Back To Basics

Back To Basics

Somewhere along the way I lost my draw, sketch & doodle gene. Not so many years ago no piece of paper was safe if it was within reach & I had a pen or pencil in my hand. I'm not particularly talented in the drawing or sketching department, although I could generally get onto paper a half decent representation of what I was trying to portray,  but I could always doodle up a storm as any old bill, phone book or piece of scrap paper used to be able to attest to.

As I was struggling to think of a design for a project today I wondered what had happened to the impromptu, unplanned art form of doodling & why it had all but disappeared from my life. Tonight, as I sat down to do something on the computer, the penny dropped. Technology is partially to blame.

Eleven years ago when I first got a computer I still did most things manually. Somewhere along the way it was suggested that we were heading towards a paperless society - my brain must have absorbed that idea, taken it & run with it.

Instead of hand drafting patterns I'd do it on my computer & then take them to be enlarged at a copy shop. When it came to patchwork or Cross Stitch I had design programs for those. Rather than draw a rough plan to map out an idea on paper, I'd open Smart Draw & do it tidily, precisely & to scale. Now I pay my bills, that arrive via email, online & if I want to find out where to get something locally I look online rather than use the phone & ring around. I used to doodle all the time when I was 'on hold' during phone calls.

Worst of all if I had a rough design in mind for something I wanted to do, be it knitting, needlework or a painting for the kids room, I'd search online to get inspiration rather than slog it out in a sketch book trying to get the idea in my head to look right on paper. 

You can see where this is going - in short my imagination has gone into hibernation. I realised today when I had to search through an old notebook, because I knew there was a doodle in there somewhere that would at least give me a starting place for something I could do on the small blank canvas I had before me, that I don't think in pictures any more.

My brain doesn't have to think in pictures because everything is out there at the touch of a button....or at least the typing of a few specific keywords into a search engine & you have instant visual overload.

A classic case of  "use it or lose it". I dont believe that I have completely lost it, but I suspect that I am going to have to retrain myself somewhat - & take a step back from my friendship with google ;)

It's time to play again - with pencil, pen, paper & my imagination. Time to back off from ease of access & get back to basics.