I keep reminding myself...

"see the shape, see the line, follow that line." I think it is a constant struggle, when drawing, to stay in the part of your brain that deals only with the shapes and lines you are seeing—not the part of your brain that says, "now I'm drawing the flap and now I'm drawing the box and the wrinkle in it..."

I am developing a theory that drawing objects that are not beautiful or cute or fascinating in themselves makes it easier to stay in your space/proportion/non-verbal right brain as you draw. You are not distracted by whether you are making the flower beautiful enough or the bunny cute enough. Interestingly, when you draw something like a little cardboard box that just came in the mail, it becomes beautiful in its own way. So much so that you really want to add the color that you know that cardboard box is.

 

Color added to scanned drawing, using Photoshop.