Notice a difference? We are finally transitioning to charcoal drawing and have added tone, or value, to the list of challenges we need to tackle. With the introduction of tone, we also added two more tools to our drawing kit, a black mirror and a white mirror. The white mirror is a plain old mirror. The black one allows us to see the tone easier and flattens the image a bit although everything is reflected backward. Alas, using them does not provide any shortcuts, just more information (and sometimes more confusion).There are only two pictures this week because each of these pictures took six to seven hours to draw. They really aren't finished pictures either. One begins to see the scale of work involved.
It doesn't really bother me that much. Weavers are used to delayed gratification. Right? As Virginia Harvey used to say when asked how long it took to weave/create that, it takes "many pleasurable hours."
Ok, sometimes the hours aren't pleasurable but if they were, everyone would draw or weave. I must admit though, weaving isn't nearly as painful for me as drawing is at times. I do miss it but will be able to return to it when my schooling is done. That is a great comfort to me. I do still bring my drop spindle to use during lunch break and I hope to haul Jane out for the holidays.
I had to order warmer clothes to wear here in Ashland. Looking around I see we are ringed with snowy mountains and the snowline is about 200 ft. above us. When the wind blows, even a little, it is colder than I am used to. Thankfully the warm clothes came in time for the weekend weather. Our little trailer was rocking in the wind and we had to put our awning away for fear it would be torn off (that happened to us once!).
Due to the holidays, we only have one full day of class next week. I will still go in on Monday on my own as there is a certain child's bike we drew for construction drawing on Friday that made me want to kick it across the room. I will be drawing it again, not kicking it, on Monday. I also just received a portable easel that I can take on a hike with me if I wish to use in our trailer. Like the Jane loom, it folds up and stows away so now I will be able to draw here with comfort if I don't feel like going to the school on the off days.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone here in the U.S. and a toast to all around the world.
-Renee
3 comments:
Oh yes, warm clothes are a must! Glad you got some just in time. Once in a while we all get sick of this snow and send it right on down into the valley to share for a bit.
The drawings are really getting fleshed out now. I certainly like the addition of shading. Makes them MUCH easier to view and give you a sense of growth in your skills and certainly a completeness to the overall composition. Have fun with Jane and the new easel and Happy Thanksgiving!
Wow - adding value to your drawings makes such a huge difference! That's encouraging to me since I have so much trouble seeing middle values. The black mirror sounds interesting.
Thanks for stopping by my blog to offer encouragement as well.
I'm sure the feeling of how long it will take to really master drawing seems daunting. But weaving can definitely feel that way when you're starting out too. It's hard to go back and be a beginner at something after years of being competent at other things. But since I was competent at software development, and I don't want to keep doing that, being a beginner again with all of the emotions that evokes is necessary.
For me, growing up I was used to learning and used to being a student, so that frustration early in a process wasn't as hard for me as it is now.
I don't know if you knit at all - but it involves yarn and is super portable....so it might be good for those times when loom space is at a premium.
OK - my husband is heading out the door for Thanksgiving so I have to sign off and go eat turkey! Hopefully this comment makes sense! I really appreciate getting to see art school through your eyes!! Keep up the good work! You're almost done with the first semester, right? (Easy for me to say!)
Sue
Thanks for the comments Theresa and Sue.I am afraid I don't knit. Oh, I can knit, purl,cast-on and off, decrease and increase but, like quilting I choose not to knit at this time! Not to say that I am not tempted when I see the beautiful things people knit and many of my young friends knit as well.
The first term of school is almost over and before we left for the Thanksgiving holiday the school dropped a bombshell of an announcement... More on that in the next post coming soon!
Happy Thanksgiving! -Renee
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