Back to School

I decided to go back to art school. I just felt that there is a lot to be learnt from taking courses, learning new things, meeting new people. Everyone creates things in their own unique way and it is always good to find out how people create certain looks.

It was really daunting for me as I am now in my thirties and I envisaged the entire class to be full of 16 years olds but I was really relieved when I walked through the door into the studio to find that it was mainly women of similar age and older. Phew! It's not that I don't like 16 years olds it's just that I didn't want to feel like the granny in the corner unable to keep up.

We got straight to it which was both great and again daunting. The teacher gave us a white A1 piece of paper and loads of materials and told us to just go with it. Make marks, learn how they work and how you can use them for different textures etc. What do you do in a class full of other people and a white sheet of paper staring back up at you. Argghhhhhhh!!! No pressure to create something good then!

Well anyway I got to play, I mean use, oil pastel sticks, carbon, charcoal and drawing ink, all mediums I have never used before. I'm not sure to be honest whether they will become a favourite, I am unsure at the moment but we will wait and see.

I quite liked the oil pastels, the way they were so rich and creamy and you can use them to blend together. I did find them easy to over blend and smudge though. They were a bit like using a wax crayon to be honest.

I can't wait for next week though and really looking forward to using new things and getting really creative so watch this space and if they are any good I will share them with you!