“That won’t look like anything,” I told him. I showed him options.
“You’re right. That doesn’t really look like anything.”
“So, what’ll it be then?”
“I don’t know.”
“Be creative. Think of something new.”
“Give me a category.”
I listed lots of them.
He ignored me and said, “The Wishing Star.”
“That won’t look like anything either.”
“I’ve seen one,” he said brightly.
I showed him options and again he agreed with me that none were suitable. I challenged him once more to think of something new.
He thought for a good solid minute and then said, “Piranha.”
I nodded my head. Finally! Something new. I ran a search and he picked quickly.
“I knew you’d pick that one.”
“How did you know?”
“There’s just something about what you like that I could just tell.”
He was genuinely surprised that I had guessed it. I enjoyed drawing with the fat tip of the Sharpie today. I used the thin tip only for some fine tuning.
“That looks exactly like it. How come every time you do it, it looks exactly like it?”
“Because I focus.”
“And you draw what you see, not what you think you see,” he said remembering the mantra I recite in my head as I draw. It was my 8th grade art teacher who taught me that.
“Exactly.”
