Neutral observation of reality

Both yoga and drawing push us towards better observation of reality. There are wonderful parallels between both these activities.

Yoga and objectivity

Yoga practice trains us to more easily assume the position of the observer in the world and in our daily lives.
And thus:

• We are less easily misled by our own thoughts, emotions, beliefs and judgements about the things around us.
• Moreover, we are able to perceive situations more neutrally. We recognise that different viewpoints and perspectives on the same phenomenon are possible.
• We soon understand that ours are almost always coloured. As if we are looking through tinted or smudged glasses.

This is often a big challenge.

Objectivity in artistic creation

Very often a drawing course starts with observational drawing.
In observational drawing, we also look for the most neutral representation of the subject of our drawing. The aim is to learn to see and reproduce it in an accurate and objective way. And this has several fascinating implications:

• it is amazing to see how different and distorted our representation of the model is compared to reality!
• We learn to adjust our gaze and make it more objective.
• We train the coordination of our vision and the motor skills of our hands.
• Soon, we discover our desire, often impatient, to proceed directly to a personal interpretation of the subject. And that is very different from a simple objective reproduction.

In any case, the drawing phase of observation is a useful phase that serves us well. Because it can improve the quality, intensity, thoroughness and depth of our gaze and our vision of things.

Much more than the ability to produce truly flawless classical drawings, it is these discoveries, about the relativity of our vision, that constitute the true, rich harvest of this kind of drawing activity.