Lesson 1, "100 Drawings"

I have enrolled in an on-line class with Jane Davies, titled "100 Drawings". The class continues for ten weeks, and we are expected to create 6 - 10 drawings each week.

For our first week, we were

• to work only with line (not shape or pattern or texture),
• and only with black, grey and white. 
• to aim for a variety of line (thin vs. thick, crisp vs. smudgy, jagged vs. sinuous vs. straight), 
• that engaged with the edges of the paper,
• that was intentional and thoughtful, and not just a scribble,
• using a variety of media (charcoal, marker, ink, graphite, paint). 

We were then to apply white paint of varying opacity to create a sense of depth. The idea was for the lines to advance and recede from the surface of the paper, as they were "veiled" to varying degrees by the white paint. More lines and more layers of white paint were to follow as needed.

We are to post our work on a class blog every week, so we can learn from each other, and from the teacher's comments on each student's output. We are expected to choose one or two of our own pieces and explain exactly what we "see" happening in the piece. We are not to describe the process, just the result.

At first, I spent too much time experimenting with variety of line (actually kind of fun), but I then re-focused on creating a feeling of depth.

These are my resulting 9 pieces, all measuring 12" x 9".

The instructor's response to my drawings was that they were "beautiful" and fulfilled the requirements of having varied lines and variable use of veiling. Jane Davies suggested I would benefit from making a few that were more dense (more lines, more levels of obscuration) to expand my range. All the other participants had filled their papers with more lines, with exuberance winning out over restraint, and the instructor's own examples showed more density too. 

Something to keep in mind, but the class is fast-paced, and I've already moved on to Lesson 2. Part of taking a class is learning about your own inclinations, and whether to stretch them, break through them, or honour them.