Virtual Drawing Workshop
Hello friends and happy June! I hope May treated you kindly and that you are all staying safe and well. The rainy days seemed to blur into one this month so it seems as though we will have to wait a little longer for Spring to arrive! Since my last post I’ve been keeping my head down with many different projects that have all been wrestling for my attention. I’m grateful though to be doing what I love and I finally feel that - for the first time this year! - I’m creating work that I really enjoy. There’s a lot to say about this, so I promise to share more in the future.
One of my latest projects during April & May was planning an online workshop for the students at MSoA. The preparation was particularly long as everything, of course, had to be done online. The idea for the workshop was inspired by a drawing tour, and using Zoom as a means to escape for an hour to a lovely old city (we chose Edinburgh for our first destination!). We planned our route and points of interest, then collected still and moving images to piece together a virtual tour that would last around 30 minutes. We ended the session with a zine-making tutorial, which allowed the students to create a little book that encapsulated their sketches. All they needed was a sheet of A4 paper, something to draw with and a pair of scissors! Everything else was down to imagination.
We sketched from photographs and moving images, exploring scenes from Edinburgh Castle to the Royal Mile to Princes Street Gardens. The students were encouraged to use this time to fill as much of their page as possible, with illustrations, text, colour, and whatever else they wanted to include! The idea was to create a sense of the city with quick, unfiltered drawings. Once we’d folded the zines, these images were cropped into eight small pages, which resulted in some really interesting compositions!
Although this was our first workshop, we wanted to make sure the students felt welcomed and relaxed, and provide a sense of escapism that many of them have missed since being away from home during the pandemic. The whole class exceeded my expectations and I'm so grateful for the eagerness and kindness of all the students that took part!
I have to say a big thank you to Martha who I co-organised this event with, and also to Elle and Molly for helping us prepare!
Besides dreaming of other cities we could visit, I'd love to do more workshops like this in the future, and hopefully I’ll get the opportunity to teach them in person one day!
Other than illustration…
*I discovered the playful art of Christian Robinson last month. His work is full of warmth, colour and the celebration of human voices.
*The soft music of Nujabes has been keeping me company recently. This one always helps me get my head down and focus.
*I’ve been reading A Very Intrepid Explorer in the mornings before I start my day. The illustrations are so beautifully coloured and I am forever amazed at the achievements of Marianne North.
Thanks for reading, as always,
Catherine