I have heard once that Love is Listening. This simple statement had such a profound effect on me, that I have not forgotten it since. I constantly ponder about it, no matter how I look at love and it’s meaning, this really sums it up for me. And the same with art, I have come to realize, that when I listen to my soul, I tend to reflect it in my art, my paintings have more meaning and they really truly affect other people in the same way. So when I paint, I listen. What it is that I am trying to say, or put on paper. If I let myself go into the moment, and I use my pencil or brush as a tool of expression, I do not worry about what it is saying, I only admire it. I follow the lines as if I was listening to them. I nod, I acknowledge, I might point a different direction, or ask a question, why now, or why this way? And the answer does not really matter, the question serves only as means to stay connected.
You could try this simple exercise
Pick up a pencil, and get lost in the moment, start drawing lines and shapes on a page. It does not really matter what will come of it, just do some dancing with a pencil, you can be quiet or listen to music, see what comes out of it – enjoy the unfolding process of it.
Lets now explore something that might be a little more challenging, how about drawing the detail of an eye, that goes beneath the surface. We will start with the surrounding bone structure that supports the the eyeball itself, and then we put the eyelids and skin over it. It could be a little bit tedious, but it might be truly eye opening, no pun intended.
Se here how I did it
The face is really made out for curves and curved surfaces, that why it is so helpful to learn how to draw a sphere. If you practice it few times, you can start seeing how useful it can be in drawing the eyes – obviously, the nostrils, tip of the nose, cheeks, eye brows, chin, forehead and so on. So lets practice drawing a sphere, and a donut while you are at it. And can you guess what drawing a donut hole is useful for? You will see.
And now we can put all this together and draw a slight turn of a face
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