Making me a better artist

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Drawing by Andy Ross

I am Andy, a Zimbabwean by birth and now living in the Shetland Isles of the UK. My husband and I both collect art, and I trained as a classical singer in London before moving up to the isles where I teach music and run a weaving studio creating Shetland tweeds.

Art is central to my life. We have an active interest in collecting mid-century art and craft from around the world, including New Zealander, where my husband is from, Zimbabwe and South Africa, and Europe. Our collection includes textiles as well as paintings, drawings, photographs and prints.

A couple of years ago I started to paint because I wanted to use painting as a starting point for designing textiles. Gradually as I worked I realised that I knew very little about drawing and so began a journey of discovery – learning more about how to draw. I was particularly interested in drawing primates and recently have started to draw other animals and birds as well as people.

I want to learn how to draw expressively so that I can create compelling stories and figures which actually look like people.

The Drawing Academy has become a good starting point for ideas, hints and tips. I enjoy the emails that come in and it is good to see what other people ask and what the answers are.

Winning the course would help me to improve what I do, to see things differently and to learn new techniques, all of which would help my painting skills too. I feel that I am lacking guidance because I work by myself using photographs and do not have a tutor. Recently on the television there was a course on life drawing and I learned so much, even though it was televised and not actually in front of me. I think a course would give me the similar benefits. On a recent trip to Italy I was struck by the wonderful art everywhere and I could see how the Drawing Academy could help me to see things more clearly.

I am looking for your votes because I think that winning this course will be very useful in helping me grow as an artist. I enjoy seeing the world through artistic eyes and hope that with a little help, I could be good enough to share my pictures with others.