I have been giving a lot of thought to the possibility that we all, ultimately, draw and paint ourselves. Looking at other people work, seeing the ages of people, the recent experience of the Open Studios and remembering how I painted when I was young, it seems to me that I was more interested in reflecting myself than being objective. It was quite unconscious but all my figures looked how I saw myself. All landscapes reflected my inner state of angst. My drawing was spiky like my youthful awkwardness.
It over several years that I started being more objective and started actually looking at what I saw. This drawing course is making it clear that, to begin with, it is all about detailed observation. There are three levels of this degree course and by the time I am at level three, I might be combining the skill of drawing with a little more insight, knowledge and intellectual application of an artist.
I have trouble with the detail because I am used to painting more loosely. Doing what I am told is always difficult as I want to go off at a tangent all the time.
How we draw is like our handwriting. We learn to shape the letters, learn a style and then, over the years how writing who's who we are.
Perhaps the exercises are like learning the letters. How we put it all together comes later. My dilemma is starting at a late age, having painted for many years and then going back to the beginning.
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