Mark making is everything in drawing and here’s why.
I have drawn the same images multiple times, they all look great, lol, but.
Some look better than others because of the marks.
When doing quick sketches in your sketch books, you make many of these marks quickly without thinking too much. Especially if you like to push yourself with time challenges. Like, life drawing, which is drawing something from real life, like a human figure but only giving yourself 5 minuets to do it.
In these situations you tend to create marks that are worth looking at as these are the marks that make your drawings yours, we all have our own nuances. If you think about it these types of marks, hatching, cross hatching, pointillism and modelling, are naturally the only marks you can make with a drawing tool.
Drawing tools are used in this way for that reason so even when you are in a rush and not thinking about what you are doing as much as you would normally, you will most likely be making all of these types of marks anyway.
When I have shown other people these multiple drawing/paintings of the same subjects and asked them if one stands out more than the others they have often replied with a yes. When asked why they more often than not say it just looks better. It just looks better is just not good enough because I want to know why. When I have had the chance to push them harder to find out they have always said it is because the marks. Some marks look better in one rather than the others.
By taking notice of the marks you make, why you make them, how you make them means you are focusing your skills and developing your drawing technique, style, method through experimentation and observation, action and reflection.
Action and reflection is the bases for most everything we do, it is the learning process, just in case you didn’t know.
Mark making is what makes your drawing into a drawing.
Mark making is king when it comes to drawing.