The Secret of Happiness

Young artists hear this all the time:* DRAW FROM LIFE! TAKE A SKETCHBOOK EVERYWHERE! The implication is, of course, that sketching what you see trains your eyes and hands and makes you a better artist. This is true. What they don't tell you, though, is that learning to really observe your surroundings – the shapes, the contours, the amusing little details – is something that keeps going on even when you're not sketching. Even if your sketches look awful, and you think 'what could I possibly have learned from this?' merely the act of careful observation is changing the wiring in your brain and how you perceive the world. Keep it up and before long the world around you will be so alive with fascination you'll wonder how everyone else misses it all. There is joy to be found in so many places, from the contour of a skyline or a mountain vista to how the panes of a window slot into each other or the shape a fly makes when you squash it with a water bottle.**

I say this like I live by it; unfortunately it is all too easy to fall out of the habit and not be bothered to take out your sketchbook while on the bus or waiting for someone to finish in the shop or wherever it is that you like to go into a torpor. I have to keep reminding myself that I like to to this, and that I'm happier when I do, so this latest reminder is a message to you, also. It's been a while since I was in the habit of sketching but my new sketchbook (thanks Jean!) responds really well to the soft pencils I use for life drawing, so I took it along on this weekend's adventures in an attempt to get back into the groove, and had a most excellent and rewarding time.

( What I Did on my Summer Weekend )

*if they don't, they should
**( This is a true story... )