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Drawing: the joys and challenges - The Open College of the Arts

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Drawing: the joys and challenges

A few observations as both an OCA director and a student on Drawing 1…..
First, as a student: My first observation would be – drawing is hard work!  I guess it’s not surprising – looking, seeing, selecting and translating what is out there (3D and, disconcertingly, sometimes moving) into static 2D requires a great deal of concentration.
One of my first discoveries on the course was that, if you forget what you think you know and what you think you can’t do and simply follow the instructions, it works out. In the early exercises on tone and form, I looked carefully and applied the shading as per the instructions – and lo and behold an onion appeared in 3D on the page as if by magic.  There have been other moments of discovery, each one exhilarating and warranting an exuberant entry in my sketchbook.
When it came to colour, a literally pure blue shadow cast on a white cloth by the pear I was drawing appeared to me as one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.   There have been less uplifting experiences, of course.  Early self-portraits display flaring nostrils at impossible angles and reveal me to be an Anne Widdecombe lookalike (pre the new blonde hairstyle).  Never mind, my tutor Jane Lazenby will sort me out.
I sometimes struggle with motivation (inertia, laziness).  What helps is making my own small sketchbooks which I take out wherever I go.  They’re simple to make, satisfying to pick up and hold, and somehow compelling to fill with images.  As for the learning log, yesterday I abandoned my notebook and started a blog. It’s easy to do and I definitely think it’s the way to go. It’s great to be able to make comments on a drawing having a digital image there to refer to.  More on this another time, perhaps.
Finally, as a member of staff, knowing the commitment required, I greatly admire the dedication and creative energy of all our students, and the tutors who support them.  It’s very inspiring and fills me with a new resolve to be a better student myself!


Posted by author: Alison Churchill

6 thoughts on “Drawing: the joys and challenges

  • Hi Alison – Yes drawing is like magic! I am a Fine Art tutor with the OCA and really like the idea of making your own sketchbooks. A brand new ‘proper’ sketchpad is terrifying to many. We don’t want to spoil its crisp white newness and our hands shake. When I first started art college I bought a pile of new fancy pads but half the time ended up using wallpaper, old envelopes and other found objects. Drawing is all about making marks on surfaces so any surface will do – even temporary ones (drawing with sparklers, drawing in the sand etc. etc.). Lots of luck to you on your course.

  • By the way, if anyone could tell me why the shadow cast by the pear was blue, I’d be very grateful. Is it that phenomenon where if you stare at an object for a length of time, and then look away to a white surface, you see the opposite colour in your “mind’s eye?”

  • Hy Alison
    I can really identify with this. I struggle with inertia. Well procrastination born from fear of making mistakes to be more precise. In spite of loving being creative as soon as it is an assignment it becomes this huge fearful ‘thing’ that I feel I have to get absolutely right.
    Does it ever get any better? LOL 🙂
    By the way I second the opinion on the pear I love the colours !

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