Some while ago, hidden in a dusty corner of my parents’ loft, I found an old trunk. In it my adoring mother had hoarded bundles of letters and drawings I made as a child.
This is a very early example. I remember drawing it.
Child's Drawing. Perspective.
The house was not hard to draw. Door, windows, chimney and there you were. But how on earth did you draw the trees at the side of the garden?
Somehow the finished artwork didn’t look quite right. I couldn’t work out why.
Of course, it never occurred to me simply to walk down the garden path and actually look at the trees!
Daft, really, but then I didn’t know what I know now.
I was unaware that there are two kinds of drawing.
One is from the inside out. Scribbling the symbols we have in our heads for the things we see in the world.
The other kind of drawing is from the outside in. Setting down the patterns of light that actually enter our eyes.
The first kind of drawing is child’s play. The second we have to learn. Doubtless that’s the reason why we so often have it dauntingly dinned into us:
“In order to learn to draw, you must learn to see.”
True. Very true. Yet it might be even truer to say that we have to UNlearn to see as we normally do.
After all, whether you’re an artist, a scientist or a gardener, in order to recognise a tree, you have to match the mass of green you see with your inner idea of a tree.
Since the process is unconscious, it’s all too easy to mistake what you expect to see for what’s actually there.
Thanks to a bit of input from reality, I do believe my mind’s eye has finally got its vegetation the right way up. Whether I see a world that’s really there is anybody’s guess.
Tags: art, creative, drawing, learn, teaching, visualisation
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So glad my post struck a chord, Bean! …Oh dear, I think that in writing here I have accidentally deleted your comment. I will try to get it back, but don’t have much hope that this will be possible. Thank you for your message anyway!
Oh what a great drawing! Makes me think of my daughter in kindergarten. They were supposed to draw a bear going around a rock. Her bear went over the rock I think and the teacher was going on and on about how it was wrong. I said look, if it’s not going through the rock, then it’s going around it. Sheesh.
Anita
Well it’s probably quicker to go over the rock than all the way round so I’m sure it was a very clever bear! I don’t think the teacher should have gone on and on about its being wrong, anyway. That only puts people off drawing – sometimes for life.
Love your “Child’s Drawing. Perspective.” – enjoyed reading your story!
Thanks for reading and commenting Kat.
Beautifully written, Valerie. I enjoy your writing style and your unique perspective. Keep up the good work!
Thanks Viki. I learn a lot from your blog so thanks for that too.
An absolutely delightful read, Valerie! I LOVE this and will share it with all my girls and grandkids.
What a treasure you found. I married just after college graduation, and while I was on my honeymoon, my mom — packing up to move to another city — threw away everything in my bedroom except the furniture. Gone was my class ring. Gone the prom dress I designed and sewed with the help of an adult friend. Gone the drawings, my favorite childhood books, all mementos of my growing up. (My dolls and early masterpieces had been pitched years before of course.)
As a result, I have boxes and boxes of treasures from my three girls.
I laughed out loud at your descriptions of how we see and draw. They are right on target. Somehow we do have to align our inside-out with our outside-in.
(I do hope this is going into the carnival.)
You are the delight, my friend.
I am sure you had a wonderful honeymoon and marriage to make up for losing those mementos, Barb! Hang on to those old boxes for your girls though.