Sketching

As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m a fan of the TV show, Project Runway. Yes, it’s a silly show, and yes, I’m a bit embarrassed that I watch it.

However, even silly TV shows have nuggets of wisdom embedded in them, from time to time. Here are parts of what I remember from a dialogue between two designers on the show from last week’s episode:

Designer 1: “I don’t know what to do with this dress.”
Designer 2: “Where’s your sketch?”
Designer 1: “Oh, you know I don’t sketch!”
Designer 2: “Baby-girl you gotta sketch! How else are you going to know where you’re going with this?”

Baby-girl, you gotta sketch! I think this is going to be my catch-phrase for this week…

Sketching helps you to have a general idea of the design before you buy fabric, cut patterns, and spend time sewing. At first, this might seem uncreative, unimaginative, and lacking in spontaneity. However, you don’t have to develop every detail. You’re allowed to make adjustments and alterations as contingencies come up. In other words, sketching allows you to know where you’re going before you invest too much of your time, energy, or other resources.

I’ve always been fascinated by police sketch artists who draw faces as they listen to the witnesses. They sketch what they have never seen. They help others to recall and record their experiences.

Some people think that any sort of planning is equivalent to a lack of faith. These people like to improvise as they go, to ‘wing it‘, or ‘play it by ear’. Sketching out a plan before they start is seen as constricting to their creativity as well as a sign of distrust.

Sketching, jotting, making a to-do list, entering your plans in a calendar, writing down your thoughts as they come, talking out loud as you process an experience--these are all ways that we trace the outline of the big picture. 
 
God designs. Sketching merely allows us to develop a picture of HIS vision. Like sketch artists, we listen, we draw, we concentrate, we ask questions, we figure out the nuances of His pattern. Once God’s plan is developed in our minds, we are more likely to execute His design properly. But before you get to all that…Baby-girl, you gotta sketch!