Things That Bang

On my first art class the art teacher let us know that artists draw the same painting a couple of times and then put the best one up. We all groaned. My myth of reaching perfection with minimum effort was dashed. At the work shop we are learning how to draw from the basics. The class lasts for two hours every Sunday and most of us groan and moan while sitting cross legged in a kindergarten classroom since the chairs are too small for our big butts. We hunker over our boards and sketch in broad strokes. We are told to rely less on the eraser and more on our eyes, our hands, our wrists and our arms.

I am still at the bottom rung and believe it will take me years of practice before I can show my work to people. What comes easy to some of my friends in the class takes me over half an hour. But thanks to my other passion - writing, I know one can reach their personal style with practice. But it takes a butt load of practice before something decent can be produced.

Thankfully the art teacher believes in encouraging all our endeavors and we too encourage each other. In other words the criticism is sugar coated- its wonderful and you will get better at it.

Words are said with genuine smiles and encouraging pats on the back. There are no ego clashes in the class room, no putting each other down, no shredding of work and dreams. Its a workshop where we are polite and bound by our passion to learn how to create art.