"What do you draw at home?" I don't. Well, I didn't.

So - as part of my Fiber Arts Degree, I do need to experience other aspects of Art.

Required - Drawing 1.
O-K. I'll take it. 'Cause I have to.
{didja get the slightly whiny tone there?}

The teacher is cool. Very, actually. Passionate about his art and teaching. Lively, charming & talented.
He brings in Art History touches with his examples - which I truly enjoy. It's a Good Class.

However, it's also mixed with Drawing 2 students (just a couple). Alright - the class is filled with people that draw all the time.
For fun. It's their passion and they are eons ahead of me in knowledge, ability, and drive.
I actually feel a little sorry for the teacher - being stuck with me in a class that is otherwise filled with excited, talented students that are half-taught already.

So....at the end of the first class, he asks us to draw an "egg" and a "bottle" for our homework.
I looked around, pulled a bottle off the kitchen windowsill, selected an average egg from the carton in the fridge and I took a photo. {So the egg wouldn't sit out or become a messy hockey puck for the cats}

I gave it a shot and I think I did OK.
Meaning I felt it could be recognized as a funky-looking bottle and some roundish "thing" {which could be a potato or an egg....}. ;-)

Next class, we arrive and there's a white carafe and a Styrofoam ball up on a table on a white cloth.
We're told to draw it in the next 15 min.
Again - I give it a shot.

The teacher came by to review our drawings (and homework) and to offer some advice.
It was explained that my inclination to draw small (conserving paper) was not so desirable.

 
Use the Whole Page. Check. Got it.

Now...I'm still trying (even a few weeks later) to comprehend some of the very kind and supportive coaching I received. (No, I'm not being sarcastic. He was being very kind even before he began to realize what he was dealing with...)

My confused look prompted the teacher to try and start with something I'd be familiar with:
Teacher: {said kindly and with interest} : "What do you draw at home?".
Me: "At Home? Nothing.".
Teacher: "Nothing?".
Me: "Nothing. I don't draw."
Teacher: "You don't? Not anything?".
Me: "Nope".
Teacher: "What do you do?".
Me: "A variety of hand-crafts. Mostly I knit.".
Teacher: {And I may not have heard him correctly but I could have sworn he said}: "Well, by the end of this class, we'll have you knitting in 3-D!".

??Enh??
I was a bit confounded and was thinking: "But I already knit it 3-D...?"

More of that conversation was a bit blurry and, um, I suspect I missed some of what was imparted due to the drawing jargon used. He did suggest was that I start my drawing with some basic grid-lines {Oh - so my carafe would not resemble a certain leaning tower.}.

I think the rest was along the lines of I was being too fussy about my drawing and I needed to kinda let go a bit. Ok. Seemed like reasonable advice.

The teacher then gave us some general pointers and background requirements.
He then altered the still life to include a dark blanket draped behind the carafe/ball with some interesting lighting (which radically changed the shadows and our view of the items {again - pretty cool}) and we were told to try again.
He came by and offered more advice and I tried to apply the suggestions.

{Look! I used the Whole page!} ;-)

{grin}
It's ok. It doesn't look much better whether you squint at it or em-biggen the picture.
I figure I can only get better.
{Grin-er}
But....at least I already knit in 3-D.