Drawing lessons

One of the things that I told everyone who asked what I was going to do once I was retired was that I was going to try and learn to draw. We are fortunate in Morpeth that we have an art shop which sells everything that a budding and more mature artist may want. What better place to start to ask about potential drawing lessons than there? Not long after I had quit work, I went into the shop and asked if the owner knew of anyone who gave such lessons. Sure enough, he advised that he did and was just about to arrange some courses. Such luck.

He was offering four weekly sessions of two hours each during September, which would give me the basics that I would need to get going. Obviously I didn’t expect to become an expert drawer after such a short space of time yet it would be a start. Ideally I would have liked to walk in as a novice and come out as proficient but I knew that this was not to be. I am sure that the ten thousand hour rule applies to drawing as to any other skill.

There was a small group for the first lesson, mostly people of around my age or a little older, with one or two still of working age. After some initial discussion around paper and pencils, the teacher gave us some instructions on the basics of drawing. He started by encouraging us to see shapes within what we were trying to draw and to start with these, circles, ovals, rectangles and triangles. Once we had created a general outline using these shapes we could then start to work on each area, improving the outlines as we went along. The use of an eraser was discouraged until we had got to a point where we were happy with what we had drawn. My first attempt at a bird wasn’t that bad – not too good either!

We then went on to copy a picture of a garden ornament, using shading to highlight the different ways that light played on its surfaces. Though I didn’t finish the frog statue, I was happy with my progress. Perhaps I will be able to draw after all. 

I’m looking forward to this week’s lesson. Oh, and he gave us some homework!