This is a video series from my studio overlooking Lake Michigan. It’s where I slow down, listen, and make art that brings light into the world. This is Echo Base Dispatch—a brief transmission from here to wherever you are—where I share what I’m working on, what I’m wrestling with, and the lessons I’m learning along the way.
–Jason
Drawing isn’t really about how good your hands are with a pencil.
It’s about how good your eyes are at seeing.
I was a guest art instructor at our homeschool co-op, helping a student draw a monster truck. Most things, at their core, are a combination of simple shapes. Any kind of truck is just a few rectangles on top of four ovals. That’s where we started, slowly building up details by adding more shapes along the way.
Beginners delve into details too early. The first step in drawing is figuring out the primary shapes and lightly getting them down to provide a starting point for asking questions. You’re constantly looking at all the parts in relationship to one another, asking, “How big is this compared to this? How far apart is this from this?”
But here’s the key: do not assume these initial shapes are correct. In fact, you can expect they are most likely wrong, and you’re free to leave them behind.
As your drawing progresses, even if those early shapes were off, it’s ok, because they served an important purpose. They got you started and helped you get to where you are now, in the middle of a drawing that’s getting better.
This is why we start with a loose hand and a light line. Not only is it a reminder that we’re not committing to anything, but we’re making it easier for our eraser to undo those early steps later.
Think about it like this: You don’t get married on your first date, and you don’t make your first date a monthlong trip to Europe. Start a drawing the same way.
Beginners rush to draw what they think a face, a tree, or a truck looks like, rather than the one in front of them. They make assumptions that often turn out to be wrong, because they don’t realize that drawing isn’t really about drawing.
It’s about seeing.
It’s an exercise in truth-seeking.
If I’m drawing a face, these are some of the questions I might ask myself as the basic shapes start to accumulate:
How big is the space between the upper lip and the nose compared to the space between the bottom lip and the chin? Is what I’ve sketched so far true or false?
Does the edge of the mouth really line up with the edge of that eye? If not, I need to make an adjustment that aligns with the truth of what I’m seeing.
Likewise, in our daily lives, we make assumptions about people and ourselves all the time. We develop expectations (aka predictions) about what we think will happen in our lives, our careers, and our relationships. And sometimes the information we collect along the way becomes outdated, irrelevant, or was just plain wrong to begin with.
We need to continually evaluate our understanding of the world.
We do this by asking questions and comparing our current situation with the truth.
Do I have all the skills and resources I need to succeed in this endeavor, or is there something I need to attain first?
Is there another way to look at this issue that I haven’t considered?
Is this person as bad (or as good) as I’ve made them out to be?
Does this need to be done by me, or am I holding on to it because I’m afraid to let it go?
Am I holding on to something that’s no longer serving me, even if it once did?
Is there another way to look at this roadblock? Is it as insurmountable as it seems?
Is it possible for something good to come out of this difficult experience?
In life, as in drawing, details don’t matter if they’re built on a foundation that isn’t true.
Most people mistake drawing as an exercise of the hand.
It’s really an exercise in seeing.
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