I am not really fond of doing pencil drawing; I simply prefer to do faster and more spontaneous expressions with colour. Deep down in my “art mind” I think, I believe that drawing with a graphite pencil is not really that “clever”, because it is not easy to sell it and it remains a monotone reality. (Please note that these are my excuses for not choosing the important pencil!) I hope I am not seen as a lazy artist, by the realists, who demand accuracy and hours of dedication. I just need to add an aside here: I can appreciate good drawings and I acknowledge the efforts of all artists in their respective genres. The basics of drawing I understand and I do teach them to my students. However, “Do I teach them well enough?” was a question that I became intensely aware of, when I was looking at a display of school art in China.
I thought I understood the basics of drawing. I taught in Wuhan at an international school that was located within a large government school. We taught an overseas curriculum and the government school followed the national system. One morning as I was going to school, I was surprised to see about 100 easels with government students’ graphite drawings on them. It was clearly display time for the final year Art students and they were looking for the winners.
They gave all the spectators a slip of paper and asked us to rate the pencil works. It was an impossible task; the works were all photo-realistically perfect. These drawings (all A-3 in size) all looked like black and white photographs. I think it must have taken each student about a week of continuous hard work to reach that level of perfection. I am not trying to criticize the Chinese government Art syllabus here; I am just trying to acknowledge the fact that I am no drawing master (it appeared to me). If I were to sit down for a week, I may reproduce what they did, but do I really feel like it? I think, if those Chinese students were to see the small work I am including here today, they may shake their heads in disbelief and maintain this teacher knows nothing about the fundamentals of drawing. (It is all a matter of arty perspective.)
I just feel a little hampered when I work with a pencil for too long – I may be one of the more hyperactive artist types – I want to draw on the run, because it is more fun. If I have to draw, please give me a little bottle of ink, a pen with nibs, a small watercolour sketch pad and a tiny watercolour travel set. When I do these sketches on location, I feel something “happy” is happening and I could make a few of them in one day (mass-produced works?); knowing that they may be overlooked in their simplicity and randomness. Maybe, I feel like a tourist in my own backyard when I go outside to sit in front of the trees? Enjoy the medium or media of your choice and draw or paint the way only you, can do it. We each portray what we see according to our personality and dominant talent. If you look at things realistically, we can all do what we prefer, really. Just keep in mind that the buyers have their own ideas too. (They may indeed prefer the realist pencil works!)
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