Every few years, I take on a new project for myself. In the last few years, I've run a marathon, learned to play guitar, and make origami. In each case, I've learned these things from books. It's really satisfying to develop new skills.
So the latest skill for me to tackle is drawing. I'm using Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain as my text for this. The main thrust of the book is that we let the left brain take over when we try to draw. We don't draw an eye as we really see it, but instead we draw a symbol that represents the eye. Like a kid's football shaped drawing of an eye. The left brain wants to name everything and convert it to a symbol instead of drawing the individual lines.
This is especially true for me, as I have been writing as long as I can remember, it's the purpose of writing to reduce things to symbols. That's how my thought process is wired. The book guides me into letting go of that instinct.
I'm working my way through the exercises now, and I'm feeling pretty confident that I will get it all working. I'm kind of hoping to keep a sketch diary in the future. It'd be fun on vacations.
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