Pencil And Paper

   I have taken pencils and paper lately, not to write words, but to record images. I draw now and then and this is now. Drawing is to seeing what music is to hearing. Artists use a way of seeing that is not perceptual. They don't draw what they know is a "hand", they draw the lines and curves and the negative space around the "hand". Magically, that then becomes a hand. I copy what I see and start the drawing with the picture upside down. This keeps my brain from interfering with instructions on what to draw. Since the model is on it's head I am left to look at shapes and relationships.

     When I draw from real life I find it is difficult to talk people into standing on their heads while I draw them. I am limited and not "really good". But that is okay. My father was an artist and we sometimes made fun of his drawings, noting his mistakes. Now I look at his renderings differently. I ponder his subjects, his perspective, and his emotions just under the surface of the sketch. It tells his story and I like remembering him.