A Different Approach To Drawing

Where does the power to create come from? What is the role of the senses? What happens when you don’t depend on the critical judgment of the mind?

Last fall, Swami Matananda, who has a degree in Fine Arts, picked up a book[1] that sparked her interest in taking a different approach to drawing. It all began with a fine-tipped pen, a mug and a willingness to trust. She allowed her sight and hand to draw the mug by putting pen to paper, eyes slowly following the lines of the object without looking at or assessing the drawing that was emerging.

Swami Matananda shares her experience:

“In order for me to concentrate and for my hand to follow what I see, my mind has to slow down.  I find this very relaxing and rewarding.  By not looking at the image on my sketch page but instead concentrating on the object I am drawing, my experience is more intuitive versus rational. And because I have no idea what my drawing will look like, my expectations are very different. My experience is that my mind and perception slow down so that my eye and hand are coordinated and my hand can then follow what my eyes see.

“This is a different way to draw and a different way to reflect on what comes up in my day. Since last October, I have drawn in my journal pretty much every day. The practice is a good fit for me and feels right at this time. What I find so interesting is that I am very accepting of each of my drawings, no matter what they look like. There is a simplicity in this acceptance.

“Being creative doesn’t mean being an artist. This practice is a freeing way to lessen the judgment of my mind (when I use my eyes less to see what I drew and more to see what I am seeing), to learn about myself, to exercise acceptance and to experience the reward of sustaining a regular practice.”

DIRECTIONS
  1. Gather your paper and pen. Do not use a pencil or erase any of your lines.
  2. Find the object you will draw. I recommend a mug— simple but dimensional.
  3. Put your pen on paper, look at the upper left-hand side of the mug. And then really slowly move your eye around the upper back edge of the mug’s rim. Just look at the mug and let your pen move across the paper slowly. Don’t look down! If you change your mind about a line as you draw it, simply draw a new one next to it.
  4. Keep going, following along each edge of the mug, the outside and the inside, working very slowly.
  5. When you finish, observe what you have drawn and more importantly, what you saw. The goal is to create a connection between your eyes and your hand, so that they are trained to see and draw together.
  6. You can try a few other objects if you want to keep going. Danny Gregory recommends moving on to a chair, a table and then a person. As you work with the method, you can draw whatever symbol is important from your day.

I really like this approach because it forces my eyes and my mind to slow down and to see in a different way. I also like the surprise of discovering my drawing when I finally look at my sketch page.

Enjoy your creativity!

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[1] Danny Gregory. The Creative License:  Giving yourself permission to be the artist you truly are. (New York, Hyperion, 2006)

mug
Mug
cat
Forest Kitty
cabinet
Medicine Cabinet
person
Self Portrait

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