Draw With A Pencil

A person who draws has many different tools:  pens, markers, pencils, etc.

Here is my preference for tools when drawing:

1st. Black marker

2nd. Pen

3rd. Gray markers

…..

….

…

….

……

1,000. Pencil

Does that show how much I dislike drawing with pencils?

When I work with pencils, I’m tempted to erase what is wrong, especially if I don’t like something. There’s always the thought “I can erase this and nobody will know.”

With a marker (like the black one I’ve been using since I started traveling in Italy) there is no chance to erase. It builds confidence. I feel that I can be messy with a marker, it doesn’t have to be perfect.

To me, pencil drawings should always be perfect.

Today in my first drawing class we had to draw a still life.

A still life is basically just a group of objects.

Most common still life object? Bottles.

What did we have to draw first thing today?

A bottle, a pot, and a plate with two peaches.

What was our drawing tool?

A pencil.

Something as everyday and simple as a bottle is extremely difficult to draw.

The value of the glass changes throughout the bottle since light is reflected at every curve and surface. The small gentle curves on the bottle are difficult to make symmetrical.

No instructions were given except “Draw to study the objects.”

Why is it that students, including myself, think that a drawing has to show value in order for it to be studied? When we do that, we forget about proportion, scale, and placement on the page.

My first attempt was difficult just because I was nervous for the still life and the items I was drawing. I drew this (see below) on the page in landscape format.

My professor walks around and gives advice to each of us as we draw. She sees mine. She recommends that next time I should draw the still life vertically, since the objects' composition was more vertical than horizontal. She also said not to make the outlines of objects so sketchy with repeated, layered, lines. Instead, draw one outline. Only one line is needed.

Second time around, my professor showed us how to draw ellipses at different angles depending on how high above or below you are from the elliptical object. She then said it is easier to connect and draw the items once you draw the ellipses.

Last sketch for the class, I combined the tips she gave me. I had better placement on the page, but I did not draw the pears correctly because they were a lot larger than they actually were. I still need to work on how to accurately draw a bottle. She had looked at mine and said “Well, it’s different than what’s there, but that’s okay, I guess that is what you see instead.”

Her last comment has stuck with me today.

What makes a drawing accurate? Doesn’t that depend on the person that’s drawing it? What makes a drawing finished? (Originally for my second drawing, I left the objects as a bunch of ellipses so nothing was outlined to its defined shape. She told me to outline the objects even though I didn’t want to)

When I have sketched on my travels I know that what I draw isn’t accurate. I know perspective lines are off or some things aren’t perfectly placed or aligned, but it captures something for me. The experience is important to me.

Obviously today’s sketches aren’t perfect.

I’m not saying that I was upset with how today’s class went. I thoroughly enjoyed it. There was a big difference from how I started today vs. how I ended the class. I was proud of myself too for not using an eraser all class.

This class will be a great challenge for me. I am excited to learn how to use different tools/materials. I appreciated how my professor taught today, she walked around and looked at our drawings as we drew and said one or two comments then moved onto someone else.

Yay for drawing! Yay for pencils (let me tell that to myself a few more times today….)