Drawing as meditation

Drawing is the practice of seeing, not looking; it is the practice of focus and observation.

Drawing is also the practice of trying to understand what you are looking at. That might sound weird but the act of drawing has the effect of slowing down time and slowing your thinking process too. 

Think of some object or building that you see, use or pass every day. Maybe it is your motorbike, maybe your favourite chair or the local bakery. Now imagine stopping and drawing that thing for an hour.............................. 

 As you analyse its shapes and proportions you may start to see it differently. As you try to describe the textures and tones by making different marks with your pencils, you may begin to feel differently about it. 

As you draw, you may begin to discover how you actually feel about this thing or what kind of relationship you have with it. That may also sound weird, but these are the possibilities that open up to you as you draw.

Drawing is most rewarding when you are experiencing a state of flow; of existing in the moment. Flow is that state we achieve when we are completely immersed in an activity and are focused on that alone.

Through this immersion into the act of drawing regularly, of creating drawing after drawing, the artist soon forms a trail of understanding. Just pick up an artist’s sketchbook and walk through the searches, detours, dead ends, and discoveries to see that drawing is a personal journey more than a technical production. John Berger, author of 'Ways of Seeing' confirms, “A drawing is an autobiographical record of one’s discovery of an event – seen, remembered or imagined.”

The human being is a sentient conduit that transforms the subject into an arrangement of lines which are as much about feeling as about representation. What you draw is what you feel; this is very revealing and enlightening. It can be frightening and frustrating too.

Warning - drawing will reveal your weaknesses. Any honest endeavour will do that whether you are trying to learn to play the flute or to improve your golf swing. 

Trust that this is a good thing.
Know that it is only revealed to you.
Believe that you are heading for a better place because of it.

• The discipline of drawing is a painfully wonderful practice. Over time, it has the potential to create more than great works of art; it can create great artists. Lashing ourselves to the sheet of paper, through a humble pencil, locates our focus on the transference of visual information between the drawing and that which is being drawn. We become the bridge, reaching across the expanse and bringing back, recording with each stroke what has been seen. Doing this enough times will change you. I am not waxing hyperbolic when I say that drawing is a transformational activity. Navigating the space between the drawing and the thing-which-is-drawn means we form a relationship with both. This cultivates an outer and inner awareness of the world we inhabit. Through drawing, we don’t just notice – we see.    Tim Parsley

Our drawings, then, are the evidence of our looking. They are the trail left by our journey. Or, as Peter Steinhart puts it in his book, The Undressed Art: Why We Draw:

“It is not the finished drawing that counts. It is the time spent outside oneself, of which the drawing is merely a record, the ticket stub in your pocket after the concert.”

Faces

There are as many ways of executing a drawn portrait as there are faces to be drawn.

In this selection of drawings you will see a range of styles and techniques being employed.

Carmen Segovia has used line and soft shading to zoom in on the contrast between this man's smallish eyes and his very full lips. the hat and the clothes are unfinished but give some clues about his ethnic origins which add character and personlity.

This charming self portrait by Cathy Johnson reminds me a little of  Leonardo da Vinci's drawings of young renaissance girls.

David Hockney has used pencil and a think ink  wash for this portrait. 

I really like this strong, graphic portrayal of an egg farmer. The whole face is framed by the jet black beard and the hat band.

Julian Opie's portraits are hing in the National Portrait Gallery in London. For eyes he always uses a single black dot. One of his most popular pieces of work was a Blur album cover.

Paolo Gaiviria has drawn an interesting background and included some bold text to complete this portrait 

Isn't this great! The bold shading and bright highlights really bring out the sunshine in this picture

Another Picasso portrait that shows again that less can be more.

So, unleash your personality and develop your own style of drawing for portraits. 

The power of negative spaces

Lesson number 2 in the short drawing course focuses on negative spaces. 

We have to learn to see negative spaces and the exercises you will engage with will enable you to switch your thinking. Gradually, you will start to see all the negative spaces and forma around you and the world will, once again appear different. You are beginning to see with the Creative Eye.

One of the masters of Negative Space was an architect who was instrumental in designing the modern world we now live in. Le Corbusier discovered new ways to use space and shadow to give buildings, interiors and furniture new dimensions. Many of these images will seem very normal to you, but he was shaping a new aesthetic that would shake the world out of the ornamented designs of the 18th and 19th century.

See what you think of these and then have a look at the way space has been used in your own home, office block , local shopping centre or school.

What is your drawing style?

The act of drawing puts you in the present; only in the here and now. It is a jealous companion that will not allow you to think about what happened yesterday or what you might do tomorrow.

It will not permit halfheartedness. Whether you are a doodler or Dali, everyone who attempts drawing does it seriously and with good intention. Children sometimes go deaf when they draw such is their concentration.

Children like to share their drawing activities with others but eventually they become competitive and some give up because of that. 


The way we draw is like the way we write, the way we cook, the way we dance, the way we make love, the way we are with our family, with our friends.

If you are passionate, so let your drawing be. If you are serious or humourous so let your marks show that too. 

 If you are tentative, shy, conservative, detailed, gauche, child-like, nerdy, geeky, outrageous, laddish, intuitive, precise or wild; these things will show also.



for all these reasons, the greatest struggle with drawing can be the one with ourselves. Sometimes we see things in our drawings, about ourselves, that we hadn't recognised before.  The other struggle is with quality; we are our own worst critics and we are never satisfied with the work we do. Accept that and move on to the next drawing.

Like dance and music, drawing is the language of the soul. If we were able to put everything into words, there would be no need for music, dance, theatre or art.

When I draw from life my work sings a song to the viewer. When I draw only from photos I have taken the work is accurate, faithful and recognisable but unless the photograph itself was exceptional, the work is heartless.

Go out there and draw it or stay home and draw what is around you. What seems so ordinary to you will speak volumes to your friends, your family and to your children. It will speak back to you too.

Drawing is honest but only you can see the truth in it. Others may flatter you; some may be unkind but their opinions are usually worthless beside your own.

When my drawings truly move another I am very, very happy - it makes it all worthwhile. It is as if they have looked into the window of my soul and understood something of me.


True criticism, from a someone you trust, is like nectar. It is food to your eye and fuel to your passion. Take it and honour it because it will pay you back ten-fold