Week 9 : "Recall", I know it wrong my entire life. (Patreon)

I study drawing everyday for 2 months straight, 1000+ sketches, but I didn't feel getting better as much as my effort.

Why? What did I do wrong?

Because I focused too much on remember thing as effectively as I can, but I miss one of the crucial concept of learning....."Recall"

Recall is the process of recalling the memory of things you've learnt. It's a part of transferring a short-term memory to middle and long term memory which should be done after your learning process is completed for a while. Scientific fact confirms that recall, reuse, reread or revisiting the knowledge you already knew after a deep rest is the best way to master that knowledge.

But I did that too...I practice drawing everyday. Why I can't remember it?

I thought drawing everyday is the best way to gain the knowledge, but I'm wrong.

After I struggled for a while, my wife said, 

"You didn't recall what you drew."

"What!? But I draw everyday. I practice drawing a lot"

"When was the last time you draw the same picture twice with out a ref?"

The truth is, I drew "different poses" everyday but never drew it without references and never draw the same pose twice.

Then I realized, I remember only a little details about it. The skill I got is a measurement skill, not a drawing skill.

That comes the very important question. Why practice more doesn't mean getting better?

It's because the nature of practicing on each subject has different percentage of knowledge intersection from the first time. What the hell is that suppose to mean? Let me explain in a simple way.

- Practice running is to run again. The second time you run will be almost 90% like the first time you run. The feeling, the pace, the sore, it will be almost identical like the first try. The more you run, the faster you'll be.

- To Remember texts is to read it again. It's the same text, 100% the same. You read more, you remember more.

- Be good at solving equation, do a lot exercise will help. Because the theory doesn't change, method can be vary but not much, number changes but you use the same way to calculate, at least 50% the same as your first example.

- Playing music, practice makes perfect. You play the same song, the same note, you copy 90% of the original.

You may call it lucky or accidentally "the right way" to recall the knowledge. The nature of these practice method has almost identical as the sample you've learnt. So "Brute-force" practicing works well with these kind of subjects.

And what about creative subject? like Drawing from imagination, Music compose, Invention, Create new equation, Create new programming language?.....the second time you practice it, there will be less than 30% of similarity as the one you learnt or watch.

- Want new music? you can use only some part of the first, but you can't copy it whole.

- Want to draw new character? You can use the same body type but not all details.

- Want new equation? Use the same rule, you'll get the same result.

For these subject, Brute-force practicing won't work. You need to carefully breakdown the hidden process and simplify it to be your own version.

For me, I practice drawing female body in front pose, but when I practice the next day, I drew side view body pose instead. So only 20%-30% of the proportion I remember in the first pic will be used in the second one. That's why without a reference, I can't draw it by myself.

That's why I can't remember anything. Because when I practice, the second time is not exactly the same as the first one. It turns out I tried to create a new thing instead.

"It's an Applying stage not Recalling stage."

Applying is to make something different or create something new, you have to fully understand the fundamental of it which you can't do it if you don't have anything in your head first. 

So you have to remember it as clearly as you can and the best way to check yourself is to "Do exactly as the same as the sample" to find the reason behind and make sure that knowledge will be imprinted in your brain. Then after that, you can apply that knowledge to create new things efficiently. 

In Conclusion : To remember things, Learn things exactly the same way as the samples teach you. Breaking down the process and make it your own version, and recall it by practicing the way it should. Practice smart, not practice hard.