Creative Drawing - Week 2 - Alrighty then…

“Ten thousand bad drawings equals one good one, so keep drawing,” said the child to her mother who had exhaled deeply as she crumpled up another really bad drawing.

Between Week 1 and Week 2...this happened.

Since I had not been shown how to place objects on a page or how to determine my best choice for a focal point; since the critiquing I received was more about what I should have done with no real help in how to do what I should have done, I decided to call in the big guns.

That would be...Miss CP.

For those of you new to my blog, Miss CP is my daughter, Courtney, but more than that she is a designer in the animation industry, and she has a thing for life drawing. (she’s always at a life drawing class somewhere it seems)

To give you a peek into Miss CP’s drawing talents I’ve added this LINK so you can see her doing what she does best. Here you will see video submissions for a weekly illustration class she attends.

I might add there is one thing Miss CP does without fail, she practices her craft each and every day. 

I guess therein lies the message: to be good at something practice with some regularity, to be great practice daily; Miss CP is great.

Okay...so I called in the big guns (aren’t I lucky to have connections) and the first thing Courtney had me do was loosen up and draw circles...lots and lots of circles. The object being to duplicate the line by laying it on top of the previous line without straying. 

Not easy. Really, it was damn hard! But I persevered and after some length I was getting in the circle drawing groove. 

Then we dabbled with shapes; a little still life drawing and then ventured into a bit of perspective work. 

I left Courtney’s place feeling rightly exhausted but seriously exhilarated. 

So with that I did some practicing; each and every day.

Looking out of the Lost and Found (my writing space) I tried, I tried really hard, to capture the outer reception area of my studio. 

This is my reference picture. It's amazing what you see in a photo that you don't see in life.

Note how hard of a time I had (and still have) with perspective. The angle of the shelves in both units is wrong, as is the whole size and layout of the glass cabinet. 

I was able to get the last drawing to look a little better; better to what it was but no where near where it ought to be. (I’m trying to remind myself this was just the first week)

Okay, now we can talk about Week 2 - The Lesson.

With excitement coursing through my veins I arrived for my class yesterday (yes Carole, like an eager little beaver) and waited patiently for the room to be set up. 

But, my excitement quickly turned to disappointment, laced with frustration, as we were ushered in and put right to work “sketching”. 

Now, here’s where I’d like a little feedback from the artists in the crowd. I’m new to this “art lesson” business, but am I wrong in assuming that when learning the basics I should be “shown”, by example, what the whole "sketching an object" process looks like. After all, I’m a visual learner, this is an art class; I am feeling like the instructor is holding out on me.

It’s like going to a cooking class and being given all the ingredients but no instructions or demonstration; the instructor then says, “okay, start cooking” - sorry, that’s not what I signed up for.

BUT - I don’t quit. Ever the optimist, I’m hopeful things will get better. (meaning both the teacher and the student)

AND YET...I do feel like I am getting something out of it all - the subliminal message might just be that I need to practice patience as I try desperately to have my apples and oranges look more like fruit.  (just for you, Drake - you cheeky boy)

So, in Week 2, we did three different takes, here’s the photo of the first set.

 And my version...

Then the last set - this is what I saw, or should have seen would more like it.

And here is what I drew. Now, you need to know this was a three part drawing.

Part 1 - 30 second line drawing, sort of like a cityscape, no lifting the pencil

Part 2 - correct 30 second line drawing (yes, I am laughing too)

Part 3 - learn about shading (like this should be a lesson way down the road - I’m still trying to place objects on the page for crying out loud)

Thankfully, Miss CP came for dinner last night - we had a “session” - I’m thinking more along the lines of therapy as the kind of session I’m in need of!! But then they say art is therapy - like, right!!

Courtney really gave me a great follow up lesson, which I practiced this morning with my two cups of coffee.

Here is the picture and a shot of my “practice”…

This was a fun practice session. I am learning that rushing into the details before the actual perspective of the drawing is correct leads to lopsided furniture! Oh well, there's always tomorrow. I can't wait!

Well...that’s my life in the art lane, this week!

And you...have you been frustrated about how something has been taught to you?  Would you make a good teacher?

Cheers,

  Jenny