Everyone draws

Drawing is a task that everyone does on a regular basis. When you write down your name, or write a note to someone, all the little lines that you make are merely drawings. Isn't it funny how a very scribbly written note can still tell you something as much as a very neatly written one? Is it the content that is important or how it is delivered? If we look at speech as an example, one word can mean many different things depending on how it is said. Can the way a word is written change the meaning of the word? I think that it can. Many people don't bother with how they write more than they do with what they write. As students of drawing, I feel that we have the privilege of exploring this medium. Some may think that this idea is leaning towards graphic design or illustration to be expressing with lines rather than explaining with them, but I would say that a drawing or a series of drawings that need to tell a story needs to have a degree of expression on top of good explanation. That would be combining good technical skill (explaining) with good creative skill (expressing). In the beginning of anyone's art (drawing) training, the technical skill is often the focal point of the process in learning. What is the technical aspect of learning drawing? What is the creative aspect? Many students seem to have the right idea when it comes to the creative aspects of drawing because they draw what they think they see. And with that, try their best to make it look identical to the subject. When the drawing is finished though, it often does not look much like the subject. This happens not because we are horrible at drawing, but not so good at looking and correctly analyzing what we see; simplifying reality and adapting those simple shapes and forms as lines on the page. Because everyone can draw lines. Drawing is a task that everyone does on a regular basis. But, our vision and mind just don't challenge those lines enough. When we go to extra life drawing and go do cafe sketches, we are challenging our lines and through more practice of that, slowly we will gain more and more control over our lines. Until one day our struggles will lean toward what kinds of lines to use rather than where to put them.