Expressive Drawing: A Personal Exploration
What is drawing, or more importantly what purpose do we think drawing serves?
As an artist, my answer to this question has changed many times over the years and will always be an ongoing inquiry.
All throughout art school, I had several teachers who were not the most supportive or encouraging in my lack of drawing ability and this had a serious negative impact on me. For years I was insecure about my drawing ability and let it drive my work, making my painting more about how good/accurate the drawing was, rather than letting myself feel free to make mistakes and explore my personal voice and approach that made sense to me.
In going through the process of letting go of “perfect”, I have also learned and come to really understand the beauty of “imperfections” and that drawing has nothing to do with recreating what you see. Drawings don’t need to be photographs, but rather have the potential to be our individual unique way of seeing and interpreting the world around us. That is what makes us artists.
Another thing that is key is encouragement to keep going. We all have a very strong inner critic which likes to chime in at times and tell us how we’re doing. This inner critic is rarely helpful in keeping up our motivation, which is essential if we want to grow, learn, get better at drawing, and discover our own unique expression.
As a result, I have taken on the mission for years now, through sketching classes and workshops, to provide a safe and encouraging environment for people to learn and explore through drawing. Skills and knowledge are important, but not all there is when it comes to drawing.
While Italy is slowly opening back up, other places in the world remain in various stages of necessary staying in or mostly at home, while others have returned to semi-normal.
I have been debating this quite a lot as to whether or not to resume sketching tours and the best way to handle this ongoing delicate situation.
It does not feel quite comfortable or safe yet to start up again, so in lieu of sketching tours, I am offering a series of more in-depth drawing classes online for ALL levels of experience.
The first class that I will be teaching therefore is on Expressive Drawing and begins on Sunday, July 5th, running each Sunday through August 2nd.
Each meeting will focus on a new technique to help explore ways to open up, loosen up, and find a new freedom in enjoying the act and expression of drawing.
Each person will be encouraged to find their unique voice through a series of exercises including continual lines, working with negative space, creative and free mark-making and more.
I want to emphasize that this class is for ALL LEVELS and experience in drawing.
The cost is $180 (or can be made in 2 payments) and includes 5 2-hour live sessions, private access to all of the recordings and Facebook group with only your class members.
I am really excited about this, getting free with ourselves, and our expression through drawing, which is a topic close to my heart.
You can find out more or register for the class here or contact me with any questions you might have.
I am looking forward to these deeper-dive drawing sessions and the opportunity to explore the more personal side of drawing together.
