you can't see. Your brain hasn't learned to draw. Your hand is more or less ready to go.

It's a weird philosophical/physical phenomenon. In a very literal way, you assume you see things, but you don't actually see them. You only think the wheel is a circle. From this angle it's a pretty narrow oval actually. And you know you have five fingers, but sometimes you only see parts of three or four.  You only think the clouds are white.

Look, they actually have room for brains!

And this is why its valuable to learn new things. Because before I decided I was unhappy with drawing stick figures, I had no idea that artists had some kind of super x-ray vision, and, it was a superpower that could be taught...

The hand from Peter's statue in St. John Lateran's Basilica
I'm particularly proud of this one.

 ...gradually at least. I'm equal parts amazed at my progress and deeply embarrassed. On one hand, it's incredible how much better I've gotten in a just a few hours of practice. On the other, I'm probably on par with some 10 year olds. But comparison really is the thief of joy. So I decided to share a few of my sketches anyway.

via My Daily Six

I highly recommend Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain, if you're at all interested in psychology and would like to not completely embarrass yourself next time you play Pictionary. The first week doing her exercises I felt like the Grinch hugging Cindy Lou Who. Oh my heck, drawing can be taught!

Seriously, you can learn too.

-Stephanie