More Drawing Lessons

On Tuesdays, I teach people how to draw. You can read a bit more about it here on my website.

I love to help people draw in pencil. The only people who haven’t learned are the ones who quit too soon. Why did they quit? Because it wasn’t instant. or it was too hard, or it wasn’t what they really wanted to learn.

Nothing worth learning is done well without practice.

Actually, I can’t think of anything that can be done right the first time. Malcolm Gladwell says in his book Outliers that it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert. He is talking about intentional focused practice, with the purpose of improving rather than mindless repeating.

Jennifer has been drawing since she was a little girl. I don’t think she had any specific instruction, just some practice, some natural talent, and lots of desire. She is careful, and listens well to directions. This is her first drawing with me,  and it is almost finished.

The photocopies are so that she could try various methods of drawing the mane. I showed her one, and she tried it. She thought of another, and tried that. Suddenly, she got it, she was ready, and now her horse is finished!

Great work, Jennifo! (please excuse the inside joke)

3 Little Known Factors that Could Affect Your Ability to Draw

Pencil drawing from the upcoming book The Cabins of Wilsonia

I have a theory about people who draw. It is based on teaching people how to draw since 1994. In addition to teaching people how to draw, I draw myself. (Oh? You didn’t know that about me?) I have also spoken to many people who draw for fun and those who draw for profit.

If you have the following three qualities, I believe you might be able to really draw well:

  1. Perfectionistic tendencies
  2. Nearsightedness
  3. Lefthandedness

None of these things are necessary, but each one has its strength.

Perfectionism

Perfectionists seem to do well with the finicky detailed nature of pencil drawing. Detail is hugely important in drawing well. So are values (the lights and darks), composition, hard edges and soft edges in the appropriate places. And proportion – oh my goodness – gotta get those shapes and sizes right. Getting the idea yet? There are many things that have to be Just Right in drawing, because there is no color to distract.

I am not a perfectionist and have to work hard to remember to stop the “get-er’dun” tendencies. It is fun to finish things. It isn’t fun to think I am finished and have to return to fix something.

Nearsightedness

If you are nearsighted, you are more tuned in to detail. Sometimes it is all a myopic person can see! I think of it as an asset for a pencil artist. (Glass is always half full!)

Up until a few years ago (ahem) I was able to put my nose a few inches from a pair of ants playing checkers and know who was winning. (What? You’ve never seen ants play checkers?) I might still be able to do this if I pop out my contact lenses. Now, with the contacts, I have to wear old-people-sit-on-your-nose magnifiers. Sometimes they aren’t strong enough. And have you noticed that all the lights are dimmer than they used to be?

Left-handedness

There is a connection between the left hand and the right side of the brain. (There is a book about it called Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty Edwards.) The right side understands the non-verbal things in life such as proportions, perspective, and values. The theory is that left handed folks are right-brain dominant and thus more naturally equipped for tasks such as drawing.

I am right handed. Oh-oh, I can hear you wondering how I could possibly be an artist with 2 strikes against me. Here is the answer: I am left-eyed. A dominant left-eye is almost as good as a dominant left hand. (Phew, had you worried there, didn’t I?)

If you don’t have a single one of these three qualities but you want to learn how to draw, I can still teach you how.

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

A Drawing Success Story

I have a favorite customer named Bob. In Artspeak, he would be referred to as a “collector”. (I try to avoid Artspeak in this blog, because I think it is read by more normal folks than those who use Artspeak.)

Bob has a wonderful wife, with whom I have been acquainted since 1973. Really! She began taking drawing lessons from me last fall, and was just sure she would be the exception to my assertion that I can teach anyone to draw. Bob was also sure she would prove me wrong.

Mrs. Bob worked her way through the beginning exercises. She did well. She likes to get an A on her work, so in spite of the fact that drawing lessons come with no homework, no grades, no tests and no deadlines, I happily gave her As. She earned them, too!

When it was time to start, she chose a hairy dog. It scared her a bit. (No, it didn’t bite her!) All my reassurances that it was only paper and we could erase didn’t help.

I realized that she needed a subject that meant less to her. Many of my beginning students have found it easier to draw old wood than anything else, so I found a photo of a window on an old shed wall.

Bob My Favorite Customer occasionally asked Mrs. Bob about her progress. He wasn’t encouraging. He is still My Favorite Customer. They are still married.

Mrs. Bob was very determined, and we slowly worked through many of the techniques that a good pencil drawing requires. She stopped showing Bob her progress, and he stopped asking.

Bob’s birthday was a week ago. Mrs. Bob presented him with this:

Want to know what Bob said?

“Who drew this??”

Isn’t that just the best ever drawing lessons story?? 😎

Here is a closer version, and it really looks better than it photographed while under glass.

Texture, depth, contrast, detail, and precision – WOW! Congratulations, Mrs. Bob!

Peculiar Sight

One recent afternoon my husband called me into the living room to see something. I could tell from the sound of his voice that I should hurry and bring a camera. (25 years of marriage teach all sorts of non-verbal communication.)

Outside our living room we have a ladder leading up to the roof. I don’t know why. Michael wants it there, so there it is. He is a great husband – bit of a neatnik, loves to putter around the property, and an awesome BBQer, so if he wants a ladder outside the living room window, he may have his ladder there. (Why am I digressing into his good qualities? It is at the suggestion of my friend Jennifer in her blog.)

The raccoons like the ladder. The cats do too. This is Kaweah and Perkins. If Zeke was there too, all three might not have fit into the frame (or the ladder might have collapsed).

Isn’t it odd what amuses a California artist? Not much going on in Three Rivers (outside of planning for the studio tour or working on The Cabins of Wilsonia)

“Get a life”, I hear some of you thinking. (Yes, occasionally I can hear your thoughts.) Guess what? I have a life and I love it!

Wise Up

I regularly read Michael Hyatt‘s blog. He addresses many topics, and words fail me when trying to describe his blog. Business? Publishing? Marketing? Being a better human? Life? All of the above!
Recently he wrote on the difference between a wise person and a foolish one. The definition of being wise came down to 3 things:

  1. Listens without being defensive.
  2. Accepts responsibility without blame.
  3. Changes without delay.

It occurred to me that in my quest to be a better artist, this is my method to learn and improve. I show my drawings to my students or friends and ask them to tell me honestly what they think. If they are new to the process of drawing and critiquing,  they are a bit reluctant to speak the truth. If they have known me awhile, they just let it fly without fear!

I appreciate the honesty so much. I depend on their unbiased opinions, their innate good sense, their experience, their wisdom.

Then, I usually follow their suggestions.

This is not to toot my own horn about my great wisdom. We are all wise in some areas and foolish in others. I’d be foolish to think myself capable of producing my best work without input. I just wanted to share my method of processing feedback in order to improve.

Here is a recent example of a piece that got some great feedback from my students. I listened, I accepted, I changed.

Three Rivers Studio Tour Ten

Of all the 22 studios on the tour, mine is the smallest and the most rustic. That’s okay – it IS called “Cabinart”.  (And please excuse the First Saturday flag – this post is about the Studio Tour.)

Tickets are on sale for $15/person and available at The Art Co-op in Three Rivers and Arts Visalia Gallery in Visalia. They are also available online at Three Rivers Art Studio Tour

After March 4 the price increases to $20 per ticket.

March 23-24-25 will be a beautiful weekend to drive around Three Rivers and visit 22 artists studios. You can do it at your own pace and pick your own route. You can even spend the night, or two nights. Soak up some spring time green and wildflowers in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Meet many California artists, remember why you live in Tulare County (or perhaps why you don’t), enjoy a rural weekend, slow things down a bit.

California Art

(Tomorrow I will have a guest post on Brendon Wilson’s blog. It will probably cause you to think “Who is this preachy chick and where is Jana The California Artist?” The subject is gossip. . . not related to my blog at all, but a subject that really triggered many thoughts in my pea-brain.)

Our interviewer got annoyed with me, so today’s blog entry will be unassisted.

The redwood boards are slats that will serve as the backs to Adirondack chairs. You may recall my throne, or even want to see the chairs as sold on eBay. The furniture maker and I enjoy working together and are figuring out a way to dress the chairs up a bit more.

Meanwhile, I do know how to paint oranges, poppies and Sequoia trees/Big trees/Redwoods on canvas. After all, I am a California artist!

Odd Job, continued

Yesterday’s interview continues as our interviewer investigates the meaning of redwoods on redwood.

So, California Artist who has redwoods on redwood, what is the deal?

No deal. It’s a commission. It is unusual, so I’m calling it an “odd job”.

Who commissions stuff like this?

Someone who loves redwoods.

Come on!! What’s the deal?

The redwoods have been burned into the wood so they are recessed. The customer has asked me to paint in the recessed area.

How’s it going?

Not too well. The oil paint isn’t looking like much. It appears to be soaking into the wood, or maybe it is just too transparent to show on top of the charcoal. It is also too wood-grain-ish for my brushes.

What are you going to do?

I’ve put a layer of white acrylic paint as a base coat and will see how the paint shows on that. When it dries, I’ll try oil paint over that, and then you can continue the interview.

But you haven’t told us what these things are for!

Gotta keep you coming back to read the blog, don’t I?

Odd Jobs

Oh-oh, here comes that interviewer again.

Hey California Artist, what are those?

They are Giant Sequoias, aka Big Trees, or for those Rangers out there, they are Redwoods.

Yes, I can see that, but that doesn’t look like canvas to me on that easel.

Me either.

So what is it?

Redwood. Those are redwoods on redwood.

Are you kidding??

Now don’t get your knickers in a twist – it is salvaged wood, not savaged trees.

But what is it?

Keep your shirt on – more will be revealed.