Perhaps the word ‘spiritual’ is too loaded. Any job or occupation or task can be a transcendent experience if one is totally in the present. Drawing is just one of many. There are artists who are fairly prosaic and those who are poetic. A great drawing, in my opinion, transcends its material composition... charcoal, ink, paper, etc., and creates a new experience. Yes, eye/hand coordination are essential and achieved through thousands of hours of practice. There are probably road sweepers who exceptional or dish washers or whatever. Our culture, as you know, elevates certain occupations.... so artists and rock stars enjoy greater rewards.

Having said that, for me being able to draw is a magisterial skill, a deeply yearned for ability, something that can never really be conquered. Nowadays drawing is back, with atelier and the sight-size method springing up everywhere. A drawing that you make that you’re happy with (such a rarity) can give you a lifetime of pleasure.

As the late theatre designer John Elvery wrote on a drawing for a stage prop: "Words fail, see sketch". Quite often people who say "I can't draw" were told that around age seven when it's thought that one should be learning to draw things that look like things. They should be ignored (the teachers) and people should just keep drawing.

I have re-started to draw now having never done more than the odd back of envelope stuff. I thought I would like drawing buildings (being exercises in perspective and straight lines) but have surprisingly found that I like drawing portraits. I just use photos at the moment, but am fascinated as to what makes a face recognisable - our eyes (or brains) filter so much from real life and then a similar process reconstructs a face from the marks we make on the paper. It has changed the way |I look at people now.

I started drawing every day in 2020. Why? Honestly, I am compelled to. I draw whatever comes to me. If I am uninspired I draw a line or a shape and see what it becomes. Today I drew a whole array of pots and pans from a photo. Yesterday I drew a duck in the desert, wearing an explorer type outfit. When I don't have quality sketchbooks, pads or other decent surfaces to draw on I will draw on the backs of envelopes, letters or packaging. I think it might serve a purpose so necessary for me that I am unable to see it. And besides, I don't need to know the real why as long as the compulsion remains.

Rembrandt is so frighteningly good that I sometimes avoid looking at his drawings… ( )

Excellent step-by-step book. I started convinced that I couldn't draw, and was producing decent landscapes within a week. ( )