What Would You Draw?

If you were told to draw a sun in elementary school, there was really only one default way to go about it. After choosing a yellow crayon, you would draw a single arc in the corner of a blank piece of paper. And there you have it—a sun. Simple. Default. Uniform. A bird, instead of having feathers and beaks and claws, became a squiggle of what looked like two half-circles stuck together. Drawing a landscape of grass became a single line of green across the page. In an elementary schooler’s eyes, everything is two-dimensional.

As you grow older, however, things start to look different. Perspective develops as we graduate from two-dimensional shapes to three-dimensional figures. Now, you are no longer allowed to hide behind simplicity. When asked to draw a simple landscape now, many of us would opt to make more complex drawings, because we have all developed a unique way of processing our surroundings. There are no longer the same mandatory components that we have to check off: A sun, grass, a house, and maybe birds if you’re feeling a little crazy.

This shift isn’t just about art—it’s a reflection of how our worldview evolves. As we gain experience, we begin to notice subtleties: shadows under objects, colors blending into each other, and the complexity behind what once seemed simple. Life isn’t a flat page anymore. Perspective, in art and in life, teaches us to embrace depth, complexity, and nuance, creating a richer and more meaningful understanding of the world.