We are all a work in progress. Each seeking strategies that best work for us. Some strategies bring us life long happiness, meaning and purpose - and for some these strategies work temporary and believe they work all the time. What I enjoyed about Art Thinking is Amy Whitaker’s view about what art is — that it is an exploration through a creative process. Sure, there’s an outcome — the product of the exploration. She gave a variety of examples throughout her book. In using her framework from taking a larger view, being in the weeds, being a lighthouse, building a house, etc., she methodically gives a person a conceptual way to understand the creative process. What I found helpful was her methods of reviewing the business side of a creative process. There are different types of cost, but the one we seldom like to spend is the cost of one’s time. What I found most surprising with her book was the call to finding a compassionate community. In her example of Christopher Miner’s project of revamping an old Sears building into an artist, business community was delightful to hear. As with her call at the end of her book for the reader to practice “radical curiosity,” within all of life’s adventures.
I encourage you to buy a copy of Art Thinking for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book.
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Whitaker begins her last chapter with an overview of art thinking framework, and a reminder to keep a wide-angle view with looking at the creative process. She shares the story of artist, Christopher Miner who transformed the boarded up Sears distribution center in the heart of Memphis, Tennessee, converting the space into artist studios and galleries, business offices, restaurants, and residential apartments. His focus was building a community. The author encourages the reader to chose a metaphor that best describes their interests. She gives several exercises to help support the reader with incubating their idea. Whitaker adds that in addition to the metaphor, one needs to be aware of “set of skills that everyone needs to have to be as conversant as possible and as effective as possible in the world that increasingly asks us to talk to each other across large gulfs in understanding.” While one can become a professional, receive an education, being able to converse with others in connecting ways is essential. She encourages the reader to practice “radical curiosity” with life.
I encourage you to buy a copy of Art Thinking for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
In this chapter, Whitaker uses the analogy of “to build a house" as a framework for understanding one’s economic challenges within the creative world. There are constraints, limits one has within a market for their work. And these are challenging to each type of art form. She shares there are two kinds of creativity - "the writing of a letter and designing the envelope.” While the writing is making an object, designing is creating the structure within where the object exists. Each of these requires "material resourcefulness” as the author defines as “the ability to adapt a material to an unexpected purpose by focusing on its first principles.” She gives an example of a Robert Pirsig’s scene from his book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, where the character’s does not have the part to repair his broken down motorbike, uses a beer can. He does this first by seeing it as a potential resource to fix his bike. Whitaker again uses several examples of other businesses adapting this concept to build a sustaining business model for their craft. Such as with Warby Parker, taking on the major eyeglass company business model of using others as a distributor, Warby Parker became their own distributor, taking out the additional costs of the expense to provide affordable eye wear. Not only did Warby Parker write the letter, they also designed their own envelop by not following the current business model. She gives an overview of variable and fixed costs, as well as how these impact imagination, with a deeper understanding to two other categories within these costs. Transaction and Opportunity costs of imperfection and imagination. She ends the chapter with a review of several problems that arise within the business of creativity. One of the seven examples is with externality, where one’s time is seldom factored into the cost of doing business.
I encourage you to buy a copy of Art Thinking for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
I encourage you to buy a copy of Art Thinking for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
Whitaker begins the chapter with the story of Ed Epping’s accidental beginning of his art career. When enrolling for college, he signed up for two art classes. As her art instructor, she would begin the classes with discussions about judgments one makes about their work. When labeled with good or bad, one begins the process of letting go of their responsibility to their work. Epping’s method is to be “critically self-aware,” to see what is working and what is not rather judging it good or bad, to build on the strengths, and to seek help when needed. In this chapter, “to be in the fray,” Whitaker shares the work of psychiatrist and pediatrician, Donald Wood Winnicott’s “good enough” parenting. Here she equates this an artist. To use this method of doing one’s best at what they are learning, and continuing to build an environment to nurture one’s growth. She defines nurturing one’s environment as to hold one has the freedom to do their work, not keeping up the appearances. She shares the tool of Conversational with the three roles: guide, colleague-friend, and producer. Each of these offer the wisdom with honesty and encouragement, as well as the economy/business side of an art career to meet the demands of one’s market. A guide helps one discover the hows to do, rather than the rigid musts (micromanaging) one might believe they have to within their work. In the second role, to be open to others influencing your own work. Finding others to support one in their own work, those who are may have different strengths and weaknesses, yet are able to have shared values about one’s work. In the practical world of the creative process, finding those who help one stay on task of building one’s portfolio, showing and finding methods of sharing one’s work. All of which costs money and time. The author suggests if one has difficulty with finding supplies, use what is available, such as paper coffee cups, or other recycled materials that are in abundance. In a business, noticing what is a resource and using what one has, begins a business model structured on cost. There are other costs to also consider, such as transition and opportunity. These two are opposites of each other, such as if transition were imperfection, then opportunity would be imagination. One’s success is built upon the tools one uses for their business side of their creative career. Finding the support, no matter whether emotional or financial, stay the course of doing you own work.
I encourage you to buy a copy of Art Thinking for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
The focus of chapter 4 begins with a directive question from Whitaker, with a recall of one being in the weeds in the early stages of creative work focusing on the “how" one moves from the fear of risk to creating the possible. She offers two tools - “portfolio thinking" and "ownership stakes.” Portfolio is use of developing strategies to do what one can to keep a roof over one’s head. In ownership, it's the risk of putting one’s self out in the business of art. She gives two examples show the difference in one’s focus within of these strategies. Finding tools that work for each person to meet these goals can become overwhelming, especially with self-investing. She returns to reader to keep a wide angle view when projects become difficult. Here, she uses the analogy of building a boat. Imaging the economy is a vast amount of water, and how to stay afloat with projects, depends up the boat one builds. The business side of a creative career is sustained through well planned strategies to provide the appropriate income. One can experiment with different ways to find a stable, income producing, art career. She gives several examples such as investing, finding patrons, working several jobs, selling one type of work in order to make another, etc., all the while building one’s portfolio. Just as any other business needs to evolve with the economy, so much a creative career.
I encourage you to buy a copy of Art Thinking for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
Whitaker begins chapter 3 with further developing art thinking framework as more questioned based rather than a solution focus. She gives an analogy of a map in finding one’s way. While it might be easier to have a map, one can also create a map of their own by following their curiosity to lead them toward what is possible. She suggests to look for the miracles when fearing defeat. When one senses a clarity of duty in their work, one can shift their thinking toward what is possible, to keep pace with their attention to their focus. Just as a person who begins to run a race, has a warm up practice, it is suggested that the reader also prepare an mental warm up, such as reflective writing or sharing with friends the goals one wants to obtain. Goals are to be SMART - specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time bound. In this third chapter, the author uses the analogy of a lighthouse guiding one’s journey, to assist one with uncovering interests, to be more authentic in their work.
I encourage you to buy a copy of Art Thinking for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
The author begins this chapter with her description of "being in the weeds" as compared with the first chapter - from a wide angle. To be in the weed is a close of view of the creativity process. She suggests to her reader, that to be in the weeds, one has to 1) change how you think about judgment (from critique to discernment); 2) become philosophical and skeptic; 3) attentiveness to the present moment .. all of these help you stay rooted in the process. Being in the weeds of choosing the question you are willing to risk working on. Whitaker discusses the work of two psychologists (Jones and Nisbett) on ‘actor-observer’ as people tend to see our “behavior as circumstantial and other people’s behavior as fixed.” In other words, we tend to see our behavior arrives from our situations, from the things that are happening to us. Other people we see as their character flaws. One analogy the author uses, is that we might see ourselves as a work in progress, and others as baked or complete. And sometimes we might see other people’s completed work and compare ourselves to their finished work. She reminds the reader there is a gap between the process and the outcome. When an artist is engaged in the early part of the creative process, one has two ways of evaluating one’s work - judgment versus decrement. When judging, one reduces their work to either good or bad. Discernment tends to review to see what works and what does not. Discernment is a process of learning what works and what does not, without an evaluation of the process. Within a learning mindset, one is not frustrated by what does not work, as one looks upon this experience as a teaching moment rather than a failure. One method Whitaker suggests is to use the “grace period" to defer judgment to the future, giving one time to see what happens, and to gain an understanding of their learning. She also suggests a mindfulness to this early process of being attentive to the vulnerability of being in the weeds, as this is where one is most likely to confuse successes and failures. This allows one the ability to change directions when needed. One take away she recommends is to validate one’s ability to notice when thoughts may overwhelm one in the early creative process by identifying when one recognizes thought distortions. She suggests using “good noticing,” as a verbal marker of a discerning mindset, and “only by changing our relationship to judgement and process can we open up that space of possibility."
I encourage you to buy a copy of Art Thinking for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
Life gives us plenty of things to learn without the intention to learn them. One can observe their environment and experiences, to begin to see how these things are in relationship to each other. In this first chapter the author begins to expand her metaphor when looking at creativity. In her definition of creativity, Whitaker wants to broadens her reader’s view as creativity includes "doing" as well as "being." Having a studio primes the creative pumps, yet should not be used to pressure one into creating something. It is a safe place to incubate ideas. A place to explore, a safe place to risk the next thing. A place to show up, to see what emerges. She gives several categories of creativity: social, organizational, civic, analytic, spiritual, kinesthetic, aesthetic, physical, narrative and harmonic. She defines each one for the reader to understand that creativity is not only about producing artwork or the next best novel. Society gives a mythical view of an artist as genius. While one might be flattered by someone coping their work, to learn how it’s made. Only to copy misses the evolving growth one can obtain. It is through Emulating, that is, not copying, but taking the form, pattern and adapting it to another idea. Whitaker encourages the reader to follow what they love, not to worry about wasting time or materials. That nothing is ever wasted. No matter whether the learning is immediate or takes a little more time…even taking time off, as rest is not idleness. It is all practice. It is all learning.
I encourage you to buy a copy of Art Thinking for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
Amy Whitaker devotes the introduction to her concepts about art in the world of business with her book "Art Thinking: How to Carve Out Creative Space in a World of Schedules, Budgets, and Bosses." She defines art as … traditionally, an object like a painting or a sculpture, as well as modern day views of the German artist who locked himself in a room with a coyote while he read the Wall Street Journal. She merges this definition with philosopher Martin Heidegger’s view as art is something new in the world that changes the world to allow itself to exist, as “art is less an objection and more a process of exploration.” Art is about the process of exploration, not the product released from one's creative discovery. She offers another way of seeing with the intertwining of art and commerce as most often people are focused on the end product. By having a PRICE on the things one create she alludes to the economic assumptions of business - efficiency, productivity, and knowable value. While innovation is important in the business world, she returns the reader's focus of reinvention. How our culture - economic and society looks at "necessary change" as a survival system. She sets up Art Thinking framework as the following:
Whitaker concludes the introduction with the paradoxical gifts art thinking has for the reader: one cannot control the outcome of any endeavor AND one might fail. She encourages her reader to follow their own “discovery with integrity.” Finding what works best and what doesn’t, brings about more chances for one’s own contributions to come to life. Again a reminder to focus on the process rather than the product. She throws out a idea of WHAT WOULD LEONARDO DO to stimulate the reader's thinking … reminding one of Leonardo's label as genius. To emulate his way of looking at creativity, one might view him as an explorer of ideas. While a person might not have patrons to support them in one's creative exploration, they can invest in their own discoveries. Finding one's own authentic voice and flow rather than projecting another genius to emulate. I encourage you to buy a copy of Art Thinking for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
While this book is small and a quick read, it packs a powerful punch in supporting the artist's developmental growth. It brings attention to the patterns of resistance that is within all life, and how these too prevent the artist or a potential artist from even picking up a brush. Living a life without an awareness to our ego without finding a way to understand the limiting strategies it undergoes, would contribute to an internal war within oneself. Impressed with Pressfield's ability to share his vulnerability about his own creative growth, and how his discovery in a shift of thinking from being an amateur to profession expanded his world view. All of his concepts he shared are not only helpful for a developing artist, or even a more matured one. They are also helpful for life.
I encourage you to buy a copy of The War of Art for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
The author ends his book with these final thoughts. Resistance is fed on fear, mostly consistently with regards to “will I succeed?” Pressfield suggests that we all have specific jobs, or a calling to do while on earth. “Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into something ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.” He discusses territory as a place one knows. And in this world, there is a hierarchical structure, but for the artist, this he says is “fatal.” He shares his view as within a “pecking order,” the artist will begin to compete with others, or try to elevate their status. An artist would begin to view their happiness based on their success or achievement, especially within the hierarchy, finding the artist would be most satisfied with high success and the most low when no perceived success. The artist would evaluate others based upon the order within the hierarchy. He gives the example of Van Gogh never finding success as he did not sell one of his pieces of artwork. Pressfield strong suggests the best place to find the approval is within.
I encourage you to buy a copy of The War of Art for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
Pressfield encourages his readers to use whatever one can to stay focused on creating and doing their work. He shares how he reviews his dreams and experiences to see what he could learn from them especially with how resistance shows up his life. He also suggests to be open to muses, angels or other creative energy. He defines the ego and self, and gives an overview of how these are in constant conflict with each other. For example, the ego likes things the way they are, where the self wants to evolve. He further discusses the differences between the ego and the self to help the reader move beyond the ego.
I encourage you to buy a copy of The War of Art for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
In book three, Pressfield moves the reader toward finding guiding forces in order to push beyond these paths of resistance into a more sustaining, nurturing lifestyle. He suggests for the creative to support one’s creative exploration begin without judgment of the self. He also relies on the ritualization of using the Muse — a reference to the 9 daughters of Zeus, the nine muses who are responsible for every creative medium that brings forth creations into the human world. As some have alluded to, Beethoven’s 5th Symphony already existed, as the muse whispered in many ears, yet it was Beethoven who released it, through his expression. Same with Picasso or any other being, creating. He suggests to his reader — no matter whether an angel or a muse, respect the energy that is present, invite it to participate with you, allowing the creativity within the reader to become expressed, as we humans need all the help we can because we are constantly "distracted by our own nonsense.” Either way, there is some sort of unseen, unknowing intelligence in this world, and we are to get out of it’s way, allow it to be expressed through us as we are ALL creatives.
I encourage you to buy a copy of The War of Art for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
Pressfield ends this chapter with his reminder to the reader to be aware of these patterns of resistance, as they are invisible, insidious, and forever lurking, preventing one from seeking their work. Bringing these into consciousness, one has a better chance to work through these when they are aware resistance is present. One suggestion he offers is a shift of thinking from amateur to professional. If your work is a hobby, resistance will ensure one will get around to it. Yet if one is looking for their work to be more than a hobby, it requires this shift of thinking to being a professional. Setting a structure and following no matter what shows up.
I encourage you to buy a copy of The War of Art for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
Pressfield focuses the next part of this chapter toward what a professional view point looks like. It is patient with any project attempted, as it knows there is gratification even though it may be delayed. It seeks an order to the chaos that may abound when attempting a new project. Faced with fears about a project are worked through without hesitation or excuses. With a mastery of technique as a focus, help is sought when needed, as a professional knows its limits. No matter what obstacles may come, taking a professional viewpoint allows one to work through obstacles to avoid any self-sabotage. Finally, this viewpoint takes nothing personally (failure or success), as a professional reinvents self when needed and knows the limits one can achieve. For this, other professionals are able to recognize another professional.
I encourage you to buy a copy of The War of Art for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
It’s one thing to study or understand creativity. And another to live a creative life. Pressfield alerts the reader to the patterns of resistance in the previous chapter. This chapter focuses on a shift of thinking that is necessary for living a creative life. He compares the amateur and a professional life as a metaphor for one to gauge the energy they are using. If it’s a hobby toward their creativity, then all sorts of patterns of resistance continue to play their role. He suggests by using a shift of thinking this their creating is their job, their profession, and they do their work, no matter what resistance shows up. He furthers this with a review of the Principle of Priority in showing the difference between urgent and important. With one’s work, one must continue on the path of following what is important. This shift of thinking gives the author contentment with knowing he has done the job he was to do, rather than allowing other forms of resistance to deplete his energy of completing his work. He suggests there are ways to be miserable in the world by dining on a “diet of isolation, rejection, self-doubt, despair, ridicule, contempt, and humiliation.” He suggests we sign up for misery, just as easily as we can sign up for being a professional. Doing our own work no matter what shows up. Show up daily to do the work, staying on task when the mind wanders. Not to over identify with one’s job. Stay committed to the profession, accepting income to support one’s self. Master the techniques of the profession. And above all keep a sense of humor or perspective about one’s work, especially when receiving praise or blame, to not let paralysis set in.
I encourage you to buy a copy of The War of Art for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
Isolation, support, and rationalization are all forms of resistance. Some never accomplish what they set out to do as they do not want to be alone. The hours fly by on the wings of resistance. Going in search of some relief of the guilt of never achieving their goals, they seek support from friends, therapists or ministers. Healing might be what one is searching for in their personal life, but a personal life has nothing to do with one’s work, as “the part of us that we imagine needs healing is not the part we create from.” Pressfield suggests that one’s muse is always with them, they are never alone. To seek support from others becomes a form of resistance to the work they might be avoiding. A person begins to rationalize the why’s they are not doing their work, and often some of these are true. Rationalization is the spin-doctor for Resistance. Where to start - review the lurking fears.
I encourage you to buy a copy of The War of Art for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
Pressfield wants his reader to become familiar with where resistance begins. He makes a list of the usual places they start, such as with one starting an exercise program, or having to learn new skills. In short, he notes that resistance will initiate at the “act that rejects immediate gratification in favor of long-term growth, health or integrity.” He gives other good examples where resistance might show up such as with any addictive pattern of lifestyle - drugs, alcohol, shopping, work, sex, food, tv, etc. He suggests these are forms of distractions, and to not feed them. I encourage you to buy a copy of The War of Art for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
Steven Pressfield sets the stage in his book, The War of Art, for understanding the power behind the creative battles. In this first book of 3, he identifies the enemy within every creative being as resistance. Resistance comes in many forms. While he identifies the many paths resistance takes, he warns his reader of the insidiousness resistance takes to get one to give up, to fail, to quit. All of these are distractions one uses to not do their work. He begins with the type of activities resistance usually rares its ugly head -- no matter whether if it's caring for one's health, their education, or launching a new business. Resistance, he suggests, is fed by ones unconquered fears. As the author suggests, we have two lives. The one we live and the unlived one. What stands in the middle is many varieties of ways resistance presents itself. This book is a quick, yet to the point, guide to understanding the invisible paths resistance uses to distract, prevent, or stop before one even begins their work.
I encourage you to buy a copy of The War of Art for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
When I first read this book, I was in another drawing class — Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. It was suggested by my instructor that I read this book before doing an analog drawing research project with my daughter’s 3rd grade class. I was fascinated by how emotions could be seen…especially within evoking emotional responses with master’s artwork. I also found this book helpful with understanding the concepts within drawing, the creative process, and problems solving. Unlearning first how I was encultured to believe I had to be “talented” or “gifted” to know how to draw. I am thankful I listened to my own intuition about my desire to learn how to draw, and there was support and validation that EVERYONE can draw, someone has to show you how. This is that book that will help you build the fundamentals first to go along with any drawing practice.
I encourage you to buy a copy of Drawing on the Artist Within for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
Chapter 17 begins with Edwards further taking the reader in ways to grasps the concept of ‘sighting’ … how to use it with understanding relationships and proportions. Sighting uses comparison when gauging the size of the object to be drawn. She expressed the difficulty with explaining the concept is that it’s not easily translatable into language. However, she equates it to being like ‘grammar’ structure within a verbal language. She shares three exercises to gain a better understanding of using sighting. From using a clear sheet grid, her students were able to begin the structure of seeing in accordance with other objects. In another exercise she gives instructions to her readers to use a pencil as an aid in gauging the distances of the objects being drawn.
In chapter 18 she identifies another drawing concept to support the accuracy of seeing. This is the ability to see light and shadow. Part of teaching the visual skills of seeing, is understanding that light behaves in predictable ways, consistently. The use of light also changes the way an object or a face may appear, and to become aware of these before beginning to draw. She takes the reader through several other exercises to help demonstrate the use of light and shadows, as well as sharing strategies in how to arrange light so that shadows give the best image. As a final thought for the chapter, Edwards returns the reader to consider using shadow and light, to make up the composition of the drawing, with the focus on what makes the image, the most memorable within one’s mind. How is it the most unique, and to be aware of how the left brain may become limiting to one’s ability to see. I encourage you to buy a copy of Drawing on the Artist Within for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
Chapter 17 begins with Edwards further taking the reader in ways to grasps the concept of ‘sighting’ … how to use it with understanding relationships and proportions. Sighting uses comparison when gauging the size of the object to be drawn. She expressed the difficulty with explaining the concept is that it’s not easily translatable into language. However, she equates it to being like ‘grammar’ structure within a verbal language. She shares three exercises to gain a better understanding of using sighting. From using a clear sheet grid, her students were able to begin the structure of seeing in accordance with other objects. In another exercise she gives instructions to her readers to use a pencil as an aid in gauging the distances of the objects being drawn.
In chapter 18 she identifies another drawing concept to support the accuracy of seeing. This is the ability to see light and shadow. Part of teaching the visual skills of seeing, is understanding that light behaves in predictable ways, consistently. The use of light also changes the way an object or a face may appear, and to become aware of these before beginning to draw. She takes the reader through several other exercises to help demonstrate the use of light and shadows, as well as sharing strategies in how to arrange light so that shadows give the best image. As a final thought for the chapter, Edwards returns the reader to consider using shadow and light, to make up the composition of the drawing, with the focus on what makes the image, the most memorable within one’s mind. How is it the most unique, and to be aware of how the left brain may become limiting to one’s ability to see. I encourage you to buy a copy of Drawing on the Artist Within for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
Edwards begins the chapter with clarifying how most people learn about drawing — only through understanding of the identified object they are drawing. What is also taught, but seldom practiced is the awareness of the negative spaces with the identified object. For example, say a chair. The spaces around the chair are just as important in obtaining the perspective of the object as well as the object itself. It is with this second component of drawing — the negative spaces, she devotes to the reader with three exercises. The first one focuses attention to drawing as one reviews the object, only to become aware of the labeling of the object. Edwards reminds the reader, “it’s much easier to draw what you don’t know than to draw what you know.” The second exercise is focused on a distortion of the labeled image, to give a practice of the reader to notice the reactions one has to the object. Noticing if the observations about the object interfere with the drawing. The third exercise allows the reader to prepare for different modes of perception, and how these may change with the use of questioning.
In chapter 16, Edwards highlights how the one has perceived ideas about how to interpret what they see. She points to how the left brain influences what a person sees and gives the example of one of her students drawing the flag on the wall. The student drew what he perceived as a flag - lines, rectangles, and dots representing stars. Edwards instructed the student to draw the flag two other times, and with each drawing the student’s ability to see the lines, and shapes progressed, from a flat surface to one that had dimension and shadow. She elaborates with other drawing exercises on how the left brain continues with giving optical illusions, as one perceives an image, yet the brain jumps to a conclusion about how something is supposed to be. The author closes the chapter with an example of how the brain “tampers with visual information” which she identifies as “concept consistency.” The figure 16-19, identifies four figures, all the same size, yet when displayed across the page, from one closer to the viewer is smaller, and the one farther away seems larger. She indicates how the brain “decides what to see” even though conceptually, and with the images the same size, the brain perceives the images as different. She suggests to the reader, there will be times when one has to ignore what the brain shares about the evidence one is receiving. I encourage you to buy a copy of Drawing on the Artist Within for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. 
The goals of chapters 13 and 14 are simple. Edwards focuses the reader's attention toward the small drawings, as well as drawing slow. She begins in chapter 13 with describing how in one may begin to draw "what they think they see," rather than what they do see, as the left brain wants to make quick logic of the perceived problem. She suggests this exercise contributes to a development drawing skill of "gesture" drawing. In this exercise a person draws, at least fifteen quick drawing of the same object within a 15 minute period. In this practice, she prepares the reader to be aware of the verbal comments the left brain makes. These are usually judgmental, and identifying the object. For example, if drawing one's dog, the left brain goes to the why one can't do it, or a need to slow down. She suggests the reader, prepare their drawing space with pens/pencils and fifteen sheets of paper. And if possible to use a kitchen timer, setting each drawing for a minute. With this exercise, one begins to practice the drawing of edges, shapes, line direction, curves ... and to not focus on the details. When the timer is done, repeat with a new picture. She again cautions about the left brain tactics of finding the flaws. "I don't have time for this," "this is stupid," "that doesn't look right." Pay no attention, keep drawing... have fun! In chapter 14, Edwards offers another drawing exercise, that is opposite of the gesture drawing. This one she encourages the reader to draw at a "snail's pace." Again to set the timer for one drawing at 10 minutes, and to become aware of the lines, spaces, She suggests to not look at the drawing until complete. The left brain will do the similar types of judgments and critiques, Edward's reminds her reader this is about fear, and fear in this drawing exercise is focused on not being in control. She reminds the reader, this is a normal part of the drawing process. The pure contour drawing develops the practice of seeing edges of the object. She encourages the reader when using this drawing exercise to write down the insight one takes away from the experience, as these have been another way to store learning. I encourage you to buy a copy of Drawing on the Artist Within for a better understanding of your own creative process. Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book. |
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