Draw what you see

Creative day 06-07-08/31: crayon drawings

Our friends at Piccola pasta, across the street

I'm really enjoying the concept of going back to creative basics in my creative challenge. I love drawing whenever I'm with kids, and a few years ago, I actually was surprised to re-learn the fundamentals of self-expression when assisting in a first-grade class in New York City. The teacher, one of my first wonderful mentors, always told the students, "Draw what you see!" It's so simple, but it really helps in breaking down a complicated scene or image, whether it's from life or something in your head.

I know nothing about drawing beyond that, as you can tell from my rudimentary drawings of people, but I do like to put together the elements of a scene, and add details and backgrounds — two of the key ingredients in those first graders' drawings. If their drawings didn't have details and backgrounds by the time they hit the "done basket," they had to take them back and finish them!

In my drawings here, I recreated a few different things: a highlight of my day, a memory re-imagined, and my favorite part of a loved movie. See if you can figure out which is which! ;)

I have been very interested in the idea of embracing creativity and imagination more, in our adult lives.

Andrzej talks about how we lose sight of the importance of play beyond childhood. I embraced play when I went to the local swimming pool twice over this summer vacation: I went with the flow, did somersaults in the water when I wanted, got out when I wanted, played games with S and L, and tried to see how many different things I could do in one setting: the water!

One of my latest obsessions, Forty Days of Dating, is also an exercise in grown-up creativity. If you're not following it, start from Day 1 and watch as Tim and Jessica, two artist-type friends in New York City, pair up on a dating challenge to figure out what makes them tick in relationships. It's fascinating! Jessica wrote an article on Good about the importance of play in our adult work, and in our adult lives generally. It was a very helpful reminder to me that adult life does not have to be boring. As one of my other mentors (another artist!) once quoted her mother, "Only boring people get bored." There is always something you can create out of nothing, and new ways to do it. I hope to continue embracing this aspect of my imagination when I head back to work tomorrow after these luxurious two weeks off!