This summer I am taking a ten week course in Drawing and Painting at the local Art College every Tuesday evening, 6 – 8. We’ve spent five weeks drawing; next week we try painting with oils.
Our tutor, Anthony, has had us sketching with charcoal – a very messy medium – and mostly lessons have been about making marks on paper. We had exercises where we were not allowed to look at our drawings at all, but to focus on the object(s) we were drawing.
The first week, I ended up drawing on the board my paper was taped to!
Last week, when I was away on holiday, the class covered paper with charcoal or graphite and used an eraser to remove the black and reveal the white (grey?). I haven’t tried this yet, but one student practiced in her living room and found she’d covered her carpet in charcoal.
This week, we attempted to draw with ink – and a stick – before we were allowed to use brushes. Our final task was to draw this still life, but we ran out of time and had to take photographs so we could finish it at home.
I looked at the drawing I started in class, and started again. Everything was going fine until Mr O came into my study to ask what was for lunch. At that point everything went wrong. I was concentrating and he disturbed me, and the pots of water and ink tipped over.
Luckily I’d put cardboard and paper down, and it missed the drawing I’d been working on for two hours.
I’m thinking of changing his name to Loki, after the Norse god of Chaos and Destruction!
Here’s the finished ink ‘sketch’. I think it’s safe to say I’m no artist, though I enjoyed the experience. It looks better on screen than in real life!
Our homework is a self-portrait in ink. To be on the safe side, Mr O will be banned from entering my study until it is completed and everything is cleaned and put away.
Write Here: Write Now 