Saturday Sketchbook: Here let me just show you this drawing...

One of the things that happens when you are working in any type of design or graphic profession is that people present you with a lot of very poorly done drawings that they use to diagram what they are exactly looking for.

My father use to draw on napkins when he was working on a project or wanted to illustrate something, usually to the dinner table during an argument. And he'd always pull his pen out of his front pocket and begin to scribble something down. If he didn't have a pen or napkin or paper ready he'd show us by arranging the salt and pepper shakers.

I spent thanksgiving with my parents and after I had about two really strong beers my dad pulled me aside to ask if I wanted to see how the pitch of a roof was calculated and built. He pulled me into the garage and got to work on a plank of wood that he had laying around, producing an old wood shop pencil to show me the proper way of finding the angle and building the roof. He then took me to the outside shed that he is now planning to rebuild and expand and showed me exactly how it works in practice.

We both looked up at the ceiling of the building and he explained again how every piece was constructed, and then turned to the walls to show me how those were built.

A few months prior to that me and Brittany were driving home from hanging out with some friends. And as we were talking about our friends new work shed / studio I blurted out "I could build you a work shed if I wanted to." She insisted that there was no way I could. I wouldn't know the first thing.

A couple months later and my dad is explaining un prompted exactly how to build one. And drawing the thoughts from his head down on a scrap of wood.

One of the strengths of an art degree, or of pursuing art as a hobby, is that you learn the importance of communicated visually. You start to understand that the ability to produce a napkin at dinner and draw out exactly what you are failing to verbalize is an incredible strength.

I've been thinking about drawing as this kind of gift lately. Something to be treasured and passed on down generations and to as many people as possible. I find myself doing the same things as my father during complicated conversations, where I feel like the words in my brain are lagging behind the visualization.

I don't draw too much for work, and most of my professional work has transitioned into digital diagramming and types of wire frames. But there are times, when the road block sets in that the fastest way to get out of it is just to draw a poorly drawn sketch and show it to someone.