Feeling creative...

In the town where I live there is a lovely old brick building that used to be a school at the turn of the century. Now it is the Bowman Arts Centre, where painting, pottery, stained glass, and drawing classes are held. It is filled with works of art from all these media, and there is even a dance studio where ballet and bellydancing classes are held. I went there last nigh as I have enrolled in an 8-week drawing class. It was inspiring and uplifting to begin a class that lets me tap into the creative side of my brain. After spending the past 3 years working on my doctoral degree, it was a much needed change.

It was fun to draw on paper clipped to a much-loved wooden easel. There was every imaginable type of pencil to draw with: charcoal, willow charcoal, graphite, conte crayons, colored pencils, smudgers, and even kneaded erasers to fix mistakes. I learned about white charcoal and how it can be used on colored paper. I would love to try this sometime!

We worked through lots of exercises. My drawings of my hands were rough and crude. But, I learned about outside lines and inside lines. I learned about proportion and different ways to draw. Sometimes we used ‘shape searching’, other times we used a technique where the pencil was never lifted from the page. Some exercises even included drawing without looking at the paper. The goal was to train the eye and the hand to work together. It was a terrific evening!


I am already looking forward to next week!