Art class isn’t really about drawing. It’s about finally seeing what’s in front of you.

Drawing something forces you to look at it far longer than you otherwise would, and that is where the real change happens. You find out you had been working from a symbol in your head rather than the thing itself: the shape of a hand, where a shadow actually falls, how a corner meets the floor. The skill is attention. The drawing is just proof you looked.

Spend ten minutes drawing something in your room, badly, without judging the result. Notice what you discover that you had never registered. The point is the looking, and it carries into everything afterward.