It's been over a year since I took my oil painting class. Funny how you can just let life happen and your hobbies go to the wayside. I signed up for another oil painting class for the Winter quarter at Edmonds CC. It's a once a week class and mostly for professionals looking for something fun to do. I think it'll just help me devote a block of time to the craft.
Today, I picked up two books: Light & Shade in Charcoal, Pencil and Brush Drawing by Anson K. Cross, and the other one (I don't have the book in front of me) introduces color theory and techniques using color. I picked these two books because I remember having a very hard time working with shade and light and identifying value, and I really know nothing about color and how to mix color. I also picked out these two books because they seem to be for serious art students. They have a more academic approach than the complete course in drawing books or learn to paint in less than 100 pages.
I often think about going back to school to study art or regret that I didn't do it in the first place. In my work as a college recruiter, I often meet other recruiters from art colleges, and as I flip through their brochures, I entertain the idea of going to their school. Already having a Masters, a career, a mortgage and a near future with children, going to art school seems impossible and impractical. Funny, my 20 year old self would have advised me differently.
There's no point in dwelling or regretting however. Being 31, I still have a lifetime ahead of me to master a craft...and well, just to enjoy myself. By now, I know the value of a degree and what it can be for and what it's not for. A BFA on top of my other degrees is not necessary for personal fulfillment and enrichment. Where would I like to be in the next 5 years or 10 years with my art? Let's see....
For now, it's a couple of books, a sketch pad and a Monday night class :)
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My relationship with drawing
When I told my friend that I was taking a figure drawing class, she asked if I was an artist. This surprised me as I had never considered this before. I've never thought of myself as an artist, because growing up, I wanted to be a writer. But I've drawn all my life. I think I thought an artist was someone who created art as a "profession". But if one loves art and creates art as a hobby, could this person not be an artist? Does one have to produce "good" art to be an "artist"?
This is a site about my experience in my summer figure drawing class, my first college-level art class. These drawings are examples of exercises done in class, and they are often incomplete.
2009: After a successful figure drawing class last summer, I decided to continue taking summer art classes at UW. This summer is oil painting, and this site is a continuation of my adventures in art.
This is a site about my experience in my summer figure drawing class, my first college-level art class. These drawings are examples of exercises done in class, and they are often incomplete.
2009: After a successful figure drawing class last summer, I decided to continue taking summer art classes at UW. This summer is oil painting, and this site is a continuation of my adventures in art.
About Me
- Bettybets
- I start a blog every time I find a new creative outlet. It went from writing to drawing and now cooking. All my life I've taken for granted all those great dishes that my parents, grandmother, and aunts have made. It's a shame when you realize that you might not get to eat all of those things forever. So I'm on an adventure to find all those ingredients I used to love, and as they sizzle on a pan or in a wok, I'm transported back to my childhood, to China and to Taiwan. So here I am, learning to be Chinese!
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