The Wave, Paul Gauguin

My art teacher at university urged his students, “draw what you see, not what you know.” It is the one concept that encompasses the entire class, always the central theme of all his classes.

Draw what you see, not what you know.

You know sand covers the beach, even under the surf – the ocean floor – yet you see water wash over sand at the beach – the deepening color, the disappearing.

“I shut my eyes in order to see,” says painter Paul Gauguin.

Draw the beach by seeing its nature.