As I spend most of my day at work, I have seven hours that are spent not drawing. I mean, I don’t really feel like trying to sneak in a sketch or two while ringing people’s orders out, since it’s probably impossible, and I’d also get fired if my boss saw me doing that. But still, the idea that I’m not able to spend those hours practicing drawing has me pretty irked.
Today, however, I came up with a solution that I call “Drawing In My Head.” It sounds pretty weird, practicing drawing without a pencil and paper, but it can be done!
Here’s how I’m practicing drawing without anything but my mind…
1) Looking around my surroundings, and finding a pleasing composition. This might be anything from the tree and street lamp I see when I look out the window, to the view I have of my register, the counter, and a booth.
2) Figuring out which areas would be most important to draw. I would pick out the dark shapes, and the important highlights, and note any other shapes that would be successful on paper.
3) Repeat steps 1 and 2 over and over again throughout the day. They really do not take that long, and I could finish mentally ‘drawing a picture’ in a few seconds.
Sure, I might not be able to draw the perfect picture, if from now on I just ‘practice drawing in my head,’ but I WILL be able to keep my mind in ‘art mode’ even when I don’t have my supplies.
no doubt! i work on paintings in my head for months – there are always a few paintings I’m working on in my mind, but it’s only the ones that continue to nag at me for extended durations that I actually do for real. And I definitely believe you can grow as an artist from practicing in your mind – or seeing things as drawings while at work – great post!