In the Cullen reading for today, she talks about intuition as “the inner voice” and says that is separate from reason or learned knowledge. Intuition and learned knowledge “work in conjunction” (45), she writes, but goes on to say that “the inexperienced designer may doubt personal instincts” (45) and “reason will counter many gut reactions and stifle intuition” (47).
In light of this, the sketchbook challenge this week is to cultivate your intuition or inner voice by sketching something that comes from your dreams, your imagination, your subconscious, or just something that inspires you or catches your attention for a reason you can’t quite explain. Try a sketch that feels risky or experimental.
In her book Some Memories of Drawings, the famous artist Georgia O’Keeffe describes the process of creating some of her drawings. She recounts how she turned away from what she learned in school and followed her gut, letting intuition and instinct guide her. Here are some passages from her book, as well as some of her drawings.