Many Learned Things

I guess I should start from the beginning.
Or at least some beginning.

A few months ago I bought a book while in the bookstore at SFMOMA called 101 Things to Learn in Art School, by Kit White - maybe you've seen it in class. It's a great book that deals with so many "basic" things that I've been thinking of duplicating and adapting some of them here.
I mean, I know all of my students - yes, you - read this blog religiously, so if I can impart some good stuff, well, how "teacherly" of me.

The idea is to take one of the 101 things from that book as a jumping off point at some semblance of a regular interval and share it with you. We can all continue to learn, and even if it's something we already know, solidifying our knowledge isn't exactly a bad thing.

So without further delay, I give you v1.0

Learn to Draw
"Drawing is more than a tool for rendering and capturing likenesses. It is a language, with its own syntax, grammar, and urgency. Learning to draw is about learning to see. In this way, it is a metaphor for all art activity. Whatever its form, drawing transforms perception and thought into image and teaches us how to think with our eyes."

I have to say that I felt very vindicated when I read that passage. It didn't really dawn on me until after a few years of teaching that it kind of isn't about what you are drawing but what you are allowing yourself to see.
Too often we think we know what is in front of us and our aim is to draw that. But too often we're just wrong. Truth.
I see it time and again in student work - and even my own at times. Our brains are pretty smart things but they don't know everything, and the situations and circumstances we are faced with are constantly in flux and motion. It's nearly impossible for something to be the same in every instance. $hi* changes, and our approach and perception of it needs to change, too.

OK, 'nuff said, for now.

Since I know you are all checking this all the time :) I'll not belabor the point, but every few weeks I'll try to update this (ongoing) series.