Harold and the Purple Crayon

"It’s one of the most profound books on drawing that has ever been made. I still have my copy from when I first received it at the age of two or three, with my scribbled annotations on it. The book is really about the way that drawing can take you on a journey that is surprising for the drawer, who is the protagonist with the pencil or crayon in their hand. Drawing itself leads you to places that you would never have gotten to any other way. That’s the story of Harold, which includes several moments where he really gets himself into trouble. He’s lost. The art of getting lost is really valuable. That’s a very significant lesson from this book. At one point Harold creates a mountain. And then he falls off the edge of the mountain and he’s just floating through space, but he’s got his crayon, so he draws a hot air balloon and safely floats back down to the ground. At another point, he’s hungry, so he makes an apple tree. When it’s time to move on he draws himself a monster to guard the apple tree, but the monster is too scary for him. He has drawn it so well, that his hand starts to tremble with fear. The ripples he makes with the crayon create an ocean and pretty soon he’s over his head in this ocean that he’s created through his own fear. Not to worry though! He comes up thinking fast and draws himself a boat and sails away, making it back to dry land. All of these are such lovely metaphors for how we create problems for ourselves and then solve them. We indulge in the magic of getting lost and eventually trust ourselves to find our way back. Drawing can do that for you! Going back to John Berger, I’m reminded of the way he invokes the idea of the mystery of existence. We are sometimes overconfident about our own understanding of the world. Drawing will reveal to us how much we don’t know, the mystery of it all, and that is also a great gift drawing offers us."