Artists & Illustrators – September 2019

ART COURSES

MYFIRSTARTCLASS

JakeSpicer

HeadTutor,DrawBrighton

“ThefirstartclassI attended

wasa lifedrawingsessionwith

theetcherJohnT Freeman.

I hadneverbeenlifedrawing

before,soI wasnervousabout

theideaofworkingfroman

unclothedmodelbutthat

worrydissipatedaswebegan.

“AnyfearsI hadaboutnotbeinggoodenoughwere

alsodispelledbymyclassmates’willingnesstoshare

theirownexperiences,togiveadvice,andlendtheir

materials.TheclassshowedhowmuchI hadyetto

learnaboutdrawingand,throughpractisetempered

withtuition,I improvedmoreoverthosehoursthan

I hadinmonthsofdrawingonmyown.It’simportant

torealisethateverybody’sworkis differentandthere

is noneedtocompareyourselftothepersonnextto

you– they'lloftenbefeelingjustthesame.”

“Therearemanybenefitstotakinganartcourse.

Firstly,youbecomepartofa supportivelearning

community.Youwillalsofindwhenyou’vebookedto

gotoa classthatyoumakethetimeforit andput

moreintothesessionthanyoumightathome.You

arealsoputtingyourselfina contextinwhichyou’ve

allagreedtotakerisks,makemistakesandfocuson

theprocessratherthantheoutcome.Thatgivesyou

theroomtogenuinelypractiseandimprove.”

http://www.draw-brighton.co.uk

thoughalleyesareonyou.Perhaps

you’reina lifedrawingclassand

findingyourselfstillfindingshapesin

thefiguremeanwhileyournext-easel

neighbourhasalreadyprogressedto

thefinerdetailsoftheface?Your

mindmaywellconvinceyouthatyour

fellowartistsarewhisperingfervently

aboutyourlackofprogress,butthe

realityis nobodycares.They’retoo

busyfocusingontheirownwork.

2.IT’SNOTA

COMPETITION

Attendancetoanartclassdoesn’t

requireyoutobeanestablished

professional,andanopennessto

learncan,infact,putyouaheadinthe

longrun.Lessexperiencedartistsare

a dabhandatlearningnewtrickstoo

• a lackofknowledgemeansyou
  aren’ttiedupinoldhabitsjustyet.

3.YOUAREWORKING

TOYOUROWNGOAL

Everyoneis outtogainsomething

differentfromanartclass,whether

it’sboostingyourconfidence,trying

newthings,orturningoveryour

practiceentirely.Theprogressofyour

fellowstudentsis independenttoyour

ownlearning,andassuchthere’sno

yardstickforsuccess.

4.IT’SNEVERTOOLATE

Whetherit’sbeena fewmonthsor

severaldecadessinceyoulastpicked

upa paintbrush,it’snevertoolateto

getbackinthestudio.

OurcolumnistLauraBoswellwrote

inourJuly 2018 issueofher

acceptancetotheRoyalSocietyof

PainterPrintmakersfollowingan

18-yearhiatusfromartinwhichtime

she“didn’tsomuchaslifta pencil”.

5.DOUBTSARENORMAL

TheAustralianartcriticRobert

Hughesoncesaid,“Thegreaterthe

artistthegreatertheself-doubt.

Perfectconfidenceis grantedtothe

lesstalentedasa consolationprize.”

Don’tallowself-deprecationtobeyour

closestconnectiontothelifeofan

artist.If you’vebeencontemplatinga

newchallenge,buthavebeenheld

backbyuncertainty,it’stimetodo

awaywithindecisionanddivein.

Attending an art class with

confidence is like walking

into a gym for the first time

ISTOCK