Today I attended an en plein air workshop facilitated by Maureen Faulkner, entitled In Situ. We were out at the Prince George Railway and Forestry Museum, and were extremely lucky with the weather. Despite waking up to pouring rain and (in my case), packing rainpants and raincoat, and carting along a fleece vest, we had glorious sunshine and mild temperatures.
It was a good afternoon to simply stretch my drawing muscles again, keeping an open mind and not worrying about results. I brought home one drawing I am relatively pleased with, as it incorporated some of the ideas I had as I walked around the site. Adding the required text response back in the room made the image look similar to a journal entry, albeit on paper that is quite a bit larger than a journal. The theme for the drawing was to find something to draw in detail, in a box, and then expand upon the picture outside of the box. Both the mushrooms and the train snow plow exuded strength and power, even if the former are really quite fragile, in the grand scheme of things. The hardpacked dirt did not stand a chance, when those fungi wanted to come up (probably as a result of the rain).
We had 20 minutes to do the drawing, and I must admit being surprised at what I produced in those 20 minutes. Exact, it is not, but I am usually so slow with my drawings that I would get less than half that much done in that amount of time. It was good to work with no expectations for a change -- made things possible that might not otherwise have happened.
Now, to reproduce those mental conditions on my own time, without needing a workshop to spur me on!!!
It was a good afternoon to simply stretch my drawing muscles again, keeping an open mind and not worrying about results. I brought home one drawing I am relatively pleased with, as it incorporated some of the ideas I had as I walked around the site. Adding the required text response back in the room made the image look similar to a journal entry, albeit on paper that is quite a bit larger than a journal. The theme for the drawing was to find something to draw in detail, in a box, and then expand upon the picture outside of the box. Both the mushrooms and the train snow plow exuded strength and power, even if the former are really quite fragile, in the grand scheme of things. The hardpacked dirt did not stand a chance, when those fungi wanted to come up (probably as a result of the rain).
We had 20 minutes to do the drawing, and I must admit being surprised at what I produced in those 20 minutes. Exact, it is not, but I am usually so slow with my drawings that I would get less than half that much done in that amount of time. It was good to work with no expectations for a change -- made things possible that might not otherwise have happened.
Now, to reproduce those mental conditions on my own time, without needing a workshop to spur me on!!!
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