“The drops of rain make a hole in the stone not by violence, but by oft falling” – Lucretius
For a long time now, I’ve been publishing the results of my drawing and painting practice here.
People sometimes tell me I’m hard working. They tell me I have a strong work ethic. Sometimes they say I must have a lot of will power.
But words like ‘will power’ and ‘work ethic’ suggest that you have to force yourself to do something, to make yourself keep going, and force is a form of violence.
In my experience, that’s not the best way to make a hole in the stone.
I think a much better way to make progress, the way I try to progress these days, is like raindrops.
Each day, one more drop.
This approach is not without its frustrations. It demands patience and a certain amount of faith. Often you can’t see the progress from day to day, even for a long time. But then one day, you notice a small dent in the stone.
Just enough to keep you going.
Wearing Down The Stone
When I first started my composition practice, I didn’t see any real progress for quite some time. Here’s some of the early drawings
Not exactly inspiring.
It’s just as well I was enjoying the practice, it would have been much harder to keep going otherwise. There is a school of thought that says practice is most effective when you push yourself out of your comfort zone, stretch yourself. It says that practice, if you want it to be effective, is necessarily hard work and unpleasant.
The first part of that makes a lot of sense. Stretching muscles builds strength, whether they are physical or metaphorical muscles. But there’s no law that says your practice has to be an unpleasant experience in order to be effective. In fact, I think the opposite is the case. Practice is much more effective when we enjoy it.
Here’s some more of my composition drawings a few months later. The point here is not so much that there’s been incredible progress, it’s that I’m still going.
Although actually, the drawings are starting to look a bit more balanced if you ask me.
As I write this, I’ve been going for over a year. This kind of thing has recently started to appear in my sketch book:
The stone is gradually wearing away. Soon I’ll be able to see right through it, and design and composition will no longer be the weakest part of my drawing and painting.
To me, these most recent drawings are clear evidence that my skill with design and composition has improved to a point where my designs are noticeably better than they were. And because this is a skill I’ve developed, it will naturally feed into everything I do. My sense of spacing has got better.
I don’t need to remember long lists of compositional rules. I don’t need mathematical formulas. I’m building up a natural feel for design, but not natural in the sense that I was born with it. I most certainly wasn’t. It’s natural in the sense that it happens fairly easily as part of all my drawing now, and that will be increasingly so the more I practice it.
Perhaps it would be nice if there was some quick fix that would help us get better at something without having to put in all those hours of practice.
But there isn’t. If you make the practice enjoyable, though, and start small, you’re much more likely to keep going. Just by enjoying your practice and keeping it going, you’re much more likely achieve your goals.
One drop at a time, and the patience to see it through. That’s all it takes.
So, why 1,366 steps?
Simple, really. I just counted the number of composition practice drawings I’ve done since I started with the practice last year. I must say, I’ve enjoyed every one.
Thanks, as always,
Paul
Posted: December 3rd 2012
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well, that was just delicious reading! I used to live near Rye in East Sussex, and the beaches in that area have the most amazing stones washed up – with holes right through them… As you say, that didn’t happen overnight. (a worthwhile day trip for you and the family btw, with wellies) I’m delighted that you’ve kept going with this. I read the book too (which isn’t exactly the easiest read in the world) and use the exercises in my classes, and it IS a transformational process, one which delights all who begin the task of settling into visual… balance. Well done. At this rate, they’ll be calling you an overnight success!
Best
Julie
Thanks Julie! Nice to hear from you.
I agree the Dow book requires a bit of…interpretation, let’s say. I find the same with Harold Speed. But they’re both really worth persevering with because there’s wonderfully useful stuff in there if you can get past the style.
I’m really glad to hear you’re using it with your students. They are very lucky to have have someone as clued up as you teaching them! I agree also, the word is transformational.
>they’ll be calling you an overnight success!
Hehe. I still have another few thousand drawings to do before I earn that moniker.
I’ve bookmarked beaches near Rye for a visit 🙂
Julie is right. Rye is beautiful. But my problem is not easy steps but the hard one. The first step of my journey! I can feel it coming. Just keep your advice coming. PS. You still owe me a coffee.
I do owe you a coffee! Let’s try and do it soon.
In lieu of that, perhaps a little more gentle advice will do. The first step isthe hardest, so make it as small as you possibly can. Open your sketchpad at a pre-determined point in your daily routine. Something small like that.
Then congratulate yourself (very ipmortant step!)
Then take the next one.
. Thanks. as always. In Brazil, we say, soft water in hard rock, hits both sticking up. “(água mole em pedra dura, tanto bate até que fura).It’s fantastic!
hello paul, when you first wrote about the Dow exercises I bought the book and started out as you did but somehow faltered along the way and stopped.
Oh Paul, what an inspiring letter.
I’m getting back to daily practice….harder this time!
Thanks for keeping our feet to the fire.
Back to the drawing board. You are an artist.
Beautiful ink work. The diligence has paid off.
No wonder that The Jade, gave you time and praised your work.
Back to work.
elaine.
Love. Pass it on.
The value of your daily daily practise is wonderful! One of the best parts of my daily yoga practise has been the confidence created by doing it regardless. One day I’ll start it with drawing!
Hi paul. Finally reading the book. I had noted it when you mentioned it in your email. If anyone’s interested, it is free to look at in various forms, on open library.org .
It’s lovely. Lots of nice examples of composition using line and limited tones. lots of good advice.
I like how Dow suggests we can practice improving our designs by copying over them with tracing paper, and that its ok to draw first in pencil, before using ink. Hopefully this makes getting starting practicing simpler and easier.
designing and composition has to be practiced alongside the technical skills or you wont be able to create art.
Youre moving things around and choosing what to include, and what to leave out or simplify, in order to create something of interest for the viewer. And to express what is essentially you. That’s worth practicing.
Hi Maria Vitoria, thanks for the translation! I’m not sure it came out quite as you intended but we’re definitely talking about the same thing. Now you just need to teach me how to pronounce that 🙂
Anna, don’t feel bad about that. Keeping going with this kind of practice is not easy. It sounds odd, but regular practice is a skill in itself that needs practising too. There are effective and less effective ways of getting into a routine.
The most effective thing is just to start really small, 5 minutes a day or even less. Then gradually ramp it up. Also, try to fit your practice into your routine by choosing a specific action you do every day,preferably once a day only, and do your practice after that.
Send me an email if yu want some help with this.
Hi Elaine, great to hear from you. Remember, like rain drops 🙂 raindrops are small, so start with a very small amount of practice every day and it will come much easier.
Funny you should say that Tracey. On the seven day regular practice challenge we ran a while ago, the most telling comment from the people signed up was the confidence that succeeding at keeping going with their practice gave them. I feel it too. It translates into more confidence in every part of your life, I agree, and is almost worth doing for that reason alone!
I think today would be a good day to start it with drawing…you up for it? Drop me an email and we’ll see if I can help you get started.