Drawing 101

I have wanted to take a drawing class for several years. Drawing is one of those skills that I avoided in my education and career because I liked math better than English and art. Now that I'm older I know that I missed out on something important. So, I'm taking a semester college class with an instructor who is incredibly kind. The terror of looking at a blank page is no different than facing an equation to solve, except that in art class we get to doodle and fidget with the pencils until we get comfortable and then draw the object in the air and then when we're ready we can start on a thumb or something. No erasing. I like to draw when I travel and my drawings, even though they are simplistic, often mean more to me than my photographs in the sense that they bring back more of the experience I'm recording. I think it is because I have the opportunity to spend time on something, really looking. Who would have thought that I could spend two hours drawing my hand and accompanying wrinkles! Tonight we get to play with graphite and make a mess. Negative space too.