Week 2 Wrapup

This was the first week of real work and I had a really splendid time. Although I am one to wander up and down many avenues, the focused direction of a course is a welcome respite. It's rather nice to be simply "doing the work" of an assignment.

Thursday morning, Marcia provided feedback on the blind contour drawings and the b/w photo. My scribbling was taken as a good indication that I didn't "cheat" by looking over to find my place. Oh, how I wanted to! The italian peppers and dried beech leaves received the best grades for "good strong lines". Mention was made of the lines and form that stood out so well in the b/w photo. A cautionary note was made that one should always try to draw from life.

So, what did I really learn this week? The line. It's all about the line. From light and graceful to strong and demanding, a line can be most expressive. I will admit that I don't yet understand it all that well. Just what is a "good strong line"? Well, Marcia has encouraged me to look, so perhaps she understands that I need to learn. I'll poke through some fine old books by Harold Speed and John Ruskin for thoughts on this. I'll have some chats with the lovely artists who frequent this little blogspot.

Although this course week officially completes on Friday, it looks like I'm done. There is some content that has an upload box but don't think it's really an assignment. Tonight I'll collect my thoughts around what's up for next week and present that out in tomorrow's post.

Getting off the drawing path... I am often intrigued by the rhododendron's pronounced reaction to cold. Here the temp is probably in the teens. Down around zero, those leaves will curl up like cinnamon sticks.