Building Bridges In Drawing Lessons

For the past 20 years I’ve been teaching people how to draw. One hour per week, 4 people at a time, each working on her own project (and sometimes his), $55/month – drawing lessons! Here is the link if you want to learn more: Drawing Lessons.

Everyone learns in a different way and at a different pace. Some people slam through drawing after drawing, finishing them by themselves at home and bringing them in for fine tuning. Some people spend weeks on the beginning exercises. Some people want me to show them one step at a time how to shade each element in their drawings. Some people practice on scratch paper before putting a pencil on their real drawing. These are just a few examples of learning styles. I could write an entire week of posts about this!

One of my drawing students is working on a bridge picture. She has gotten all the shapes down on paper and now we are working on the various textures. There was a weird spot under the bridge that I saw as one thing and she saw as another.

I go to great lengths to help my students understand. In this case, I built a wonky paper bridge so we could see a three dimensional version and understand what we were seeing in the two dimensional photo.

There is the bridge, the photo, the drawing in progress, and three different practice sheets of ways to shade the part under the bridge.

She got it!

 

 

Amazing Work from my Drawing Students

This year marks the completion of 20 years of teaching people how to draw. Or, perhaps it marks the beginning of year #21. Numbers aren’t my strongest subject.

When I started, I didn’t know how to teach. I just bumbled, fumbled and mumbled. If someone wanted to draw, say, a lion, I’d procrastinate on the parts I didn’t know how to do. Then, we’d figure it out together.

My students were kids 4th grade and older. I was too nervous to teach adults, because I was sure they’d see how little I knew. Eventually I caved in, and learned that it is easier to teach adults than children. Even children who are there because they want to be get a little squirrely at times.

The fact that adults were easier didn’t mean I stopped teaching kids or that I didn’t enjoy it. I LOVE teaching people how to draw.

The only people who haven’t learned how to draw from me are the ones who quit too soon.

I could go on and on about learning to draw. Instead, I’m going to show off the work of some of my students. I’ve chosen these because each one was drawn from the artist’s own photos and because I happened to have scans of them. Besides, they’ll knock your socks off!

End of the Trail, by Kelvin Farris

Swing girl, Wendy Miller

Kaia, Maggie Meling

Learning to Oil Paint

Remember in the olden days when I was an oil painter? This was before 2013, the year I drew 180 pencil drawings of Wilsonia cabins.

A number of my drawing students have been pressuring me to teach oil painting. We know one another fairly well so they understand how I teach, and I understand how each one of them learns. Besides, I believe strongly that a person needs to be able to draw before painting. You can read about it here.

There were four students in the first session, and they painted oranges. That is the first thing I  painted when I started learning. They painted from photos, because the light changes way too fast to paint from real life. It is especially tricky when one is mixing from the primaries, which is the way I paint. (Some day I will post about that for you.) With four people painting, I spent the entire time going from easel to easel, with a short lunch break. Every time I finished helping one person, the next person was stuck. It was exciting!

The following week there were eight students! Three were returnees, one had been to my studio for a private lesson and the other four were brand new to oil painting. The new ones were wondering how they’d do, the returnees wanted to finish their oranges, and one ambitious painter wanted to also paint a lemon.

The results of the two days painting sessions were FABULOUS!

Yes, I know. “Drawing with a paintbrush” and a watercolor brush at that! So? She was getting the job done and easing into it with the tools and style that she was comfortable with.

This is a former tole painter who has been learning to draw with me. We were very pleased with her results! (She likes to “draw” with short handled brushes too.)

At last year’s oil painting workshop, this participant painted a pomegranate. Now she has almost an orange to go with it.

This fabulous orange was painted by an advanced drawing student. If she decides to not pursue a career in medicine, she can always become an artist.

Last year a pomegranate, this year an orange AND A LEMON TOO?? In another year, I’ll be taking painting lessons from this woman!

Pretty good, eh? And this is her first oil painting in her entire life!

Sometimes when we are drawing, we turn both the photos and the piece of work upside down. It works for painting too, unless you are painting from real life. This gives our eyes the chance to override our preconceived notions of how a thing is supposed to look. It gives the right side of the brain precedence over the left side. It helps us fix the parts that aren’t correct. It is hard at first, but it is a great way to get better accuracy.

Not finished, but when it is, it will be stunning.

Orange, pomegranate and lemon oil painters, I am proud of you!

 

Last Chance to See Wendy’s Awesome Pencil Drawings

Now there’s a title and a half!

Remember my amazing and very advanced drawing student, Wendy Miller?

Her show ends this coming weekend. The last day to view it at the Courthouse Gallery (at 125 South B Street in Exeter) will be September 29, 2013. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Here are some sneak peeks at a few of her amazing pencil drawings. Some of the titles may have changed. (We had a fun brain-storming session in drawing lessons to come up with scores of entertaining titles, but Wendy may have chosen differently for the show.)

Does This Dress. . .?

Inside Out

(If you have southwestern leanings, this picture would be wonderful in your home – it is small, and I am sorry I don’t know the prices or size!)

Not Moving

(If you are even half as smitten by cats as I am, you understand this title.)

Not The Gateway

(This is because it is officially the “Pumpkin Hollow” bridge.)

Plums

(Did I mention that Wendy works in colored pencil too?)

These BELONG in your kitchen, dontcha think??

Reader’s Corner

(I would have called it The Knitting Chair myself!)

If any of you would like to purchase any of these drawings, I will connect you with the Awesome Wendy Miller. 

DON’T MISS THIS!

Wow. That sounded bossy. Please excuse me – my intention is excitement, rather than shouting orders.

Wendy Miller is one of the best drawing students I’ve ever had the privilege of helping. I urge you strongly to see this show. And, many of her pieces are for sale. What an opportunity to own high quality pencil art at very reasonable prices. (Hint of urgency: I bought one already!)

Yes, I know it is Friday and Fridays are for Mineral King. However, I’m the boss of this blog, and this is Really Important News.

Move Over Mom, graphite on paper, 11×14, Wendy Miller

You are invited to

SUMMER CLASSICS

An exhibit of original pencil drawings by

Wendy Miller

July 2nd – September 22, 2013

Reception Sunday, July 7, 2-4 p.m.

Courthouse Gallery of the Arts

125 South B Street

Exeter, California

A Friend’s First Art Show

One of my drawing students is so good that I asked The Courthouse Gallery in Exeter ( where I teach drawing lessons) to feature her in an upcoming show.

I’m defining “so good” based on several things:

  1. Her work is technically excellent.
  2. She composes her drawings from her own photos (and occasionally from mine), carefully choosing, scooting, cropping, editing, giving great thought to composition (which is the arrangement of the elements in the drawing) as opposed to automatically copying what is in the photo.
  3. She does the work – studies drawing on her own outside of class, draws on her own outside of class, sketches regularly and takes practice very seriously.
  4. She produces one good drawing after another after another – the big word for this is “prolific”.

The Courthouse Gallery selection committee asked her to show there in July through September!

We thought they were booked further ahead, but suddenly, we both felt some time pressure. We realized we would have to work together to get her work titled, framed and priced. We decided a postcard would be a good thing. We decided that scanning her work would be prudent. We realized that this could get expensive. We remembered that I have lots of mats and frames.

We had a lovely 1/2 day together, along with her daughter Jenna, digging through my mats and frames, deciding if any of them complement her drawings. We found several that worked. We scanned, we scrutinized, we did the work.

You will be seeing more about Wendy Miller and her work in this blog as her show approaches. Without giving away too much of her work, here is a teaser. (I want you to come to her show!)

 

“Hey Mom”

11×14, pencil on paper, by Wendy Miller, private collection

New Plan for a New Year

2013 brings a new focus to my professional life as a California artist, a “regionalist from Quaintsville”.

pencil drawing of a Wilsonia cabin
This is a commissioned pencil drawing of a Wilsonia cabin.

I’ve told you about the book I am drawing, writing and publishing – The Cabins of Wilsonia. 

You’ve seen drawings as they are completed and read my groanings as I wonder how I will ever finish the project.

Now, I have a plan.

 I will spend 2013 focusing solely on the book. No painting, no shows, no painting for future shows. 

(Okay, that’s not entirely true. I will paint for the 2 places that sell my work and I will paint commissions.)

I will also accept pencil commissions and teach drawing lessons. (This artist has no intention of starving!)

What does this mean for you, oh Gentle and Faithful Blog Reader?

It means that I will post to this blog 2-3 times a week instead of 5 days.

And, I will post to my new blog 2-3 times a week!

Yeppers, you can follow the progress on my book at dubya-dubya-dubya-dot-the-cabins-of-wilsonia-dot-com.

I’ve separated out this project from my regular blog for several business reasons, most of which you might find boring. And I NEVER want my blog to be b o r i n g.

So, here we go – a complete year of drawing! Can’t wait. Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE to draw? 😎

Why the (beta version) Oil Painting Workshop Was Successful

Yesterday’s blog post told a secret – that I gave an oil painting workshop without publicizing it first, and why I didn’t publicize it.

oil paintings of pomegranates

Today, I will reveal why I believe that workshop was a success. No, I will reveal the reasons that I believe it was a success, not why I believe . . . never mind. Here is the list.

1. All of my students know how to draw – they understand proportion, are confident about putting shapes on paper (now on canvas), understand values (darks and lights), understand about hard and soft edges.

2. All of them understand what I mean when I make up words to explain things – “smoosh that part” or “verticalize those marks”.

3. They are very kind about my inexperience as an oil painter/oil painting teacher and very understanding when I explain that all I know to teach is what I know.

4. They don’t mind when I say “I don’t know – let’s try it both ways and see which turns out better”.

5. They stayed to help me clean up.

6. They brought things – old tablecloths, drop cloths for the floor, soup, brownies, great attitudes!

I just love my drawing students. I’d hang out with any one of them and be thankful for the time together, I respect them and their willingness to learn and try, I understand their frustrations, and I am proud of them!

I gave them each a jar of pomegranate jelly at the end of the workshop. 😎 Gosh. I feel warm and fuzzy.

 

Learning and Growing

My drawing students really impress me. They sign up for lessons, come for an hour a week, and produce wonderful pencil drawings. Most of them begin knowing nothing. They persist, they do the work, and they learn to draw.

I show them the way, but they do the work and grow in their knowledge and skills. Some of them go to other workshops on the side, like watercolor painting or oil painting, or knitting. They come from a variety of backgrounds, and most have much more formal education and are far more travelled than I am.

Got me to thinking – do I make an effort to grow? Am I working on self-improvement, personal growth, being a life-long-learner?

I don’t take any classes and in fact, I’ve quit many of the classes I’ve tried.

That admission makes me look like a sluggish quitter.

But wait! There’s more!

Currently I am forcing myself through something called the hundred pushup challenge. Really! Weenie-armed,  never-done-a-pull-up or a boy push-up, girlie wussy me. Even if I don’t succeed in the 6 week time frame, I will certainly be able to do more than I could before I started!

My great friend in the Seattle area gave me a 6 month subscription to a site called Lumosity. This is a brain training site that claims to be able to improve your abilities in the mental areas of memory, attention, speed, flexibility and problem solving. Over the past several weeks, I have grown mentally in all areas. Or not – perhaps I’m just better at playing the games. Whatever the truth is here, I’m having a great time!

While I paint or draw, I listen to podcasts by Michael Hyatt, Chris LoCurto, and Artists Helping Artists. Okay, sometimes I just listen to music, talk radio, sermons, or talk on the phone, or savor the silence, but often I take the chance to cram more knowledge and wisdom into my brain.

7 years ago I learned to knit.

oil painting of yarn by Jana Botkin
Knitting has changed my life!

6 years ago I began learning to oil paint, and a few weeks ago I took a portrait painting workshop.

I’ve learned how to train for long power walks and done a 5K, a 9-miler, 2 1/2 marathons, and a 21-miler. I’ve also learned about Plantar Fasciitis, dang it, and all the various treatments for it, dang it, including acupuncture, which is finally bringing some relief.

I have learned to blog, update my own website, to comment on blogs, to use LinkedIn, Adobe InDesign, Paypal, Pinterest, and Daily Paintworks, all in the past several years. (no smart phone, Twitter or Facebook – gotta draw the line somewhere!)

I LOVE to learn new things, especially things to do. (These are just the ones I remember, because according to Lumosity, my memory is the weakest part of my mind.)

What are you learning? How are you learning it?

Bowlafruit Critique

Last week I showed you this watercolor painting by Jim, who asked me for a critique.

This is what I told him:

“Wow, you are a get-‘er-dun kind of guy! Love the title too. . . (I’m puzzling over what to call my painting of the same scene that isn’t too dumb, obvious and boring)

“Your shapes look great, the textures are convincing and the colors of the fruit are bright.

“3 suggestions for a little better results (just to push it up a level):

“1. If the background part of the reflection is darker than looking out onto the grass (wow, so cumbersome to find words when if we were together I could just point!), then it will have more impact. This is because the contrast will be greater both between the inside and outside of the window, and between the reflections of fruit and background.

“2. Edges of reflections and shadows should be fuzzy EVEN IF they appear sharp in life or in a photo. It helps the viewer know which is real and which is an illusion (bring to mind that poem at the end of Nights in White Satin by the Moody Blues – I loved that song in 8th grade)

“3. I know nothing of watercolor so this might be useless information but here goes. . . the shadows on your lemon and lime look as if you just put black there (could be the monitor, the photo, the airwaves between your town and Three Rivers. . .) When I want a shadow in oil, I mix a darker version of the same color. Often shadows will show in a photo as black, but we have to disregard that visual information and make the color be a real color. (stupid deceptive lying sneaky cheating photos)”

And here is Jim’s reply:

“Thanks so much for your quick response…I understand everything you said, and I appreciate it, especially about the shadows on the fruit. I didn’t know that, so, wow, that’s valuable information. I really thank you, also, for your encouragement. I want to get to the point where I call myself and artist and BELIEVE it.

Blessings, my friend,

Jim

“Oh, and feel absolutely free to use any of my stuff on the blog; that’s the purpose, right? Even throw your suggestions to me on there if you desire. There’s so much we can all learn from each other in this world if we’re honest.”

Jim is smart, nice, funny, hard-working, and talented. (Forget it – he is married!)