I am very much a visual learner, and art has always been an interest of mine. Whether it's drawing cartoon characters, messing around in 3ds Max (since 3.1!), creating designs in Photoshop or even building a business plan for art education software in CSC454, I've found art to be both fulfilling and challenging. And despite what people say about art using primarily the right brain, computer graphics (and even traditional art to an extent) actually require a great deal of understanding of math and physics (eg. understanding lighting and materials).

I recently began an evening drawing class at Foothills Collage, and it has opened my eyes to how a little instruction (and regular practice) can help you move beyond that learning plateau that most creative people experience.

Charcoal drawing of a watering can

Here are a few of the things that I’ve learned since class started:

• Charcoal is messy, but using it is a crash course in thinking about lights and darks (values) and the composition of your drawing.
• Using vine charcoal is as close to having Undo as you are going to get in real life (you can literally wipe it off the page).
• It’s easier (and looks much more natural) to imply an edge by contrasting light and dark than to actual draw a line.
• Everyone tries to draw too much on too small an area of paper. It just takes that much longer to finish a drawing and prevents you from adding all the necessary details to make it look real.
• Adding subtle differences in value can create a real sense of depth, especially in the shadows and near creases or edges.
• Consistent illumination throughout your drawing can be done by anchoring values against the darkest darks and the lightest lights (which you put down first).
• I really love toned paper. It forces you to think about negative shapes and building up light instead of just laying down the darks.
• The guys at the local art store are a little stuck up, haha, but they generally mean well and are willing to help :)
• Community colleges are actually pretty awesome, despite what people say. Classes are affordable and classes are cool mix of people.
• Juliette Aristides has a great book called Lessons in Classical Drawing. It is really well written and is filled with beautiful drawings.

The class is still in progress, but I’ll try to keep uploading the drawings to the gallery as I go.