Don’t Think – Just Draw

6/9/20 The view from my studio window

USk Japan issued another weekly challenge that appealed to me: “Don’t think – just draw.” Attracted to the concept of trying to avoid thinking while drawing, I head out the door. In the middle of my morning walk, I stopped to make a sketch (below), and as soon as I did, I had to think right off the bat just to choose a composition. As I continued, I had to stop myself twice when I started to measure some proportions – more thinking! By the time I finished, I realized I didn’t understand the point of the challenge: Of course, any kind of drawing requires a lot of thinking. . . how do I avoid it?

Back home, I read the details of the challenge:

“The point of this challenge is to go wild, let your fun and free mind take over your creative mind. I want you to show your analytical left brain what you’ve got lol. Don’t think and go wild!

• Grab your fav color pencils/color pens.
• Do not draw draft lines. Go directly on paper.
• Don’t think, just draw.
• If you feel uncomfortable or see your line off, change the color and go over the line/start over, etc.”

A-ha – now I saw the point!

6/8/20 Maple Leaf neighborhood

The next day was wet, so I sketched through a studio window, where I had few compositional choices – one less thing to think about already. Grabbing a few colored pencils, I didn’t plan, block or measure; I tried to “let my fun and free mind take over my creative mind.”

I’ve tried sketching this blah, overly familiar view many times (most recently a few months ago), and I’m usually not happy with the results. This time, however, I was pleased with the sketch (top of post). Maybe it was just the playfulness of the “unreal” colors, but I did feel myself letting go of my usual “rules” dictated by the thinking side of my brain. It was a fun and very fast way to approach a view I am not necessarily attracted to.