Drawing without sketches or prior plans
I will try, for the first time, to describe one of the techniques I use for drawing. It is something very simple, yet it requires extreme trust in “chance” and in oneself. That makes it a bit harder for beginners in drawing, or for people who lack confidence in their own abilities. I would also like to dwell on this at first. The reader will notice that I take many detours, and that the text here is almost “philosophical” — I am not interested in step-by-step guides, unless they are extremely necessary. Do not expect a manual, for this technique depends more on the individual who practices it than on any other factor.
Very important to clarify: this is only one of the techniques I use for drawing, and at specific moments. It is not the solution for everyone who wishes to go deeper into the practice of drawing. I do not consider drawing the mere technical application of a skill, and I feel exposed in sharing this technique publicly. If it works for me, it does not mean it will work for you. But I believe there is always something to learn.
Discovering a path ([yours] among millions)
Talent, technique, skill: words that carry an intense load of meaning. They are also very relative words, and their meanings sometimes get confused with one another. I avoid thinking about these words. I believe one can feel fully satisfied with the act of drawing, and with the drawings one makes, from the very beginning of one’s learning. Draw unpretentiously, whenever you can, if possible every day. You will only suffer if you keep some far-fetched goal in your head, like drawing exactly like Mutarelli, or some small objective (like making fan-art of your favorite manga) that will soon be discarded, because you will realize you can do much more. That way, going deeper into the technique I will try to describe below will not be a problem.
It’s like walking or eating (?)
None of that preparing environments, putting on relaxing background music, taking the children out of the room. Drawing may save you from hostile environments, boring classes, interminable lectures, outrageous delays, etc. Likewise, drawing outdoors can reveal itself a surprising experience. Avoid conditioning yourself to a particular environment; draw in front of other people, lose the embarrassment. Get used to making a few scribbles wherever you are, whenever you feel like it.
This helps break the main obstacle: ourselves. The evolution of “artistic practice” — in my opinion — is tied to the breaking of taboos, prejudices, questions of pride, idealisms. And then we see one person who is just starting to draw and says “I like drawing in black and white”. And another who says “I’m into making manga”, and another who parrots “those who can’t do figurative do abstract”, etc. Self-prohibitions and absurd restrictions, right at the start! All of it accompanied by thoughts like “I have no talent”. The perfect formula for giving up. Abandoning all these statements about oneself and observing what one is doing is, perhaps, the “goal” of the technique in question.
Intense practices
I will now attempt to describe an intense practice — perhaps the “technique” in question itself. It is what I usually do in those hours when “something needs to come out”; some idea, a latent feeling, a moment of inspiration. The first step is choosing a material that, preferably, cannot be erased. If you are going to use pencil or something similar, put the eraser away.
Breathe deeply. What you will try to do now is the opposite of concentrating. Concentration demands that all perception be closed off and focused on a single point. We are talking about a process diametrically opposed to concentration. What you will try to do is open up — let yourself be taken by every possible stimulus around you. The ambient sounds, the air, the temperature, the space, your thoughts, feelings, inner palpitations.
It is in this state of openness that you will begin to draw. Sometimes you will have an anticipated idea of what you want to make; start making it. Other times, there will be no idea, no starting point. Start with a line, a blot, whatever you wish. Observe. What do the shapes you made resemble? How is your line today? Continue, without worrying about formal aspects (like anatomy or perspective). You don’t know how to draw a human hand? Take the liberty of drawing a hand any way you please. Above all, have fun.
When one draws without sketches or plans, a new form becomes possible: the form of expression. Trust. Use your body, your emotions, whatever is passing through your head, whatever you are receiving — decode it. Draw with full force, or with full delicacy, or in the manner of a calligrapher, it does not matter. Try to perceive what the moment asks for. Do not be afraid of making mistakes. If you made something you really like, and are afraid of continuing and “ruining it”, run the risk. Incorporate “mistakes”, admit the interference of chance.
Practice this exercise of surrender, of non-concentration, more and more. Lately I have had the clear impression that my body is making the drawing on its own, and that everything I do with my head is get in the way. This is not any kind of metaphor — with time, you will realize that drawing is a movement of the whole body, and not merely of one hand connected to a fertile imagination.
The regular practice of this exercise will assure the practitioner an astonishing evolution in confidence and in line. I have had the pleasure of passing it on to a few friends, with very happy results. It is important not to rush — to know that, in due time, you will be drawing what you always wished. This technique can be of great help — but nothing replaces constant, patient practice.
Post scriptum
- The beginning may reveal itself the most complicated part of the process. You will probably want to abandon what you are doing, set the paper aside and pull out another. Do it, but try not to throw away what you set aside. I have picked up drawings abandoned for more than two years and finished them to my liking — it is an interesting experience.
- The moment one is drawing without comparisons, one will probably want to live without comparisons. Accepting your mistakes in drawings helps you accept your own mistakes. Accepting your drawings helps you accept yourself. Drawings and artistic practice in themselves can be (and can not be) steps toward self-knowledge.
- [drawings] I do this for reasons that escape me. [for me] There is no way not to do it. I have no interest in building an artistic identity, a career, a style. All my “work” is free for whatever anyone wants to make of it (including selling it or claiming authorship).