Practice
Duration
3+ years, ongoing
Format
Weekly sessions, timed studies (1-15 min)
Classification
1. Why I return to it
I keep coming back to croquis, observational figure drawing, because it demands everything at once: attention, speed, restraint. The human body is endlessly complex and never fully still. Even when posed, something shifts—breath, weight, tension. You have a short window to see what matters and commit to it.
This practice sharpens how I perceive, decide, and act under pressure. Tools change. Seeing doesn’t.
2. The practice
For three years, I’ve attended weekly or biweekly sessions, drawing exclusively from life. Most sketches last one to three minutes, some extend to ten or fifteen. The time limit removes hesitation: there’s no polishing, no second pass. Each drawing is an immediate response to proportion, balance, gesture, and light.
The instincts I train during these sessions show up in how I approach design work: shaping information hierarchy, editing scope, knowing when something is done.
3. What carries over
Making clear decisions under time pressure and committing early rather than endlessly iterating.
Editing with intent: knowing what to leave out, recognizing when something already holds, stopping before it turns into noise.
Composing through weight and silence, guiding the eye without over-explaining.
Understanding form through light, tension, and spatial relationships.
