Drawing

I used to believe that drawings were extremely less expressive than paintings could be. I have learned through this course that you can actually express emotions in drawing—it just takes more time and thought than in painting. While I am able to put paint on a canvas without much thought and allow my emotions lead the brush to create a tangible version of whatever is going on in my mind, I have to put much more planning and strategic movement into a piece to convey a feeling or emotion to an audience through my drawings. Abstract painting has always appealed to me because I was able to express myself without pinpointing exactly what I was feeling. With a pencil you must be more precise, and scattered thoughts do not translate well if they are left uncontained. Doodles can be quick fixes for this; however, the varied textures created by a brush on canvas cannot be emulated by a pencil or charcoal on paper. I have always relied on my creativity over my technical skills, which has made drawing a challenge for me.

Drawing sometimes can frustrate me as much as it can entrance me. There are times where I can be completely consumed in a drawing—that is when I think the sketch is coming out well—in these instances I loose track of time and awareness around me. But then there are those times when I can’t get something the way I want it, and I resort to quitting and leaving my piece unfinished. If you look through all the scraps of paper hidden throughout my room, you would find many unfinished drawings. I don’t mind the incompleteness of these sketches because I feel like they hold so much potential—and inspire my mind to imagine the beautiful images that could be, rather than having a cap be put on the impending by finishing it. In this way my drawings parallel my paintings that appeal to one’s imagination and foster a subjective creativity.

Here are a few of my own drawings and paintings that I had saved on my computer.