#25 Art Class

Two-posts in one day since I'd filched from another blog.

I've mentioned a few times that I've been taking an art class lately. It's been extremely satisfying, and I hadn't quite realized how satisfying I was finding it until I this week.

I used to draw quite a bit, but had stopped. A year ago I had made a resolution to start to draw every day for 30 minutes - that idea lasted for a week. This fall I decided I wanted to take an art class because I realized that I missed drawing. Since I started again I notice details that I didn't notice before, I notice how light and shadows fall, I notice things I'd like to try to draw, I notice again how artists tackle specific aspects of their drawings. It's like a window into a different perspective on things.

Last week we were to draw an object and make it look conceptually big, this week we were to do the same and make it conceptually small. Last week I struggled and struggled and ended up throwing out my various attempts. I knew what I wanted to put on the paper; the object I was studying was a violin with a snapped string that was curled up around the handle and springing into the air. I wanted to capture the spring and make it the centre of my drawing by contrasting it's "springyness" with the solid wood of the neck of the violin. It's been a long time since I've been that frustrated with a drawing. I can't remember the last time I actually threw something away. Typically I try to at least cut out the part that works and keep that - not last week though! Into the garbage it ended.

This week I took one look at the stool and immediately had an idea of how I wanted to capture it. I wanted it to be small and lonely in the middle of a blank page. I also wanted to use ink in order to make it look even more isolated and solitary. It was so satisfying to successfully get the idea I had in my mind onto paper that I thought I would share.

I feel in the mood to share my accomplishments today, so here is one from a few weeks ago that I was also happy with. It started by colouring charcoal on the page and then drawing with an eraser. It's a neat effect to be able to achieve the see-through quality in the bottle.