Looking Vs. Seeing

This week I have to paint the brooklyn bridge for a book cover and the huntington light house as well . Its kind of cool to be asked to paint a landmark (really a watermark) from where I grew up--- huntington long island. (that and cleburne texas)


Here is one thing I have learned in life--There is looking and then there is seeing..Looking is what most people do---they walk past something and notice it vaguely (even something they walk past everyday) seeing  is really looking at something with an aim towards understanding it--the structure of a tree or a bridge or a body. The hardest thing for artists to learn is to not draw faster than your eye when you draw the figure or an object. The hand wants to party and the eye wants to stay home, stay calm and take in what it is seeing. As you go about your day try to really SEE the world around you--the light, the shadows, the way trees grow. It is amazing how we go through life half blind and not seeing what is around us. Drawing is easy--its a patience game.


I watch artists all the time drawing the figure--- they stop looking at whats in front of them and they start drawing what their notion of whats in front of them..you are not drawing a foot--you are drawing shapes--forget everything you know and draw whats in front of you--if it isnt there, dont draw it! simple