The Honeymoon Cabin, pencil on paper, 11×14, $400 If your drawing teacher is me, that is. These are things I would never say to a student: Sorry, you don’t have any talent. Doesn’t matter if your pencil isn’t sharp. Just use any old stub you can find. You don’t need to be able to draw […]
The Great Talent Hoax
Pencil drawing for The Cabins of Wilsonia Have you ever thought or said to an artist, “Gee, it must be great to have talent”? Or have you you ever said, “I wish I had talent like that”? It’s all smoke and mirrors. Actually, it’s not. It is practice, training, practice, rough criticism, more practice, a […]
Alta Street, done!
Or is it Alta Lane? Alta Drive? Alta Road? I’m talking about Wilsonia, specifically The Cabins of Wilsonia. In my interview with myself, I revealed the strategy for drawing all the cabins. Alphabetically, by street name, means that the first set of drawings is for Alta Street/Lane/Drive/Road. Nope, you don’t get to see the entire […]
Most Popular Pencil Drawing
Whenever I put on an art show for my drawing students, it includes a popularity contest. Anyone who views the show may vote for his 3 favorite pieces. I do this because it causes visitors to spend more time studying the work. When folks say, “How am I supposed to decide?”, I respond with this: […]
A List and request for your opinions
Hope you all enjoyed the week of fall photos! I loved taking and posting them for you. Okay, I did it for me too. 😎 With shows on three consecutive weekends thus far, I feel a little tired. Lists are an easy way to blog choppy unrelated ideas without sounding choppy and unrelated. This is […]
Thoughts on Drawing Lessons
The show for my drawing students is still hanging in the workshop room of the Courthouse Gallery in Exeter. Their hours are Saturday and Sunday, 10-4. You can also stop by on Tuesday afternoons. They will be removing their pieces on November 29. One of my more blunt straightforward students said something to the effect […]
What If I Gave A Party. . .
. . . and EVERYONE came! The art show for my students was a HUGE success. It was elbow to elbow for almost the entire 2 hours. The work looked stunning, and if I had been any prouder of my students, lightning might have struck us all. First, HUGE THANK YOU to Michael, Robin and […]
Student Art Show!
COURTHOUSE GALLERY HOURS Tuesday 12:30-5:30 Saturday/Sunday 10-4 You are invited to the STUDENT ART SHOW an exhibit of original drawings by the students of Jana Botkin November 4 – 27, 2011 RECEPTION NOVEMBER 4, 5-7 PM Courthouse Gallery of the Arts Workshop Room 125 South B Street Exeter, California
Things to be learned in drawing lessons, part 2
If you would like to see the completed piece shown in progress here, come to the student art show! Start with simple things. Get help on big things. Good tools make a job easier. Learn from others who know how. A second set of eyes is helpful. Sometimes you just have to do the work, […]
Things to be learned in drawing lessons, part 1
You can see this drawing at the upcoming student art show. Because a show for my students is coming up soon, I’d like to share with you some of the things learned when taking drawing lessons from me. How to see, really see. How to break down a complicated picture into manageable parts. Lots of […]