Imagination is tightly linked to observation. A familiarity with how something looks, makes it possible to imagine how it might look. While it is the goal of this book to help you with drawing the world as it might look, there is no better way to develop the imaginative muscles than drawing from direct observation. Every time that you draw from life, you strengthen the connections between eye and hand. These connections can be powerfully adapted to drawing images in the mind’s eye.

Spin-Offs

What I call a “spin-off”, is a new drawing that uses a previous one as its source. The original is often generated out of straightforward observation. This gives you familiarity and confidence with the subject. The spin-off then takes the subject, or parts of it, in a new and inventive direction. The process links, in sequence, two distinct operational modes: observation and imagination- eye and mind’s eye.

The top drawing (brush and ink washes) was made from direct observation. The surrounding “spin-offs” are playful variations of the hand food, and fork.