How to be a better ...

Mike Lynch, a magazine cartoonist, shares some insights from cartooning classes his post "Draw 160":

And that's what drawing is all about; acquiring the knowledge of how to draw. How do you draw a fish? A bird? a cool car? a poodle?

Sure, when you read those words you get a visual in your mind -- but how to train your hand to draw what you imagine?

By drawing a lot.

How do you get to be a better cartoonist?

There is the old piece of advice: take a stack of paper the same height that you are. Draw on every one. When you get to the bottom, you’ve gotten a lot of the bad drawings out of your system and you’re a better artist.

What's more, this doesn't just apply to drawing. (Well, perhaps the drawing on paper part of the instruction.) It fits nicely with McGrath's idea of it being his job to fail.

"I kind of look at it as -- it's my job to fail until I don't. You try something, fail, fail, fail, keep failing, and hopefully eventually you look at something and say, 'that's not a total failure' and then you nurture that little ember and follow it and hopefully you get somewhere."

It's right in line with Gladwell's "10,000-Hour Rule." ("No one gets to the top unless he or she puts in 10,000 hours of practice in a field, be it computer software, hockey, music, or law.")

Go visit Lynch's post. You're sure to be impressed (and entertained) by all the talented work by the students in his class!

And whatever your passion... go and practise. Now!


[h/t: Drawn.ca]

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.