Reminder

Today was the first day of my 10 hour drawing class and it was the most intense drawing experience of my young life. For those of you who aren't artsy people 10 hours of drawing is like taking 10 hours of straight lab. Your brain sort of melts away after a while and you become incredibly cranky and your fingers start cramping and it is overall not a good experience.

The first hour was ok. We did the normal things. Went over the powerpoint, talked about gesture drawings, talked about what we wanted out of the class, blah blah blah. The teacher was introducing himself and he portrayed himself in a very interesting way. He didn't talk forever like my painting teacher, so I liked him straight away, but he is very interested in our opinions; which I find REALLY bizarre. He will constantly stop mid sentence to ask if we are following ok, or if we have questions and is always making sure that we are comfortable with the set up he has given. He isn't afraid of telling us what to draw, but he is very concerned with making sure we are learning and doing constructive things. Being the smartass I am I say a sassy thing here or there to keep him on his toes (which he doesn't appreciate at first). He quickly caught on and seems to enjoy my banter now though.

Then after the brief presentation we draw from a live model, FOR THREE STRAIGHT HOURS. Then for the next three straight hours the teacher brought in a model and said draw. We had various poses and various restraints, but my god it was boring, frustrating, and disorienting all rolled up in the same burrito. I had forgotten how bad I was at gesture drawings and how much it frustrated me that I sucked at them soooo hard. Though I got progressively better along the way, those three hours drained me of all my energy. We then got a solid hour lunch break where I consumed two panini and a chocolate pastry, just to try and get my engines going again for the remaining six hours of class. Fortunately only four of them would be intensive drawing and the other two would be powerpoints and breaks.

So after we get back from the break we start off with a 30 minute slide show about contour and I am getting myself ready for the most agonizing three hours of my life, especially after the catastrophe that was gesture drawings. The models them come in and I start drawing and I start to really get into some of them. The next three hours passed by in no time and it was already time for our second break. I looked back on my piece and realized that I didn't suck at art and remembered why I loved it so much to begin with.

After the last of the drawing was we took a break and me and the other kids sat outside the SACI building like homeless people eating gelato. The gelato lady was really nice and asked us all our names in Italian and talked about the little things I was able to understand (especially under the ext

remem exhaustion of drawing all day). She then proceeds to give us the remained of all the baked goods they are no longer selling in the store anymore. I swear to god it was like getting a chocolate filled miracle Christmas gift. That little moment gave me the energy I needed to finish up my last hours with pride and not weep uncontrollably on the floor in the fetal position.

I walk into the studio, head high ready for drawing once more! Only to find out the only thing we have left is a perception garden drawing in our sketchbooks (which only takes an hour to do, and it is with pencil so it isn't very trying). I am thankful that is all we had left, but to be honest I was ready to put my recharged energy to use at that point. So I stay an extra half hour and finish up my homework for thursday and get ready for painting tomorrow. We are apparently going on a field trip to a place I have never heard to see this artist that I don't know, but is famous. Hopefully it will get me in the painting mood, which is unlikely, but I am willing to give it a try.