Years back, when I was a student at the Edinburgh College of Art, I had a meeting with the artist David Reekie. He looked over my work and told me, "It's interesting, but the quality of your drawing is only just there".
This comment has haunted me. It's a well judged bit of criticism. Honest, concise and brutally to the point with just enough hint of encouragement to motivate you to do more. As I say it's haunted me. I look at my drawings and ask myself is it good enough?
Most days I think not, and its for this reason I practice every day, but its harder than you might think to find the time to do so. When you are a student you have plenty of time to practice. There are probably even scheduled drawing classes in the college that it is mandatory to attend. These days I have to fit my drawing practice around answering emails from potential clients, checking my schedule for meetings, worrying about delivery deadlines, packing boxes, sorting receipts for the tax return, hunting desperately for the next job to make sure the bills get paid. In short there are a thousand things that get in the way of the creative bit of being an artist.
So, the daily drawings that I do are miniatures. They range in size from 4cm x 4xcm up to 15cm x 10cm. Most take an hour, if I am lucky I can squeeze two into a morning. They are rendered in ball point pen for speed and because I can approximate many of the marks I make with the engraving drill with a ball point pen.
It must be said that the humble Bic Biro is actually a wonderful drawing tool. The ink can be applied in thin lines or dots to give very pale tones or layer to create a rich velvety thickness.
Every day, as soon as the drawing is complete it is photographed and posted on my instagram account. (Hey hey! Self promotion. I'm a working artist, what did you expect?) dominicfondeglass@instagram if anyone is interested.
Are they good enough yet? Is the quality "there" yet? It depends what your criteria for good is I suppose, but i like to think I'm making progress. So, time to start drawing. I'll see you on instagram as soon as todays drawing is done.
This comment has haunted me. It's a well judged bit of criticism. Honest, concise and brutally to the point with just enough hint of encouragement to motivate you to do more. As I say it's haunted me. I look at my drawings and ask myself is it good enough?
Most days I think not, and its for this reason I practice every day, but its harder than you might think to find the time to do so. When you are a student you have plenty of time to practice. There are probably even scheduled drawing classes in the college that it is mandatory to attend. These days I have to fit my drawing practice around answering emails from potential clients, checking my schedule for meetings, worrying about delivery deadlines, packing boxes, sorting receipts for the tax return, hunting desperately for the next job to make sure the bills get paid. In short there are a thousand things that get in the way of the creative bit of being an artist.
So, the daily drawings that I do are miniatures. They range in size from 4cm x 4xcm up to 15cm x 10cm. Most take an hour, if I am lucky I can squeeze two into a morning. They are rendered in ball point pen for speed and because I can approximate many of the marks I make with the engraving drill with a ball point pen.
It must be said that the humble Bic Biro is actually a wonderful drawing tool. The ink can be applied in thin lines or dots to give very pale tones or layer to create a rich velvety thickness.
Every day, as soon as the drawing is complete it is photographed and posted on my instagram account. (Hey hey! Self promotion. I'm a working artist, what did you expect?) dominicfondeglass@instagram if anyone is interested.
Are they good enough yet? Is the quality "there" yet? It depends what your criteria for good is I suppose, but i like to think I'm making progress. So, time to start drawing. I'll see you on instagram as soon as todays drawing is done.
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