Reflections on Drawing

I have always loved making art. I've kept sketchbooks intermittently throughout my life and often turned to art in making gifts for friends and family. Until taking this class, though, I'd never really had any formal instruction in art (I took a couple art classes in high school, but they were really in the style of come-in-and-do-whatever-you-want).
As an engineering major here at Duke, I haven't gotten to take classes that allow me to express the artistic side of myself much at all. When I finally had an open class spot in my final semester, I excitedly filled it with a class that I knew I would fully enjoy.
I've really appreciated that this class dissected drawing and forced me to examine all aspects of the process from line to considering space to adding shading and value. I had never really considered these separate aspects of drawing before, and I think that I have seen significant improvements in my drawing abilities over this semester. At first this was somewhat difficult for me, especially when we were instructed not to use any shading (because shading is my favorite part of drawing), but looking back I can certainly see the value in considering and practicing each artistic element that is included in a drawing.