Today’s Drawing Lesson

I just got back from my drawing class where I got an A minus for my homework. She told me something I already knew and would have dealt with if I had spent as much time on my drawing as I should have done. The problem is that unless I really force myself to, I do not have a full range of modulation in values from light to dark. My pictures have a tendency to gravitiate towards the different shades of grey. The note she wrote on the on the back told me to jump in there and make the darks really dark! Because I spent the time I should have done on the one I put up here, I did  have good strong darks and lights and a good range from one to the other. So, now I have to draw yet another wall in my apartment and this time, I will do what she said. I have enough time since the class is next Tuesday.

We started othe class by being given a little sheet with some questions and we had to ask a fellow classmate about his or her  homework of a drawing of a wall in their home. The questions were:

• Have you suggested depth in this drawing? If so, how?
• Are any receding sides of objects shown?
• What elements of contrast have you used?
• Where is the focal point of the drawing?
• Did you have a specific intention with this drawing? Do you think this is a successful drawing?

Then, using the answers given by our classmate, we had to stand up and talk about the pictures. I had to talk about Julie’s drawing and she had to talk about mine. Julie’s was very interesting especially when I was talking about the elements of contrast she had used. She had light and dark, of course, but she also had textured and flat. Most of what she had drawn was flat, smooth objects like books and the glass windows but she also had a nifty curtain valance which was obviously made of a tweedy material. Another thing I liked about hers was that although it was almost totally geometric shapes like books and envelopes and windowpanes, the tweedy valance was a good contrast in an organic shape. When she was interviewing me and got to the question about the focal point, I asked her what she thought it was. I was pleased and surprised that she chose the bulletin board which was what I had intendeed. Her focal point was the open window. The only thing that bothered me about it was that I felt I wanted to see what was outside the window. The drawing led me to that point–and she had nothing there. She said that was because it was dark when she drew it!

After that, we got into the learning part for today which was to draw perspective with a horizon line and TWO vanishing points.  We drew little boxes with a corner  facing us and then used long rulers and the two vanishing points to construct large buildings and a neighborhood. It was quite enjoyable, actually. I didn’t get mine finished which didn’t really matter since it was a practice sheet but I am thinking of finishing it at home to give me a break from the wall and also because this stuff is really FUN! I had a little problem at first with buildings that were below the line of sight because I had to figure out how to do the tops of them. This time Francis was not sitting by me but he was only one person away and so it was no problem to ask him to check that I was doing the tops correctly. The time went quickly and I learned things which are two good things one can say about a class, right?

Until later…