I don’t take time to draw as often as I’d like to. Mostly my pen meets paper to sketch out some rough approximation of of a form I want to render in cloth. Those drawings are detail-less, hurried, and unrefined.
I recently took time to look through one of my 12 year old’s densely filled sketch books. She draws for 2-3 hour stretches on a daily basis. I’m amazed at her skill. Hands look graceful. Noses, ears, hairlines, and muscles appear in the right places. Her constant practice has forged a beautiful strong neural path from hand to eye.
My daughter’s drawings gave me the itch. I broke out the pen and paper, talked my hand into slowing down a bit, and filled several pages with shaky drawings. I feel pretty happy about this little dude. His feet are slightly misshapen, and his fingers are massive, but he is curious and he seems trustworthy. I’m thinking of taking him places.