Session 1

Undertaking a ten week drawing, painting and printing course is a real challenge for me but one which I will rise to in order to engage in arts-practice led inquiry. The opportunity to work within an Artists’ Studio, Wasps Studios, Dalry, Edinburgh, alongside a practicing artist and other keen artists was one not to be missed. My main focus is on the drawing element and enjoying the space with which to work freely as an artist. Exploring the concept of the artist teacher and the identities of self as an artist, teacher and researcher was the incentive needed to work in areas left fallow for some time, in particular Still Life drawing and Life Drawing. My subject matter for some time has been landscape and imaginative work and I felt the need to broaden my horizons. The focus for session 1 was mark making and blind drawing in response to a Still Life group. Encouraged to experiment with various materials and papers and really open up to the surprise of mark making using different approaches (arms length drawing, use of sticks, sponge, card, pen…) was a real challenge, pushing the materials in response to the subject matter.  Winser within Hickman (2011: 92) stated, ‘ I enjoy working in different media because I realise that it helps me to vary the techniques I can make available to my students’.

Session 2

Session two focused on mark making again but this time on capturing the form of the objects, feeling their surface then trying to replicate this on a 2D surface, quite a challenge. We were encouraged to see through the object or imagine a piece of string dropping onto the object and what direction it would take to describe the form. The emphasis is always on observation, in deed we are encouraged to not look at our paper and work in response to what we see. This is a real problem solving task, to capture form and volume on a 2D surface, again using a variety of media and techniques. Hickman (2011:47) describes the complexity of teaching which is suited to, ‘the diversity of artistic practice and ways of solving problems’. It is hoped that through this drawing course I will learn how to solve problems through drawing, enhance both my arts practice and teaching practice  and share this with my students.

Hickman, R. (2011) ‘The Art and Craft of Pedagogy: Portraits of Effective Teachers. London. Continuum.