I’m sure you’ve heard of the saying “Practice makes perfect”. There’s no doubt we’ve heard it a hundred times before. But then, there comes the question “why”. I asked Mr. Webster the meaning of the word “practice”. And this is what he said.
“It means doing an action over and over again in the same manner. It is a repetition of behavior having a pattern.”
So how does it make us perfect our actions? Well, it doesn’t and it never will. It will only help you develop a habit that will then become difficult to change.
I’ve been drawing the anatomy of man lately. I always bring my sketchpad anywhere I go. Except when I go out on dates, of course. But that’s another story. When I see someone walking, sitting down, or just standing, I start sketching. But what I keep doing wrong is make the head too big or too small. Sometimes my sketch looks kind of awkward and uneasy. I kept on practicing and yet keep on doing the same mistakes over and over again. Then I found out the solution.
Every time I make a new sketch, I try to improve my work. I read books about anatomy and look for examples of the different poses of the human body. This way I am not practicing. I am improving. For if I practice, and then I am simply repeating the wrong behavior that would result in making the same mistake. Improving, on the other hand, is learning from the previous mistakes and not doing these mistakes the next time. I’ve been doing better sketches at present, and they aren’t as awkward and uneasy as my previous works. Improving still doesn’t really make us perfect on whatever we do. Maybe a few steps closer to perfection. Just like another saying says, “Nobody’s perfect”. =)