Yesterday I helped you see that you are a visual person (did you catch the pun there?) Today I’m going to help you overcome another common obstacle to visual awesomeness: The “I can’t draw to save my life” myth. Because you can draw.

Notice, I never said you’re an artist. But saying you can draw is like saying you can talk. You may not be a public speaker, but you can talk, right?

You can draw.

Here’s how I know: You can write, can’t you? Do basic math?

IMG_0455

 

I knew you could. But you see the truth now, don’t you? Every bit of punctuation, every number, every letter in both lowercase and uppercase, in both printing and cursive… is a symbol.

And symbols are pictures.

Which means you can draw at least 130 pictures. Plus @,#,$,%,^,&,* and more. (No, I didn’t just swear at you).

But it gets better.

Can you draw a heart? An arrow? A circle? A thought bubble? A stick man? A square? A text bubble? A star? A line? basic waves?

You can?

In reality, the average person has mastered the drawing of at least 150 pictures. Plus, you can combine these symbols to create hundreds more. A circle, a colon, and a parenthesis is a smiley face, for example. A line and a thought bubble become a tree.

Granted, these are all “stick figure” quality drawings, but they work. They get the job done, which is communicating an idea. Art is different. Art is about emotion, about nuance, about imagination. But basic pictures are about clarity, and you already have the tools to get ‘er done. So good news!

You can draw.

In my next post we’re going to start tapping into your personal picture power.

Your turn: Has this post changed your view of your skills? How so?