Just like a computer repeats a process over and over so our mind can be set to repeat one process over and over until it is learned in our brain and set in our motor development. For some musicians iterative practice is the only way to catch some licks on the guitar or to pick up certain parts of a song by playing it over and over again. For the musician the ear is the most important in regarding practice. When the ear is trained then the structure of music itself is exposed. Listening practice is the most important. Then those pieces can be repeated and repeated and finally listening extends beyond the piece and includes the sounds of daily life and the sounds from the heart. Then the piece can be played with and a new creation can be achieved. For musicians it is not easy to wait and listen. And in a world that thirsts for product there is not much time to listen.
For some the visual artist the practice of iterative sketching can be the most efficient way to draw one part of the body or learn one stroke or technique to perfection or at least to satisfaction. But as listening is most important for the musician, seeing is most important for the visual artist. How we perceive the world is represented on the canvas. If we see things just for face value then our art is plastic and we can not go beyond reality. If we see more it is a bit difficult to express what we see through a brush stroke or the movement of a pen. When we get is scribbles and this is where most children start out.
If we want to express the deep emotions and feelings of art we also must obtain the structural understanding of shapes and figures. There are some basic rules like a canvas only has a certain amount of space and we only have a certain amount of time to get to a point in the sketch or painting. There are rules about light and direction. There are rules about placing objects in a landscape and rules about placing body parts on the body, but all those rules can also be broken and they need to be. But before the rules can be broken it is proper for the artist to know the rule that was broken. Then there is some significance and meaning.
I gave my sons the task of drawing faces repetitively. I told them they could move parts of the face a little each time. They decided to break the rules as much as possible but still kept the parts of the face on the face.
The result is that after a few they couldn't control their creativity but wanted to change the faces even more so. They got sick of only one kind of face.
I did a similar exercise with Koala faves drawing a big Koala nose in the middle. The result is I got more control over the digital pen. You can't see much improvement on one set. It is a process that should be repeated daily for a short time. Then results can be seen weeks later.The problem is that my mind already has stuff done that I want drawn so even though I am lacking the know how or the tools I will get what is in my mind into digital art the best I can.
