What makes drawing tricky, and what makes drawing simpler? (3/5)

Now, when I was starting out sketching and even now quite honestly, I bumped into many things that make drawing more tricky.

I want to call them out so that you can be aware of them, before explaining some of the ways that we can make this much, much simpler.

Impatience

First up is impatience. Don't set a pace that is unsustainable.

If you've never watched people practising Tai Chi, their movements, over time, become second nature.

Their bodies anticipate the movements, and they naturally move more gracefully as they repeat those very same movements.

This slow repetitive movement is the basis of some martial arts. The movements to overcome an opponent are typically much faster. However, by first slowing them down and then gradually accelerating them, they become part of the learning process.

Using pens on paper isn't so far removed from that as you might think.

Consider writing letters of the alphabet when you were a child. Through practice, your handwriting would continue to improve. I'm not so sure that mine ever did, but my drawing certainly has. So practise a little patience.

Worrying about the next thing

My advice is to concentrate on what you're doing and not worry too much about the next thing in your sketches.

I can't use more than one pen at a time, so it's best to focus on what's being done on the page.

Editing as you go

Editing as you go tends to impair progress and you'll find yourself constantly restarting, never really getting anything completed.

Complete it, and then assess it if it could be better to see it as a whole. Then you can apply your learnings to the entire piece.

Writers / Sketchers Block

We've seen in this series that blank paper (for some of us) is akin to writers, or perhaps sketchers block.

I like to plan out what I will draw. If it is a few elements on a page together, consider choosing a letter to represent the image you're going to draw. Then take a scrap piece of paper and put those letters on the page to plan where they're going to go.

This planning saves enormous time later. Is the flow = "A" then "B" then "C" then back to "A"? I might consider drawing a circle for that.

Or if it's "A" then "B" then "C" then stop? Maybe a straight line is best?

Remember we're not creating art. We're using this medium as a vehicle for a message or a story or an idea or a concept or even a solution perhaps. It is visual but it's not art.

Curiosity (no cats were harmed).

Let's now focus on what makes drawing simpler. Number one is curiosity.

I found that when I think of, or just look for analogies, or icons in adverts or logos, I tend to get inspired to create something different.

Imperfect is perfect in the eyes of the audience

Next up is starting with circles. Circles are simple, and you can put words in them, or around them to infer themes and then connect them together to other things.

This keeps things simple, expanding on the point I made previously about editing as you go. What you draw isn't meant to be perfect. Anyway, perfect is subjective at the best of times and I would argue that what you see as imperfect is often perfect (in the eyes of the audience).

They see the apparent "imperfections" as characteristics unique to the piece. Your message authentically created, and honestly delivered but overly perfect risks the audience viewing your skills as so far removed from theirs. This can alienate them so they instantly become reluctant to put their pen on the paper with you or try to co-create something together with you.

Mark the page!

Making a few marks on the page is important in overcoming the blank page problem that I mentioned before.

Despite the pen being permanent on the paper, it's a lot less permanent than a tattoo. Remember it's just a vehicle to share your ideas and to convince others to move forward with you on their journey.

Have a go

The final point here is to have a go. What's the worst that could happen?

I suppose you might be thinking, the worst any audience could do, is to laugh at you?

I used to be concerned about that, but it occurred to me that perhaps they're just enjoying themselves, find the approach novel, and are not being critical.

I know my own barriers to being open-minded are almost non-existent when I'm laughing or happy. If nothing else, there's really just much more chance for the experience to be more memorable for you and for them (in a good way!).

Wrapping it all up

Consider what we've learned here.

Number One - Drawing is the same as thinking, so consider starting with a circle and the basic visual elements which allow anything to be drawn.

Number Two - Combine them to make more things like objects, people, charts, maps timelines, flowcharts or even equations.

In the next of this series, we'll be limbering up for big exercise where we bring together all of the elements that we've covered so far.

We'll cover how journalists construct communication that encourages the reader to engage. We'll touch on visual storytelling as a route to connecting with and convincing an audience of your message and will reveal even more on how we engage the eye in a different and better way.

Until then.

V