Being open to learn

I do sometimes get too comfortable using a certain drawing tool or medium after some time. What I don't like about that is, after a while, I feel I'm not learning anything new. There is no new challenge to excite me.

Recently, I was asked to teach a pencil sketching course. At first, I resisted. I told them that the medium I was most familiar with was pen and ink. Pencil drawing (as in proper academic kind of pencil drawing) was something I only did way back when I was in secondary school when I was 14yrs old. But I decided to go for it, with the mindset that I could learn something new. From experience, I've often found that when I transitioned from a ballpoint to a calligraphy pen, and then a dip pen, a fountain pen, a brush, I've always gained new insights on how to draw with my older tools and how the basic principles of drawing underlying all drawing styles worked. 

So a few months back, I bought a set of pencils from 3H to 9B and have been practicing pencil shading again. I had to refresh myself before teaching a course! And it has been a delightful learning experience.

Some of what I've learned so far.

Combining contour drawing with still life does work. Using grids to help beginners with contour drawing does help.

There are lots of lovely still life references on Pinterest!

I learned that using a range of pencils from hard to soft in one drawing gives different kinds of marks needed for different areas. Before that, I often just used one pencil. Harder pencils are better for a line hatching effect, softer pencils give more grainy look. It's pretty cool knowing how to better control the looks now.

Using my pen and ink style, I'd often do the dark blacks first, then build up the lighter areas. But I realise that, with pencil, building up a drawing using hatching, from light to dark, can produce a more delicate drawing with finer nuances. When I read books on drawing, most artists seem to shade from light to dark. It got me wondering, "is there a right way to do it?" I dread that thought because I often like to challenge thoughts like that. Instead, I'm just going with "what works and what doesn't" or "what works better?" It's less stifling and allows me to explore.

Here is the video process for this drawing above.

I drew it again in class. It looks different every time.

Breaking it down for the students made me think harder about the process. How do I shade a fruit with texture? Should I could shade the texture and the values at the same time or should I do the values first, then add the texture later. I tried both ways. They gave a different look. The second way was more clear cut to follow. And do I teach them to shade the background or the objects first? It does take some strategy and the strategy can change depending on the subject matter.

There are also so many ways to shade. I could shade with downward strokes, put the pencil on its side and go in circular motions, or do hatching with a harder pencils. And that's just the few I practice for now.

These drawings do look more academic, unlike my usual drawings. That's because they are just studies to improve my pencil sketching skills. These drawings don't have any personal meaning for me. So I'm looking forward to applying my skills for drawings that relate to me more.

I still like pen and ink and drawing comics with them. But as I've blogged about before, I won't call myself a pen person or a pencil person. It's more helpful to just think of myself as "a storyteller" and using pencils is just another way to tell my stories. That keeps me open to learn new things and not get stuck with the same old ways. The more tools I'm better at, the more ways I can tell my stories visually.

After the pencil course, I'm going to be teaching a pen and ink class. If you are in Singapore, check it out.