Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Two years (almost)

It is almost two years ago that I came here at Max the Mutt. That is, two years of study and practice. Exercises. And more exercises. Gestures. Blind contours. Modelling. Quick contours. Silhouettes. Extended gestures. Reductive drawings. If I may compare learning to draw with learning to sing, we spent two years on breathing exercises and scales. And never do we sing a song.

At the end of Year 1, with two years to go, the notion that we were just doing exercises, helped me relax. However, now, at the end of Year 2, it makes me slightly nervous. Am I on the right track? Will I ever be the skilled draftsman I want to be?

My teacher took some time to explain the rest of the curriculum to me. Where we are now and where we will be next year. He told me that we are actually doing in 3 years what is normally done in 4 years. It takes 10 years to polish these skills. I still need to talk to next year's teacher, to get a little more insight in what is expected.

For now, I can only find comfort in my sketchbook, which every now and then shows me drawings that I really like. And these drawings do not show up there automagically. They are mine.

Today it happened again. At Starbucks. The little girl next to me had quite a temper, and not too long after I had finished my sketch did she start to scream. She made my week.

1 comment:

Arrowroot said...

It seems a lot of people are in the same boat as you. Everyone is very nervous about whether they have picked the right course for them or if they will ever become a success!

Keep it up if you can. What you learn now will be setting the paths and groundwork you will probably fall back on when you are out in the world in the industry.

Talking with next years teachers will be a great start to prep yourself for next year! And best of luck!

I have seen you a couple of times in dufferin mall before however I always shy out at saying Hi or dropping by your table because I don't think you'd recognize me lol.