Have you ever been intimidated by how to draw a stickman?!
I have done a load of hiking with my family in the mountain ranges around Cape Town. Our mountains are pretty rugged, and there are times as we set out when I look up and feel daunted by the heights we plan to conquer.
I was reminded of this intimidation factor last night…
I had someone new at my live cartooning class
No big deal, right? But the work that she had brought along… was so beautiful that I was in awe. And this was my “how to draw a stickman step by step” class!
It reminded me of a colleague of mine who runs a bass guitar website. He says there are far better bass players out there than he is, but it turns out that he is better able to teach raw beginners than they are.
I feel the same way. I’ll never be a Disney cartoonist but I love to see people grow from the “I can’t draw” stage to being absolutely delighted with what they create.
My speciality is getting people from beginner levels to a very respectable intermediate one.
Anyway, back to my intimidating student
She had already attained a very high standard of lifelike drawing.“I’m not sure what you doing here. What do you want me to do for you?” I asked.
She admitted that perhaps I wouldn’t be to help her, but then she mentioned something that evoked a ton of respect. She had looked at what she was doing and realised that she needed new techniques to reach a new zone of creativity.
She needed to be able to draw faster and create quicker. “I am prepared to try something new, and I’m hoping you can help me with that,” she said.
Teachability is so powerful in any area of life, isn’t it?
That’s a topic for another day, but I realised that I could definitely help.
It was great to move on from being intimidated through having someone admit that even though they do the most amazing work, there is something they can learn.
We learned how to draw a stickman? Seriously?
I taught her how to draw a stickman step by step. And then, we drew stick figures in all sorts of poses. We drew running stick figures , then jumping stick figures and finally dancing stick figures. We ended off drawing dancing couples which is one of my ultimate favourite things to do! It’s just so funky to see how “the Sticks” interact with each other.
How to draw a stickman: I love seeing Sticks dance!
Guess what? She found surprisingly difficult
This accomplished person who can draw the most exquisite, high-fantasy figures with full musculature and incredibly detailed costumes, and a drawing a stick figure person in this way was challenging for her.
It was a good lesson for me. We all have something to learn and something to teach, and there’s always something that can stretch you. What is ridiculously simple to me (and I felt almost embarrassed suggesting it to her) and yet drawing Stickies helped, and I’ll be sending her followup exercises.
She needed with interaction, challenge and feedback
Simply some novel ‘hacking’ techniques to tackle getting out of a rut and creating faster. Given the quirkiness of our teaching approach at Da Vinci, I could deliver so it was exciting and a great win-win! We came away with mutual respect and I thoroughly enjoyed our learning time together.
Do you feel blocked creatively?
Not just in drawing? Are you intimidated by anything? I won’t necessarily teach you how to draw a stickman, but I would love to hear from you. Listening and creating solutions is one of my strengths. Click over into your email and tell me what your biggest challenge is right now.
You never know, you might inspire my next newsletter 😉