Drawing class #1
July 7, 2010
My wife and I signed up for a beginner’s drawing class at Edmonton’s City Arts Centre, and this Monday was our first class. The instructor gave a quick introduction to some very basic topics (lines, contour lines, convergence, perspective, and vanishing points) and showed several drawings by famous artists which illustrated those topics. I was particularly struck by Rembrandt’s Young Woman Sleeping (shown below). I think it shows just how much depth can be achieved with a few simple, yet masterfully placed strokes of a pencil.
We then watched the instructor demonstrate some techniques by sketching a still life scene (various objects arranged on block on a table). After a short (and painful) exercise wherein we traced the outline of a plant at a pace of 1mm per second, it was our turn to try sketching the still life scene.
It turned out to be a lot more challenging than any of us expected. All it takes is a single, tiny inaccuracy in a line length or angle and the whole drawing goes to shit pretty quickly. I tried my best to make all the planes converge into a common vanishing point, and while I’m moderately happy with the results (probably because I had low expectations), I can see definite room for improvement. And the only way to get better at accurately showing perspective (or anything!) is to practice.
Above: As you can see, I got the bottom two cubes totally wrong. I blame that on rushing, trying to get them done before class finished.
Above: It probably took me over 45 minutes to draw these figures. I would measure where lines bisected each other, their proportions, and their angles. Then I would attempt to draw the line. And then I would erase and re-draw. Over and over. The most minute discrepancy in an angle can cause unbelievable grief.
Above: My wife Alyssa (who has no interest in drawing and finally relented to my nagging to join this class) managed to impress the instructor with her ellipse-drawing skills. She even used the method suggested by the instructor: use a flat plane to circumscribe an imaginary circle, then skew the plane towards the horizon and transpose the points of the circle to form an ellipse.
I didn’t join this class to become a better sketcher — although that would indeed be a welcome outcome. I joined because I want a timeboxed slot in my week where I can focus on drawing, and nothing else. I am too easily distracted by, well, distractions and obligations. Perhaps I lack discipline and focus. Whatever the reason, I don’t spend any time drawing, even though I want to.
In an effort to kickstart this drawing habit, I pulled out my sketchpad tonight to practice what we learned last class. I positioned a Parsons chair and spent a few minutes sketching the basic form, trying to get the proportions, angles and perspective correct. Compared to last night, I spent a lot less time correcting mistakes; maybe I’m learning something. I hope to get some more practice in this week and am looking forward to next week’s class.
