In Progress

I've been 'in progress' with the drawing I'm working on for quite some time now. Since completing my MA in August I've gone back into full time work. It would have been nice to try and continue with my practice full time or just get a part time job but I was tired of having no money at all after living on a very tight budget for a year. 

Detail of Bluebell Wood

Detail of Bluebell Wood

I try and devote as much time as possible to drawing. Every Thursday evening I speak to my dad on the phone, while we're chatting I'm working on something. I fit drawing in after work and spend lunchtimes thinking about what to do next and documenting my practice. It can be frustrating only making very slow progress but it's better than not making anything at all, it'll feel all the more rewarding when it's finally finished. 

Bluebell Wood - Half finished 

Bluebell Wood - Half finished 

Someday I will be a full time artist and I'll look back on these days and be grateful that I've got all the time in the world to think about my work, I'll spend hours experimenting and playing in the studio making up for lost time. That's the dream anyway. 

Comfort Zones

 

I wanted to write a little something about stepping out of your comfort zone. 

I've been making detailed drawings since the third year of my BA in 2010 and have developed a style of drawing that is quite distinctive. I've built up a portfolio of drawings over the last few years, starting with landscapes drawn in pencil of places special to me. I then moved on to pen drawings of fragmented landscapes which resembled delicate pieces of lace. 

But just because I've spent a few years making small scale detailed drawings doesn't mean that this is all I'm capable of. I was so glad that in the final semester of my MA I took a leap and decided to do something different. I ordered some big boards and bought blackboard paint and chalk and started drawing. The process of drawing couldn't have been further from what I'm used to, working from life, drawing the view out of the studio window, using a material so unfamiliar. 

The whole process was daunting but exciting, with a final MA exhibition to prepare for and little time to do it the pressure was on. If my drawings were a flop I'd have to live with them. 

In the end I was pleased with my blackboard drawings and I felt that if I hadn't made them then I wouldn't really have made the most of my MA. I stepped out of my comfort zone and did something that I'd never done before. 

I think if we don't challenge ourselves then we'll never evolve. It's good to try something new because even if you don't succeed you'll at least have learned something. 

Drawing In My Studio at Winchester School of Art, U.K.

Drawing In My Studio at Winchester School of Art, U.K.