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Draw to See: How Sketching Transforms Your Perspective
Learn to Look Beyond Labels and See the World Differently
Have you ever drawn a tree like a lollipop on a stick? I did too, until I tried drawing a real tree as an adult. Suddenly, I realized that those leaves aren’t just a green blob on top.
There are veins, light, shadows, and a whole bunch of branches all twisted together. The minute I put pencil to paper, I saw how little I actually noticed about everyday things.
That’s when learning to draw started to change how I see the world.
Seeing Shapes, Not Labels
One of the biggest changes that happens when you start learning to draw is that you stop seeing “things” and start seeing shapes.
For example, instead of seeing a chair, you might notice the way the seat forms a rectangle or how the legs look like long cylinders. It helps you break down objects into simple forms.
It sounds weird, but it’s kind of like a puzzle where you draw without letting your brain tell you what you’re drawing. I remember sitting outside one day, sketching a car.
When I stopped thinking “car” and started noticing how the roof curved like an archway and how the shadows underneath looked like dark…