The 25-30 attendees aged from 17 to 70+. We all had to introduce ourselves and tell why we were taking the class. Almost everyone thought they had no artistic skill or talent. (I knew I could draw; after all, I had Winky Dink and my kneaded eraser, but I had never taken an art class.)
The young teacher started us all with the same project; a still life, one small box on top of a large one. We were to draw it paying attention to size and perspective. Then light and dark sides. What she emphasized was "seeing"~paying attention.
At the end of every session there was a "critique". She collected everyone's work and clipped them to a wire that was hung across the front of the room. What an "eye-opening" (pardon the pun) experience this was. There were 25 drawings of 2 boxes. All the same but different. I would say every person left that night with more confidence than when they arrived.
The following classes followed the same format. Sometimes when we arrived there would be 5 or 6 objects on our work tables (rocks, leaves, pods etc.). We would each one and that would be the subject for the night.
We drew with line or value or mass only; then again with all 3...again teaching us "to see".
After 6 weeks, what we learned was that we could draw, anything, and that each one of us had our own style. It was so apparent when the papers were hung, you could always tell who had done the drawing.
(The above drawing was copied from a photograph on the cover of a National Geographic magazine. I've since learned about copyright laws and never use other's work..but I am very proud of this drawing......it "set me free".)
A favorite book about "seeing" is Frederick Franck's "Zen Seeing, Zen Drawing".
