The Art of Beginner's Mind

 

Enso Circle
Black watercolor

In Zen buddhism, the term “beginner’s mind” comes up frequesntly. Books have been written about it, and pontifications abound, though it is a simple concept: approach what you are doing as if you are a novice. You will be open and receptive to the experience, and will pay close attention to what you are doing, but will not overthink anything. 

I recently read an interview with the late Raymond Briggs that reminded me of this beginner's mind principle. He said he felt his first drawings were always the best, and all the drafts that followed were just attempts at trying to replicate that first drawing. I completely understood what he meant, as I have found that to be true for my own work, as of late.

It is especially the case for the brush pen Asian-influenced style I do, though it is also often true for my character drawings. The first little bunny I drew in haste, so as not to forget the idea, is one of the cutest sketches I've done. There is just something about the quickly drawn, imperfect lines that gives that little guy such personality. The later drafts, while still cute (and “better”), are, as Briggs said, attempts to capture the magic and essence of that initial sketch.     

Lately, I have been learning to embrace this realization, and have changed my creative approach. Nowadays, instead of doing numerous drafts and detailing each one, I will typically do a quick sketch to get the basic concept and composition down, then move on to the final version, occasionally with a draft in between if I feel it is needed. While this is less time-intensive it does, counterintuitively, seem to produce better results, with significantly less frustration around not being about to get it “just right” (i.e. most similar to the first drawing, since it is, essentially, the first drawing). Spontaneity, and a more relaxed approach to the whole process seems to work well for me, at least in this stage of my artistic journey. 

If you are interested in learning more about Zen, and the concept of beginner's mind, I would highly recommend the short book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki.