The Bravery of Gesture
Letting go with gesture drawing can be very scary. We like to live in control, and we get attached to outcomes. We want to “make progress,” we want to “be good at something,” we want to be “advanced.” It is difficult to let these concepts go, but I believe if we want to uncover the true artist within, then we must let them go. If we cannot let them go, then we can accept our struggle and have the intention of letting them go. Gesture drawing is drawing that uses loose lines, shapes, or even squiggles, to make marks on the page. It can help to think about drawing from the shoulder and getting the entire body involved when doing this practice. Gesture drawing uses suggestion rather than perfect realism. It hints at the movement, features, and textures of a subject without rendering them in great detail. It gives us a “feeling” for something. Impressionism is an example of gestural art. We know that Monet’s water lilies are flowers without having to see every petal. Gesture drawing is a great way to get in touch with the flow of a subject, how it moves, and how it relates to other things in space. With a few lines, we can suggest a tree, leaves, a flower, or a cat. Try it out!
Bravery is a quality that we can strengthen through art practice. Art, like life, is all about practice. If we don’t put a mark down on the page because we are afraid of criticism, it is true that we can’t be judged by ourselves or others. But this is a tragedy. Your voice is a unique voice in the world, and even what you may perceive as a feeble attempt can touch and inspire others. The very act of putting pen, pencil, brush, marker to paper is a revolutionary act that asserts that your voice is important. You have something to say that only you can say. Being brave enough to make a mark and let it be seen by others is an act of courage. In my classes, I share with students that there is no right way. There are only many different ways of making art. In the world we live in right now, with so many videos demonstrating how to do something, we can get really locked into ideas of how something should look. I have watched my students struggle to replicate artworks from videos or books, carefully following the steps only to end up frustrated. I have noticed that when they put aside the example and work from their own hearts, they end up doing work that they are much happier with because it is a true authentic expression of who they are, and they can be more free to enjoy the process of creation without comparing to the original. After all, “comparison is the thief of joy” (Attributed to Teddy Roosevelt, though others have said this similarly). In addition, this work is consistently better quality because it is not trying to imitate, but it is original and it comes from a person’s own inner well of creativity.
Watercolor is another realm that requires bravery. It can be difficult to control the water and how the paint flows. As we know, we cannot really control anything in life (even though we often think we can), and watercolor can be a great teacher in this regard. When we stop trying to control it, it often showers us with beautiful unexpected gifts and “happy accidents” that we did not intend. When we let go, that is when the magic happens. So, I invite you to let go, dive in, and try your hand at gesture drawing, watercolor, or just making a mark on a page.
