Drawing 101

Greetings from Periwinkle Sue!  My blog has been lowered in the priorities at my house lately, so looking back, since the last few years I’ve averaged ONE blog post per year, I thought to keep up with that grueling schedule, I should try to get one in under the wire for 2024.

One of the reasons that blogging has been a lesser priority is my college classes.  I took art in high school. I took drawing, painting, and independent art including pottery.  Although I haven’t really done what I would call “fine art” since high school, I have had many creative pursuits (from basket weaving to quilting, to stenciling, etc.).  But now that I have taken college classes in drawing, 2D color design, and now painting, I am delving more into the fine arts.  It’s been a good experience and I have learned a lot.

In high school, I tried to draw and had minimal success.  I decided that it was because I just didn’t “have it”.  That and other things I believed at that time were probably based on untruths.  For example, one thing I thought I had been taught was NOT to use an eraser.  Present day I can say that at least one of my drawings was done MOSTLY with an eraser!  When I started at Wright State, taking Drawing 1, one of the biggest takeaways was my professor carried around a BIG eraser in his shirt pocket!  Kudos to Professor Merricle!

Another thing I always heard was from others was when they would say, “I’m not an artist!  I can’t even draw a straight line!”  So as a kid, I thought artists can draw straight lines!  I’m not that good at it.  Another big impression with me is the freedom now to use a ruler if needed!  Wow.  “They are just tools!” I was told by Michael Glass.  That and many other things are tools.  My cell phone is also a tool.  I also thought that everything had to be completely “me” from scratch. Professor Mericle also told me that the old masters had their tricks to get the “bones” of a drawing or painting on their canvas.  Really?  I just thought those people magically could draw anything they wanted to. And since I couldn’t, I just didn’t “have it”.

I’ve learned a lot, and now I see important components of artwork are composition, color, technique, and overall outcome (how does it affect the viewer).  You don’t copy other people’s stuff, but they can inspire you.  Getting the guts to try new things has been helpful too.  And a huge help has been having instruction. And more instruction.  The more instructors that I can learn under and the more viewpoints I can hear from, the better, full grasp I can have on art, I’ve learned.  I have enjoyed being under four art professors, two local art instructors, and one theater professor that have made big impressions on me in very different ways.

Although I don’t practice enough and draw enough, I now do understand how important it is to practice, and spend many more hours than you expected on a drawing.  That reminds me again of an instance in Drawing 1 when we were still online from Covid.  Professor Merricle had us do a still life.  It was one of those that you would not choose to put on your wall, but was probably just us practicing our skills.  I didn’t have a good start and just hated doing that drawing.  I was secretly anxious for that 2 hour class to be over so I could be done with it.  At the end of class, the professor told us we were going to spend two more class periods on this drawing!!!  I was not thrilled!  Six hours on a drawing that I hated?  Really?

This is when I learned how much time is a factor in success.  I had to use my eraser  a LOT and make many adjustments in that drawing for the next two sessions and did my best.  At the end, I had some respectable results.  I never would have found that place if I had stopped when I wanted to.  I will not forget that lesson.  At our “in person” classes, I remember him also telling this story that best describes me and that crazy still life drawing.  He told about the lobster growing.  When it gets very uncomfortable growing inside of its shell, it eventually grows to the point that the shell splits, he sheds it and grows a new shell.  I identified with that uncomfortable feeling, and also with that feeling of growth when I put the time and effort in to “push through” that uncomfortable feeling to get to the other side of it and see the growth.

I have included the progress photos of that still life here.  The final is below (and yes, the cloth on the table was probably the hardest part).  Nothing you’ll want on your wall, but it is a memory of a lesson for me. So if you’ve let the fear of drawing get in your way, remember that instruction plus hours of drawing will definitely improve your work.