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Can’t draw?

You do not need to be able to draw to be creative. This is one of the great lies of art, that it always begins with drawing, sketching. Many people take life classes, drawing the human form, or still life classes, bowls of fruit or a vase of flowers. But the most expressive artists were often very poor at drawing (Henry Peacock wrote this in his book, Art as Expression). Countering this formalistic approach is the psychodynamic approach of “the here and now”.

Scribbling, doodling are the most natural things in the world. What is unnatural is trying to copy the world. This is not as exciting as seeing what you see and feeling the freedom to explore the shapes and forms any way you like.

When we look at the world, we are already interpreting it.

Here’s a painting inspired by the sidewalk (pavement).

Oct 2019 3

It is 20 cm square, painted on a canvas panel with acrylic paint. The sketch or drawing as such was in the thinking about how to capture the ‘idea’ of the sidewalk and the cracks in it as well as its sheen. I was not trying to paint concrete.