a good day

Date: November 21, 2018

So, apparently, drawing with wet media is a thing. Like, a separate thing from painting, which I guess I sort of knew but didn't really know. Like, if painting is all about how colors are placed side by side to create a sense of form and lighting and depth, and drawing is more about line and contour and stuff, it makes sense that you can use paints and inks just to draw. And looking back, it's even something I've done plenty in the past. I just never thought of it as drawing back then.

Not only is wet media drawing a thing, but I think it's a thing I really like. Especially when the model's doing short poses, it's kind of nice to be able to slap down a bunch of color first, just to put in the shape, and then draw over it with the important details. At first I didn't really know what I was doing, or how to use the brush, but by the end of class my stuff was looking like this:

At the end of class, Rudy came over as I was putting my stuff away. I asked if he wanted to see what I'd come up with, and he was really excited when I showed him those drawings. It was the most he'd ever smiled at me all semester.

To be honest, I can't stop smiling right now, either.

J.

"headphones"

Date: November 27, 2018

There was a really cute girl on the subway yesterday afternoon...

field trip

Date: December 1, 2018

This week for drawing class, Rudy took us all to the zoo to practice what he called “high octane life drawing.” The idea was that animals are always moving, so we'd only have a few seconds to capture them; they weren't going to stand around and pose for us.

I don't really know how this worked out for him in past years, but it's getting to be pretty late Fall, so most of the animals were actually super lazy and practically on their way to hibernating. The trip was a lot of things, but “high octane” definitely wasn't one of them.

I really got to put my new brush to the test this week, what with using it without steady access to a cup of water, or anything. I did have a water bottle with me to refill it when needed, but otherwise, I tried not to carry too much stuff. I was kinda jealous of my classmates who were just walking around with sketchbooks and pencils to start, but I think my drawings came out way, way better than any of theirs did.

The thing is, I never really thought of myself as the guy who'd make all this saccharine looking work. I mean, I can't deny that there's something I like about doing it, and it's mostly just a school assignment, but I don't really know if I'm happy with this stuff, either. I mean, I can definitely see where Rudy was coming from before, with how I wasn't exactly having fun, but stuff doesn't feel like me.

But I guess I should have expected the solution wouldn't be that easy.

J.