Drawing as Curiosity Embodied
1/10/2023
The NY Times recently published an opinion piece that says the key to success in college is “a simple willingness to learn.” It goes on to discuss the obstacles that get in the way of approaching situations with curiosity.
According to behavioral economist George Loewenstein, curiosity arises when we feel a “gap between what we know and what we want to know.” This “information gap” is a great motivator for learning.
I teach foundation drawing to students of all ages, and I begin lessons with the reasoning behind WHY we might want to learn to draw. Drawing is curiosity embodied: drawing is learning to see. Learning to draw from observation involves being curious about the world around us and how it looks.
For me, teaching drawing is not only about concrete skills—it’s also showing that drawing is a way of seeing. Drawing is learning to more thoughtfully observe the world around us.
Drawing is being open to seeing what is actually there, and not what we think is there based on preconception.
Being open to finding what we didn’t see at-first sets us up to challenge our ideas. I think learning to draw makes someone a more careful observer, and in turn a more empathetic person.
Speaking about her conceptual drawing practice, the artist Vija Celmins said
“I see drawing as thinking, as evidence of thinking, evidence of going from one place to another. One draws to define one thing from another.”
For me, drawing demands that I be present in the act of looking. Drawing helps me remain open to what can be seen, learned, and found. Drawing is one way to more fully understand the world.
Here’s to a year full of curiosity and learning,
Sonya
