#theghost2

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything here. Don’t wanna spend this post addressing my absence, but just know I’m still around and still drawing :v

Taking the Illustration course at Truman State University this past semester has been one of the most rewarding art class experiences I’ve had in my college education thus far. The workload was a tad bit intimidating at first, asking us to draw upwards of ten or twenty drawings between class periods. With other class work to worry about at the same time, I often did not have adequate time to dedicate to my Illustration homework. In an ideal scenario (as Professor Nelson would have it), I would have learned to simply “draw faster”, but that never quite panned out. And when I did draw faster, the results were typically very lackluster. Still, despite all the stress inherent with a large workload, I drew more in the beginning of this class than I have in months. I’m not very good about keeping myself in the habit of drawing often, but classes like this really help light a fire under my ass to get me going. I really do appreciate that. 

The second half of the semester saw a drastic change in the class structure, and the rapid-fire drawing assignments were done away with. At that point, we were working on larger-scale assignments with weeks given to complete them. I was mostly happy about this change of pace, but a part of me still wishes that I had kept drawing as often as I did earlier in the semester. Overall, I still ended up dedicating about the same amount of time on these larger projects as I did with the smaller drawings, but the slower pace made me feel like I wasn’t accomplishing as much. However, this portion of the class did introduce me to gouache, which is now my favorite paint medium to work with. It’s more controllable than watercolor or acrylic, and it dries much faster than oils. I’ve since been using gouache in my Painting III class, and I bought a portable gouache palette in case I want to paint on the go. If I had to choose my favorite thing I learned in this course, it would probably be learning to paint with gouache. 

It’s also worth noting that I had a turbulent relationship with watercolor prior to this class, but now I actually don’t mind it. That’s the magic of being forced to work with a medium or subject you’re not comfortable with, I suppose. 

I would like to thank Professor Nelson for being a very friendly and helpful teacher, even if he sometimes asked a lot out of us. He has a habit of telling us what we need to hear, even if it’s not exactly what we want to hear. 

Illustration assignment: “Kirksville landscape” or in other words, capture our town in one image. I chose to paint a street sign  for the main road that passes through town.