When I began drawing as a child, it was my most favorite pass time, and I spent more hours a day drawing than I spent studying, playing outside, and watching television combined. I would sit at my little PLAYSKOOL™ desk and draw to my heart’s content – and I had no care in the world. I loved every single thing I drew, and so did my parents. My teachers thought I was such an advanced child artist that they let me be the leader of every single art project in grade school. In middle school I divided the time I spent on art with playing a tenor saxophone in the school band. I did not really have any classes or projects that would advance my studies with art, but that did not hinder my growth and love of art.
When I got to high school, I was ready to tackle art head on. My high school was a college preparatory school that had different programs for students much like colleges have majors, which were called curriculums. I chose the art curriculum and loved art in ninth and tenth grade, but my junior and senior year made me hate art more than I have ever hated anything in my entire life. The highest grade I could get in my classes was a C-, which was very discouraging for someone who was told how good her art was her entire life, and the one semester when my artwork was featured in a city-wide showcase, I got a D in my fashion class. I was really ready to quit until I had a nice long talk with one of my favorite teachers. I wonder how he’s doing. But after having the teachers I had for art my junior and senior year I was so thoroughly prepared to not become an art major.
So I get to college, and I’m in my second year – as an art major – and I enjoy every bit of it. My animosity towards my teacher from high school vanished after my first semester of college art. I went to college thinking I was not good enough to major in art, and every assignment I got back from my ADR 1050 (drawing I) professor was either an A or an A-. I actually don’t recall getting any grade lower than an A-. It continued over into ADR 1060 (drawing II), until I slacked off on my sketchbook assignments and got an F on my first half of the semester sketchbook review. I bust my butt but I got all of my assignments in, ON TIME, in order to show my professor I was really serious about doing art. She was so impressed with that. I thought I’d end up getting a B- out of her class and I got an A-. I was elated with that grade. In drawing II, I slacked off on my sketchbook and homework, but I did all of my in class assignments and had them in on time. It was not really a good look, and I felt obligated to reverse that because I did not want to end up with a C in art again.
And now, here I am. I am not taking any classes at the moment, but I am trying to expand my portfolio independently of school. I can’t have everything in there being a school assignment. I do like some of my assignments from school, but my favorite works are those which were done in my own spare time. I know that I am better at still life drawing than I am at drawing people. I also know that I am better at drawing people than I am at drawing landscapes and buildings in perspective. There are certain things that I know I need to work on, because I know that the more diverse my portfolio is the better off I will be in the long run. So, that's what I'm pretty much working on right now.
When I got to high school, I was ready to tackle art head on. My high school was a college preparatory school that had different programs for students much like colleges have majors, which were called curriculums. I chose the art curriculum and loved art in ninth and tenth grade, but my junior and senior year made me hate art more than I have ever hated anything in my entire life. The highest grade I could get in my classes was a C-, which was very discouraging for someone who was told how good her art was her entire life, and the one semester when my artwork was featured in a city-wide showcase, I got a D in my fashion class. I was really ready to quit until I had a nice long talk with one of my favorite teachers. I wonder how he’s doing. But after having the teachers I had for art my junior and senior year I was so thoroughly prepared to not become an art major.
So I get to college, and I’m in my second year – as an art major – and I enjoy every bit of it. My animosity towards my teacher from high school vanished after my first semester of college art. I went to college thinking I was not good enough to major in art, and every assignment I got back from my ADR 1050 (drawing I) professor was either an A or an A-. I actually don’t recall getting any grade lower than an A-. It continued over into ADR 1060 (drawing II), until I slacked off on my sketchbook assignments and got an F on my first half of the semester sketchbook review. I bust my butt but I got all of my assignments in, ON TIME, in order to show my professor I was really serious about doing art. She was so impressed with that. I thought I’d end up getting a B- out of her class and I got an A-. I was elated with that grade. In drawing II, I slacked off on my sketchbook and homework, but I did all of my in class assignments and had them in on time. It was not really a good look, and I felt obligated to reverse that because I did not want to end up with a C in art again.
And now, here I am. I am not taking any classes at the moment, but I am trying to expand my portfolio independently of school. I can’t have everything in there being a school assignment. I do like some of my assignments from school, but my favorite works are those which were done in my own spare time. I know that I am better at still life drawing than I am at drawing people. I also know that I am better at drawing people than I am at drawing landscapes and buildings in perspective. There are certain things that I know I need to work on, because I know that the more diverse my portfolio is the better off I will be in the long run. So, that's what I'm pretty much working on right now.
No!
ReplyDelete