My Thoughts on Drawing-Reflections on the Semester

      Before the semester began, I was extremely excited to be taking this drawing class. I was about to begin my last semester, was only taking three classes, and was so happy to finally have some time to take a class I really wanted to. I have always loved art, and drawing in particular. My dad and I took a weekly drawing class together when I was younger, and I continued taking lessons through elementary school. However, it wasn't until high school that I had a teacher that I absolutely loved. When I got to Duke, I no longer had time to spend drawing or doing projects just for fun. I missed this part of my life, doing an activity that I could completely lose myself in for hours while listening to music.

     After the first day of this class, I was no longer excited. I couldn't believe we were going to be responsible for an 18"x 24" drawing each week, along with sketchbook drawings and study drawings! I was scared because I knew that I was an extremely slow and meticulous artist. I enjoy the painstaking process of drawing realistically, measured, and without mistakes. I knew that in the past I would spend hours and hours on the smallest of projects, if only to please myself with my handiwork. I had never taken a drawing class where the drawings had to consistently be so large, and I was worried that I would never finish them. 

      What I learned throughout the semester is that drawing isn't about representing everything exactly how it appears in real life, though I still tend towards this style. I learned to draw things to express something, giving enough detail for it to be clear what it was but not killing myself to get it "right". I learned that I could put a lot of value down, and then change it, smudging it and erasing it, often to achieve the texture I actually wanted. I began to teach myself that I don't need to get psyched out at the beginning of a project. If I draw what I see, eventually it will come together.

       Not only did my drawing skills get put to use and strengthened in this class, but I learned to trust myself more and not be afraid of making mistakes. I decided that worrying about the projects wasn't going to help me; I just needed to start and get into them, and they would happen.