Hello!

I have a question regarding the 50% Rule -- specifically, whether or not it's okay to erase marks you've made to "fix mistakes" when in the middle of a drawing session.

My understanding of the 50% Rule is that it's designed to help one to draw without worrying about the quality of the end result, since these judgments we impose on ourselves tend to hinder us when drawing the things we care about. It gets us to stop evaluating how our work has turned out and instead focus solely on the act of drawing itself, allowing us to draw whatever we want freely and unhibited, and therefore grow in the process. The video lecture describes it as returning to a "childlike" state of mind, as kids are able to try whatever they want without fear of judgment.

What I was wondering is this: if I make a "mistake" when drawing for the 50% Rule -- a misplaced mark, or an object that I realize is the wrong size, for instance -- is it okay to "correct" it? (As someone who's mostly been using pencil, for me, "correcting" it would come in the form of erasing it and trying again differently.)

My initial thought was that "fixing" anything should not be pursued when doing 50% Rule work, since the point of it is to force us to fail and learn to be okay with that.

But on the other hand, it's stated in the lecture text that one should use the 50% Rule to push boundaries and experiment -- to always aim for what you want to be able to produce in the future. Would erasing your marks so you can try something differently not fall under that?

I guess my main question is whether it's more important to 1) force yourself to be confronted with failure, and therefore not fix any mistakes you make while working under the 50% Rule, or 2) allow yourself to erase marks and "redo" aspects of a 50% Rule drawing as you go along, so long as you don't assign any judgments to the work after the fact.

I apologize if this is long-winded and confusing.

Thanks!