I have always been intrigued by art and drawing. When I was
in elementary school, I would constantly collect and learn from how-to-draw
books. Even as early as the first grade, I can remember my friends asking me if
I wanted to be an artist. When high school finally came around, I really wanted
to get involved in art classes but none of them fit into my schedule. It was
frustrating at the time, but I decided that taking a dedicated visual arts
class would have to wait until college.
Now that I have finally taken a real class in visual arts, I
couldn’t be happier. Drawing 199 exceeded my expectations in more ways than
one. One of the things that surprised me the most was how much time I needed to
dedicate to the class. Bill suggested spending roughly eight hours per week on
drawing and now that I have finished the course I think that that is an
understatement. In the beginning of the class, I would not have said the same;
my drawings went rather quickly. But as the semester progressed forward and my
schedule became more free, I realized that creating impressive artwork requires
a ton patience and a ton of time. Given that I was pledging, I wish I was able
to devote as much time and energy to the projects during from the beginning of
the semester as I did to the projects at the end of the semester. Along with
this patience and time commitment, my skills naturally improved tremendously.
To see evidence of this, simply compare my earlier sketches to my later
sketches. It never felt like I learned one new revolutionary technique at any
given time, but there is still an astounding improvement.
After taking Drawing 199 at Duke, I really want to continue
pursue classes in visual arts. At the current moment, I would like to at least
complete a visual arts minor and perhaps even a major. Being creative is
unique, fun, and relatively relaxing, and the courses that the visual arts
program has to offer truly sound interesting. Even this summer I am heavily
considering taking classes at the Art Students League of New York. Given the
improvements that I made this semester alone, I can only imagine where further
studies might take my abilities.
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