I drew a cat!!

[susandennis]

My innate ability to draw (or paint) has been hidden for as long as I can remember. I'm not even that good of a doodler.  I don't even know if I can be taught to draw or doodle but I thought I'd try and see so I signed up for Drawing for Beginners and today was the first of four 2 hour classes.  And it was good...

I drew a cat!  (Mine's the one at the top of the page - the one at the bottom was what I copied.)  It's not beautiful but there's no mistaking that it's a cat.  Color me thrilled!!!

The teacher is perfect for me.  Not too enthusiastic, not too sleepy, not too complicated.  And he has a very mellow voice so the whole thing is really really interesting and satisfying and I have homework!!!

There are about 25 people in the class and a surprising number of them were young - actually there were nearly all ages nicely represented and the class is about half male/half female.  

There are a couple of 40ish women who kept asking 'is it cheating if...' and finally some dude in the back says 'you guys do get that this is not for credit, right?' All in all, tho, a nice group.  The two hours soared by.

I'm already considering taking the follow on Drawing for Beginners Part 2 which starts the Saturday after this one ends and goes through March when my Saturday pool classes will be canceled.  I was wondering what I was going to do in March, anyway.


I made a couple of productive stops on the way home and now I'm settled in for the afternoon.  I spent a fair amount of time in swim class coughing and I kind of got breathless while doing  my errands and walking around.  I'm totally perfectly fine while sitting down not moving so that is just exactly what I plan to do for the rest of the day.

I'm so proud of that fucking cat.

Comments

[cienna2000.livejournal.com]

Good job! The cat is awesome.

[susandennis]

thank you!

[plantmom.livejournal.com]

You *ought* to be proud of that cat!

[susandennis]

thanks so much

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

You should be! Well done!

[susandennis]

thanks!!

[egg-shell.livejournal.com]

That is a great cat!!!

Time does seem to really fly when drawing.

[susandennis]

Thanks!!

[rosehiptea.livejournal.com]

That is great! I'd be proud too.

[susandennis]

Thank you.

[shutterbug.livejournal.com]

Awesome job! That looks like a great "first day of class".

[susandennis]

Thanks. it was a fun 2 hours.

[artkouros.livejournal.com]

All it takes is practice! 200 years ago they taught drawing in school to everybody - because there weren't cameras and everyone needed to know how. Somehow it got lost to just that small group who supposedly has "talent", but it's a skill that anyone can learn. Well done!

[susandennis]

thank you

[yesthatjill.livejournal.com]

Sounds like fun.

What do the words on the top of your cat say? And why are they upside down?

[susandennis]

They are tips for how to draw the cat. They are upside down because the big tip is to turn the paper upside down and draw it square by square - concentrating not on the cat but on the negative spaces that make up the cat.

And, of course, you get a star for eagle eye!!

[yesthatjill.livejournal.com]

That is so neat. There's so much detail in that cat!

[yesthatjill.livejournal.com]

Was it hard to draw it one square at a time?

[susandennis]

No! It was magical. Especially upside down. You focus on the outline first. This square gets a little triangle on the left 2/3rds up. that square gets a line and with a squiggle at the bottom, etc. You get through all the squares and turn it over and BAM! You have a cat! it was seriously a giant rush.

then you go back and do the shading the same way.

[johncomic.livejournal.com]

The grid trick is a great way to get you to not see the full object you're drawing, so that you focus on the details of what you're seeing and what it actually looks like, without being distracted by your memories of what that thing is “supposed to” look like. Just like you describe, everything gets broken down into little “meaningless” shapes... when you're trying to draw the shapes in each square, there is never a time when you are trying to draw a cat.

[yesthatjill.livejournal.com]

So how does it translate to when you need to draw something from life? Can you disconnect the understanding part of the brain in favor of just seeing?

[susandennis]

I suspect I'll learn more in the next three classes but... the point of the squares exercise was to see and appreciate what they call negative space - that space around objects. Ok that's not a good explanation but there's a whole book - maybe many if you are really interested.

Anyway, the concept has already latched into my brain. I can see the negative space in stuff that is not in grids already. So, yes, I can begin to see the relationship of the parts and their surrounding negative space in lieu of the actual whatever I'm looking at.

[yesthatjill.livejournal.com]

Neeeeeat! So instead of drawing the thing, you draw the space around the thing. I like this!

[susandennis]

EXACTLY. I found it especially helpful yesterday in getting perspective correct. I was able to use it to fix my cat's face. I should have used it to fix her back paw!

[johncomic.livejournal.com]

Drawing is swell!

[susandennis]

thanks! and good point.

[lilliane.livejournal.com]

Great job, Susan! It's great to see the results and the enjoyment you have gotten from the class. :-)