Draw with a partner or small group on a big sheet of paper, and take turns. Perhaps a sea creature, a bird, a landscape? Add details and see what emerges. Here’s another: Try lightly scribbling on your paper without looking, then look, and add to what you see. These are gifts the act of drawing can bestow.ĭrawing can be many things, and drawing to observe the people or things around you is only one way to begin. And when you get up from drawing and get on with your life, take another moment to stop and look around. Your hand and eye, working together, may lead you to truly see that coffee cup or tree or loved one anew, as they are, perhaps more clearly than you ever have. In picking up that pencil or pen, it is the process that counts. Setting aside our worries and fears about the future, we can draw ourselves into stillness. (This goes for the tree, or the coffee cup, or whatever else you choose to draw.) You might experience a heightened appreciation of the uniqueness of the subject of your drawing and a sense of wonder at their mere presence in the world. The tree in your front yard might be taller and more majestic than you had realized, the gentle curve of your coffee mug’s handle more graceful. You will observe new details, perhaps fine lines around your beloved’s eyes you had never seen before. Through the process of translating your observations into marks on paper, chances are you will be surprised by what you notice as you draw. Choose and observe closely anything or anyone you encounter in your daily life. Or choose a tree outside your window, or your coffee mug. Drawing provides an active way to engage deeply with the present moment, locating our thoughts, perceptions, and feelings, in time and space.Īn exercise: Next time you are spending time with someone you love, try to capture their likeness on paper. The practice of drawing, with paper and pencil or whatever else is at hand, is a simple and accessible means to become more mindful and aware of our inner and outer worlds. Andrea Kantrowitz is the author of “ Drawing Thought: How Drawing Helps Us Observe, Discovery, and Invent“
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