There's more to this art expedition. From Grand Marais I drove to Grand Rapids, (MN not MI) and visited friends, Jane and Stan, for the weekend. Then I drove to Duluth to attend my fourth Split Rock Arts Program. This time I took a class from Michael Kareken called "Foundations of Drawing: Working from Observation."
This is from the class description:
"Perhaps you have some drawing experience but are feeling a bit rusty or you have experimented with drawing, but would like formal guidance in learning the fundamentals. Foundations of Drawing is a refresher workshop for those with some drawing experience--it will re-introduce participants to the basics of working from observation and drawing from life. Instructor Michael Kareken will cover topics such as, gesture, positive/negative shape, line and value, sighting and measuring, and approaches to composition.... Participants with little experience will develop basic skills and learn new ones; those with more experience will gain a deeper understanding of the basic principles of drawing. All participants can expect to gain confidence and re-discover the many pleasures of drawing from life."
I had NO IDEA what to expect and was very nervous going into this class, but I did hope to "gain confidence" by the end of the week.
There were 10 people in the class. This is the group at the end of week, looking very confident! The teacher is in the back row, in the white shirt.
This class was excellent, beyond my expectations. Michael crammed a lot into five days and it was obvious he worked very hard to make it an excellent workshop. Not only that, the group was fun to be with and very supportive and non-competitive. This was the first time I'd had my work critiqued and it was not as frightening as I had imagined ...
Here's a picture of Michael at the end of the week, obviously relieved that the workshop was such a success and that we were such stellar art students!
The last day we an exhibit for the students in other Split Rock classes. These are my two favorite drawings from my favorite day.
The skull:
Emily (we had a live model one afternoon):
These are all my drawings:
Now I'm looking for a class to take this fall ... stay tuned.
Oh, and the Split Rock Arts Program is moving to the Minneapolis campus of the University of Minnesota next year. It was fun to go to Duluth and especially to see Middlebury friends along the way. The jury is out on the Minneapolis move.
