For this SCAB I am not gonna talk about my first drawing class, or the terrible portraits I made of my classmates… It is preferable to close the victim sketchbook and never re-open it again… For the good of everyone…

I would like to talk about the first thing Ian told us! Well not sure it was the first thing (would be weird)… And I do not remember it exactly, but, let say I get the idea: You have to keep all the lines you draw, even if it’s not good!

I immediately understand that this sentence will be useful, in a first-place because Ian seemed so serious about it and in a second, because, after a time of reflexion, you’d notice that it can apply to a lot of situations and for a lot of different fields. For the drawing is used as a guide, to not made the same mistake twice, to find the perfect line and in the end to do the perfect drawing, how you want it to be at least. You may not agree with this technique, but knowing that Mattis or Picasso use to keep all their misses lines on their paintings should convince you, and if it’s not, well I am waiting to see one of your canvas on a MoMa’s wall.

But like I said, the drawing or painting are not the only areas where this advice can be used to improve your work and by consequences yourself. I am the kind of guy who likes everything to be the way that I want and imagine in my head. If not, I throw it away. And it’s a terrible mistake… Indeed, every mistake is not! It can also be a different way to see things, a different answer, a different truth, a way to escape the frame. So it’s a piece of new information. And we should never throw away information! Because one day or twenty minutes later, for a reason or another, the mistake you made can be useful. And then you’d be happy to find this piece of paper, with a coffee stain on it, stuck between your diary and a book which never leaves your bag. Even if this « mistake » is not the perfect solution, it can be a way that would lead you on the path, that will give you a different direction for your researches. And in the end maybe that this mistake could become a piece of art that deserves to hang on (your) MoM’s wall.