Drinking and drawing is such a popular activity that businesses have been created and have flourished from its popularity. This week, we decided to drink (nonalcoholic drinks) and sketch a few subjects.
First up was trees. The second picture of a tree was actually the first I sketched. This one was frustrating to draw. As a non-art oriented person, sketching is not my forte. It was difficult to draw something that was so complex while also trying to capture the spirit of it, or the feeling of the movement. This particular tree was blowing in the wind and that’s what I tried to focus on while drawing, however, I do not believe that is what came across. However, the first picture of the tree above was the second to last that I drew, and that one I was more pleased with. Even a while of practice made a difference in the quality of the work. Also, I focused on the details more, attempting to look at the subject more than at the paper. In the end, the attention to detail paid off for me.
Next, we had the drink. My drink was a warm tea in my light blue hydro flask. In these sketches, I tried to focus on the detail and being more calm as I sketched. For me, the tea is a daily occurrence in my life, functioning as a light boost of caffeine to keep me going in the day. It is a calm, ever present detail of my day and I felt I captured that in the sketches. It is not a fancy, over-the-top drink, but a staple and simple aspect of my day. I worked with the shadows here to attempt to push myself into the art more. Although difficult, I was pleased with how the shadows turned out. I was the most calm making these sketches than any others and that definitely reflects the feeling this drink brings me.
The final subject was people. This subject was the one I most dreaded. Drawing people is such a difficult subject that some artists try to avoid it completely. For me, there was a dread of drawing another student and doing them injustice. The first drawing of a person was a blind contour of my hand holding the drink. In middle school I took an introductory art class and one of our assignments was a blind contour drawing, and I remember enjoying them so much that I decided to go at it again. I think the sketch shows my struggle with it in a quite comical way which is exactly how I felt while making the work. However, having to focus on the subject and not the paper helped me see some benefits in paying attention to detail. As fir the sketch of a fellow student, I drew Kim Flores. I feel my sketch was satisfactory in my eyes, but definitely not what I wish it would’ve been. It felt frustrating not able to express what I wanted to on paper. In general, I prefer drawing geometric shapes and lines, so drawing a person was a whole different realm for me.
All in all, the drawing experience was a mix of stress, appreciation, calm, frustration, and learning. If I were to practice every day, racking up hundreds or thousands of hours, I feel I could improve my skill. On the other hand, as a Computer Science major, I see little necessity for being able to create a work of art. In reality, I may have to make minor sketches in order to convey my idea of a physical finished product or create squares and lines to map the classes of my code project, but I may not have the need to sketch a person in all their complexities and details. Of course, it is important to have a basic skill, but my skill seems enough for my math-oriented need to draw. Sometimes, however I will find myself having to sketch something out as a picture can say a lot more than words can. We are visual creatures and sometimes that’s necessary to communicate.
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