Thoughts on Drawing--Elizabeth Anne Brown

Drawing is of course a means of self-expression, but for me, drawing serves moreso as an intimate way to interact with the world around me than a means of externalizing my internal joy/turmoil/existential crises. Drawing forces me to slow down and truly look at my subject in a way that I don't seem to make time for outside of the context of art. Like many of my colleagues, it appears, I used to spend a lot of my free time sketching hands, my friends' faces, etc until the academic demands on my time made it all too easy to put drawing on the back burner. "Legislating morality" for myself by taking this class--making myself accountable for a return to drawing--has been so cathartic for me. I had forgotten how rewarding I found the process of making art, and honestly it was pretty difficult to get back into the rhythm again--I find that drawing is the exact opposite of binge watching Netflix (with Netflix, you enjoy it viscerally in the moment and are a little frustrated with yourself afterwards). This is the first formal training I've had since I was around 11 and it was fascinating for me to learn I have such a light touch, which I only realized when I saw my assignments hanging on the wall next to my classmates'. It's pretty antithetical to who I am as a person (I'm the archetypal type A kid) and was surprised to see I'm pretty timid with my markmaking. Despite a conscious and concerted effort on my part throughout the semester, I've only been able to ameliorate that specific element of my drawing little. Though I should definitely still keep my day job, I feel I've improved in leaps and bounds this semester, particularly with landscapes, which I'd never worked with before at all and hope to pursue in the future. I wish Professor Fick could chase me around for the rest of my life and demand study drawings and final drawings on that floppy board so I'd be accountable to someone other than myself when it comes to drawing, but I guess I'll just have to ride the momentum I have going now into the sunset!!