I'm Teaching a Drawing Workshop Nov 7

I'm slated to teach a basic still life drawing workshop at the Calgary School of Art on November 7. I'm really excited about it, and honoured to get the chance to teach there.

The most exciting thing for me is to be able to introduce the style of drawing that I learned from my teacher in Taiwan - to the best of my ability, and with influence from other remarkable artists (such as David Leffel and Richard Schmid). From what I have seen of the art scene in Calgary, there is not a huge number of people drawing Classically, and for those who do, there is not a lot in terms of instructors to help them along. A number of people are self-taught, which is incredibly admirable, and yet I can see some people making mistakes that I think are holding them back. So I hope to be able to pass along some information that can fill in some gaps they may have in their training.

The most basic thing, and yet of utmost importance, is how to hold the pencil. At the painting workshop I went to, David Leffel stressed the importance of holding the brush properly. He said this is primary, and everyone should learn or re-learn how to hold it properly. (Similarly, when I was studying Kung Fu in Boulder, Colorado, my shifu said to me that even after 25 years of practice, he was still refining his straight punch - the most basic element of the fighting system.) Specifically, I see artists holding a pencil to draw the way they would hold it to write - which is fine if their paper is close to horizontal, but if their paper is standing up vertically, it is very difficult to control. You should hold the pencil differently when you stand your paper up! (Likewise, I recommend holding it differently when doing the large block-in motions versus the smaller actions of hatching or drawing tight detail.)

Secondly, I'll discuss size and placement of the subject, and mention the modern tendency to make everything really large compared to the overall size of the piece. This is a personal choice, but I prefer a more condensed area of interest and smaller objects. And I'll talk about holding the pencil and making large lines during the blocking-in stage.

After that, I'm going to focus on drawing volume and light. In fact, I'm thinking of titling the workshop "Drawing Form and Light from the Still Life." Then, I can use that title for an oil painting workshop, a charcoal workshop, a portrait workshop, or whatever (ie: "Painting Form and Light from the Still Life," etc.).

I have to think of what else I will talk about. Most of the time will be devoted to helping students as they work, and I think I will set aside about an hour for a demonstration, so it's not like I need 6 hours' worth of talking points. But I should make sure I have enough information to pass on. And probably summarize the points on a handout. I will share that information here when I get it down.

Oh, and I already have the composition that I want to use for the picture. I made the original sketch in my journal, and have been working on nailing down the composition, but haven't turned out a piece yet. (I've also had difficulty finding the actual physical objects I want to use for it.) I don't want my students to copy one of my artworks - although I absolutely do intend to turn it into a finished piece.

And I also need to make one other piece as soon as possible, to hang as a promotional piece at the Calgary School of Art. (The piece I wanted to take over is too large.) So I am going to make something, hopefully starting tonight, to frame in an existing frame (so no extra cost), and take it over next week sometime. [Um...or I may go buy rain pants tonight, which could put a crimp in that plan.]

My thoughts on making this piece (I’m considering a charcoal + pastel drawing) are that it should communicate strongly across the entire floor space of the Calgary School of Art. When people come in, I want them to see it immediately and say, “Wow! What’s THAT!?” and run over to look at it, and then say one of two things: “Can I buy it?” or “I want to take a class from this guy!” (Well, OK: to be honest, I want them to say BOTH of those things!)

I think the way to do that is to use very high contrast (i.e.: chiaroscuro) with intense chroma at the focal point, and then enough detail to satisfy their eyeballs once they have forgotten why they originally came into the store and are gawking at my piece. I already have an oil sketch that is close to this, just needs a darker background, higher chroma, and more “stuff.” (I’m debating using this actual painting, although I think I ought to use a drawing of some kind to represent me for this workshop, since it’s a drawing workshop. And hopefully I can bring in an oil painting – maybe this one! - when I get the opportunity to offer a painting workshop.) I'm hoping that someone will want to buy it and that I can have it sold and then replace it with another one, which I hope will also sell. I'm HOPING that my promotional pieces will keep changing, and that I will have plenty of workshops and a couple of classes to offer. I'd love to be able to teach a drawing class once a week and a painting class once a week, and a workshop once a month or every two months. That would make me very busy, but in a very good way. In fact, it might be rewarding enough to keep me in Calgary for some time. I sure hope so!