Back to the fundamentals

Does anyone remember Lee J Ames?

He did these “How to Draw 50 Animals”, “How to Draw 50 Famous Cartoons”, “How to Draw 50…(etc)” books when I was a kid.

He did step by steps like this. He’d start with a circle, or a square, and the lines for arms, or eyes, or whichever part was next. And before you know it, you’d have drawn a Felix the Cat, or Betty Boop, or a horse…

I remember being fascinated. I would try to follow the process but more often than not, I would skip ahead and completely ignore the fundamentals of the underlying shapes.

That’s always how I’ve learned though. I do what I think a master would do and then once I think I’ve taken my own understanding as far as I can, I then back track and learn the fundamentals.

I used to say, “technique is for those too scared to discover one”. I don’t know if that’s arrogant, or pretentious, or genius. I just know that’s how my brain has always worked.

I have always loved the “figuring it out” stage. I hate being taught. I love letting my brain do its thing.

It’s hard to teach people that way though. So I always encourage others to learn and apply the fundamentals. But honestly, the most important thing is having fun and letting whatever happens happen.