Art is no longer my adversary
Story and sketch from Ron W.
Growing up, I always had a bit of an adversarial relationship with art – a combination of cheap art supplies, and a lack of structured instruction made me quickly lose interest in “art classes”, and pushed me to focus on other, more rewarding interests and topics. I, like many others, came to believe that the ability to represent the world around me was a talent that I lacked. About ten years ago, an artist I met finally got it through my thick head that art is a set of skills that can be learned like any other. Since then, I have off-and-on, studied and taught myself, learning that while quality materials do not make you a better artist, DO make the experience of making art more enjoyable, and thus make it more likely to want to continue practicing, learning, and creating art.
Like with any self-taught skill, I have now come to a point where I have to admit that I do not know what I don’t know. That is, while I am aware that I am weak in terms of drawing in perspective, and getting correct proportions, and I can somewhat focus on those things, not knowing what questions to ask, nor even having a way to evaluate whether the answers I get via random YouTube videos, etc. are correct, I have stalled in my growth. This is how I discovered the Drawing Academy, and why I would love to win admission to the course, if possible. Having a structured, logical course of instruction in the skills and techniques needed to draw well, and access to actual feedback on my own work, are exactly the things I need to start growing and improving again.
I cannot say that people “should” vote for me, over anyone else. I can say that winning would go a long way to helping me express the beauty of the world around me in the way that I wish to. We are surrounded by beauty – in the natural landscape, in the play of light on a concrete, urban bridge, in the human form. I want to capture that beauty, distill it, share it with the world. Learning to do so is a lifelong process, and this course would be a great tool in helping that process.
The sketch I am submitting is a great example of why I need solid instruction and feedback – it represents about an hour of work from the front seat of my car. I knew that my limited knowledge of 2- and 3- point perspective would not really yield me a result I was happy with – and after finding the perspective videos on the course YouTube, I have a bit better idea of why, though I am still a ways from implementing any improvement. At any rate, I chose to copy as best as I could from life, and was struck by the fact that drawing this truck was very much like drawing the human figure from life. There are no perfectly straight lines, no flat planes. Every edge, every surface, is curved, concave or convex, flowing and melting around rounded forms like the muscles of the arm or the curve of the leg. It also gave me a new appreciation of the skill of both the designers who created the design, and the draftsmen who turned that inspiration into mechanically precise blueprints and drawings so that it could be built in the real world. My poor photo skills detract further from the overall sketch, but it served to teach me several things, including that I was ready for more formal instruction.
This Post Has 0 Comments