Like my parents always insist, if one sets out to do something, one should work to become the best at it. Art, like most other things in life, is like math, if you don't know the basics you can't really get better at it. That is why I decided to take a classical drawing class again. I took classical drawing more or less six years ago, but since then, my professor restructured it to cover topics I never learned. It was the hardest art course of my degree and I had always dreaded the thought of doing it again.
Guess what? It turns out it is one of the best decisions I have ever taken. I am soooo happy with the new found knowledge about composition, veiling, the golden mean, among lots of other cool stuff. I am confident that I will become a much better painting because of this course. I can't wait to start trying out my new skills with paint!
Above is one of the master studies I worked on for "home studio." The original is by Da Vinci, and although I am not there yet, I am definitely closer than I was six years ago when I tried it last. This time I actually enjoyed the exercise!!! Who would have thought??? (Back then it was mere torture).
I leave you with another bit of wisdom from my dad... "You can't learn how to swim by reading a book, you just have to throw yourself in the water" and that is exactly what I'm trying to do, figuratively, of course.
P.S. The study is not done, I mostly worked on working the value right on the shadows. I still have to work on the transition from light to dark and the lights :)
