(Ummm, after reconsidering myself many times, it would be unfair for me just to repost my old blog—the one in Live Spaces—here, so I chose to leave my old blog just as it is (but deleting every posts) there. From now on, I will treat this as a new blog, not a readress from my old one.)
Okay now…where to begin? Oh yes. Let me explain again about this me and this blog.
I’m an artist myself (up to certain extent), a sketchbook artist to be exact. There’s something fascinating about drawing and sketchbook for me. Seriously. I’m in love with sketches, doodles and drawings. The chemistry between me, pencils and paper had began since the earliest time of my childhood--I would draw anything almost anytime when I was a kid. From my house's walls, the wooden furniture, to the morning paper my father used to read, nothing escapes my doodles. :-)
But honestly, I never took any formal training in drawing or anything about visual art in my life. Ever. (Except some drawing classes in my primary school.) And there are, of course, some reasons behind my strange choice. First thing first, for me drawing wasn’t just about skill. It’s not about hand-eye coordination, it’s not about nimble fingers. IMSO (that’s it in my SUPERIOR opinion) drawing is about communication. It’s about sharing your thoughts and ideas to the audiences. Drawing is about thinking. Daydreaming and imagination. Much like writings or verbal communications, drawing too is primordial and fundamental means to translate, document, record and analyze the worlds we inhabit.
A friend of mine once said,
“Sometimes I envy you. You can draw anything that popped in your head, that’s cool. I’d like to be able to do that, I’d like to sketch as well…but again, I hesitate. My drawings are ugly as hell.”
Wow. I was amazed, and saddened as well. Umm, my friend, I got to tell you something: to be honest, my drawings are also ugly. There are many more artists out there who can draw better than I do, but I couldn’t care less, could I? For drawings itself, it isn’t about how beautiful the outcome will be. NO. Absolutely no. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, no one can measure beauty. It’s about the message you’ll bring to the audience (or to yourself). It’s about creation and invention. It’s about showing explicitly something implicit like thoughts or ideas. It’s about enriching yourself and others as well. And that’s that about drawing. Like poetry or mathematics equations, drawing is a tool—a very primitive tool—to discover a whole new possibilities of this universe.
That’s why I’m setting up this blog. Because I believe in the communication power of drawing and sketch. And hopefully, anyone else will believe it too. So now, to my friend, and to everyone as well, what’s with the hesitation? Go on there and draw. Show the whole world the rich minds of intuitions and imaginations. Don’t hold up. Just like talking, drawing can also help you communicate with others, with the advantage of permanence.
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"We should talk less and draw more. Personally I would like to renounce speech altogether, and like organic nature, communicate everything I have to say in sketches."
~Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Self Portrait 1.0, by Gilang Danu
