Thanks, Brahmins

I'm glad some Brahmins in the 1860s decided to petition the state to start up some institutions dedicated to technology and fine art. So now we have MassArt--a public art school which means it's cheaper than private art schools. This also means I can (barely) afford to take classes.

I started my Drawing for Communication class last week. No one has asked me to draw anything since my Creative Writing Instructor in college asked us to draw a picture of a place we would then write about. I think I was 21. So 10 years have passed and that one exercise is a vague memory.

This past week I've had to replicate a drawing I did in class of a familiar place. I picked a place with many bricks to draw (I noticed this once I was staring in person). This was not easy. I'm so used to using a computer that when I spelled out the words on a storefront and they didn't quite extend the length of the rectangular sign I'd drawn I felt exasperated over having to erase. I wanted to pick the font tool and make it one point larger. When I had to draw some lines for the bricks, I wanted to draw it once and then copy it a few times with one click. But no, I erased and drew lines with my little yellow pencil. I filled in shapes with my colored pencils and stamped some words out with my alphabet stamps.

I think this is good for me, it's making me slow down and focus, but it certainly isn't easy.