Viewing the World With Intention
I read Drawing for Illustration by Martin Salisbury fully knowing that I will never become a professional illustrator. I just wanted to know more about it. I really enjoyed the way so many of the artists featured in the book talked about drawing. I could feel their love for their craft in their words and images.
Many of them talked about looking at the world through the eyes of an illustrator. Salisbury talked about how little memory of scenes we naturally retain. If you sit down with a sketchbook and try to draw a scene from your day, you realize how few of the visual details you actually remember. Did you even see them in the first place? Or were they just background noise?
This is a skill that most illustrators try to hone. They notice the facial features of the people sitting next to them in a café, the way rain is hitting a person’s umbrella, or the energy behind a person’s dance moves. They notice these things, then they draw them.
For me and my own purposes, I might try to draw these things but such drawings will likely never leave my sketchbook. But I really like this new way of seeing the world. I see things more intentionally even if I don’t end up sketching it afterward.
Seeing the Beauty in Everyday Life
A few days ago I was on a train. It was rush hour and it was full. An elderly woman got on. I noticed a few moments later a woman got up and tapped the older lady’s shoulder and offered her the seat she had been sitting in. The older woman gratefully accepted and the young woman stood for the rest of the ride.
Days later, I can still see that young woman’s face in my mind. I can see the two pieces of loose, dark curls framing her face. Her messy up-do. Her low-rise jeans. Her dark eyes and carefully applied makeup. I know she was about 5’7” tall. All of this would have been background noise if I hadn’t been reading Drawing For Illustration at the time. I’m really happy that I remember all of this- my life is richer for noticing it- even if I don’t have the skills to accurately express the beauty of the situation in a sketch.
Messy Bun Book Lover
(Originally posted on May 9, 2025)
Other posts involving Drawing for Illustration are:
- Book #12- Reflections on “Drawing For Illustration”
- When Curiosity Chooses the Book: Reading Drawing For Illustration
- The Blessing and Curse of Influence
- Modern-Day Posters
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