What's up everybody? Over the past several weeks I came to a very interesting self-realization. I tend to over exaggerate detail whether it's a painting or a drawing. I heard from a recent video I watched but I can't remember which video it was and I don't really remember a word for word what was said but it said something along the lines of our brain is very good at filling in the blanks whether it be an art or even a text message where certain letters are missing but you can still read it without the need of those letters. Looking through many famous paintings I started noticing that while they do look very detailed it is almost like an optical illusion. Giving them a closer look I noticed that the detail that I thought that was there was actually my brain filling in the blanks. I do know that detail is important especially if hyper realism is what you're going for but me personally I want to be right where realism and abstract meet. I want to be messy while giving just enough sort of viewer can fill in the blanks which brings me to this exercise I made for myself. Randomly drawings. I browse through social media looking at other artists create incredible art using the least amount of lines and shapes while still giving just enough that we know what that thing is. So I went through Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram and randomly picked a few items to draw. Trying my best to only focus on the big shapes and trying to avoid any lines or shapes that will over complicate things. In this exercise I still noticed that I added a bit too much small detail that was not really necessary. I drew a closed book and while finishing up my brother came in and said you know you didn't have to write the word book on it. We know it's a book that made me chuckle and he was right. I knew that this first exercise wasn't going to magically raise my slight problem with over exaggerating detail but it did help push me in the right direction even if it was just a tiny nudge. I decided to use these Posca, Posca markers because since I purchased them I have only used them like three or four times so it felt right to put them to good use. And also because I knew I would not be able to erase any visible mistakes so it helped me be more deliberate with each line. In the process of making these minimalist drawings I was not worried about the shadows or highlights. I was only focused on the big and medium shapes keeping the small shapes to a minimum. I feel that with a few more of these exercises I can train my eye to only see the most important features, the features that can visually make it or break it. If you also have a need to over complicate detail I highly recommend you try this out. You can make minimalist drawings about things that you love or hate, a whole page of your favorite sneakers or favorite movie characters. You can draw any household item you see lying around your house. You know, make it fun. I think my need to over exaggerate detail can be a sign of lack of confidence I have of my work or maybe how I don't fully trust that the viewer is capable of interpreting what I drew. So I add and I add details so that in the end there is no question. But now thinking about this very carefully it almost seems like I am disrespecting the viewer. I think every artist has a certain thing that they struggle with. I guess this is my struggle but like every struggle that has come and gone I know I will eventually find a solution. It just takes time. I can honestly say that I love about 90% of these drawings I made. I think that my best ones keep the viewers attention away from the not so great ones. My favorite being this hat that I found on Pinterest. These paper clips also seem to catch my eye in a good way. And this sneaker really was my favorite to draw even though I see some lines that didn't have to be there. Overall I was very pleased with my attempt at minimalism. Thank you so much for watching. I'll see you in the next video.