These were the questions for which I was seeking answers for when I decided to enroll in the Univerity's Drawing in the Museum class offered by the UVa Art Museum. Whether it had been witnessing someone doodle in class or observe someone contemplate while attempt to copy a masterpiece in a gallery, I have always envied those with the talent of drawing. Yet, I was always convinced that drawing is not a natural talent and can be learned. Why? Because, just like learning to walk and talk, it is a natural talent that we must strive to realize and tap into its potential. We are artists in every aspect of our lives. From getting up in the morning and mixing and matching our clothes to the way we design the interior of our room. It is for this reason that all that is needed to actually realize one's potential when it comes to drawing, painting, or any form of visual art is practice! The potential is in us... In my case, I just gave up way to early and never gave myself a chance.
As I rushed into the Art Museum around 1pm, unpunctual as usual, I was excited to see that the gathering of students signed up for this course were a mere dozen, all of which had minimal art experience. Surprisingly, they were all souls looking for answers to the questions that I was also seeking. One of them found the need and craving to create. The other wanted to revive a childhood favorite pastime. This was reassuring because I would have felt quite intimidated if there would have been some advanced artists.
Just like me, this group were great admirers of the arts. We compared notes on what schools of arts we enjoyed. Everyone but me enjoyed realism. For some strange reason, I felt inclined to side with the abstraction school. Abstraction induces more creativity, whereby the artist doesn't merely give you the answer to your questions, but allows you to interpret them according to your own temperament and experiences.
The instructor, Fenella, walked us through the syllabus, whereby she would take us on a journey through the arts. We would experiment with different techniques; everything from cubism to impressionism. I had always read and admired these art forms, but never imagined myself actually using them for my own productions. Fenella also informed us that the classes objective was the process of creating art and not the end-product. We would focus on emulating the artwork in the museum a
To give us a taste of what we would play around with, Fenella took on a tour of the Picasso/Matisse exhibit on display; I know, I never would have imagined that UVA would ever host the masterpieces of these two art giants. We viewed various portraits, analyzed their proportions, determined what features the artist was emphasizing, etc... Fenella was trying to make us through the art through the eyes of its creator. How much of the art was realism? How much of it was the artist's imagination and creativity?
Upon returning to the art studio, we were told to sit opposite of another student. For the next two hours, we would carry out the daunting task of attempting to draw him/her without making them look absolutely horrible. I was reasured that Elyss, my drawing partner would forgive me. The most important aspect of actually drawing our partner's portrait was to get the proportions right. It is for this reason that Fenella advised us to break down the process of drawing a face into steps. Behind the art was the mathematics. We were required to divide the face using axes lines, leveling the eyes, nose, chin, mouth. There were definitely mathematical techniques to all of this and it was a matter of getting the bigger picture correct before pursuing the rest.
One also had to establish a personal relationship with the subject of the portrait. While drawing, Elyss and I conversed about our backgrounds and origins. This aided us in familiarizing ourselves with one another and to formulate a perception of the other person. This definitely influenced my drawing of her.
It was a very unusual experience because there would be times where we would need to make eye contact for a minute straight without uttering a word in order to capture every detail of the pupil: the glare, the complexity, the intimacy, the depth... By the mere expression on her face, my mind wandered into wondering about her past, what she was thinking at that moment, what are her future plans, was she thinking what was running through my own mind? It was a very absurd, yet intriguing experience.
Once my painting of her began to look ugly in my eyes, I began worrying that she might be disappointed; I began losing confidence. It was at this point that Fenella revealed the drawing to Elyss. The latter was more than forgiving with me, but Fenella gave me some pointers to improve my painting. I needed to add more volume to the lush black hair, I needed to capture the sorrow shades around her eyes, capture the curves of her slim long nose. I felt that Fenella was passing her artistic eyes on to me.
At the point when I felt that my drawing was complete, there was a small modification that I sought. This would lead me to changing a whole aspect of her face, like completely erasing the nose and starting all over again. Regardless of the setbacks I faces, I was learning by doing it myself. I experimented with shading, 3D illusions, details, etc... I was gaining more confidence, rushing to make alterations before they slipped my mind. It was like writing for me; I sought perfection, at least in my eyes.
Portrait of ElyssRealistically, I understand that my drawing of Elyss is far from complete, but it opened my heart to this new passion of drawing. I stuck around after the session to discuss some techniques about proportions with Fenella. Although I was looking forward to viewing the Picasso/Matisse gallery more carefully after the class, I felt the sudden urge to write, so I run home to pen the thoughts your read before your eyes...It amuses me how one passion stimulates the other.
1 comment:
i am glad to hear that you have discover a new passion of you!
also glad to read a new post of you again!
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