In the first pencil drawings by Mary, it can be seen that she had once taken a drawing course, but she still had trouble with a tendency to use symbols rather than drawing what she actually saw. She also needed to develop sensitivity to light and shadow and understand how it works in the world around us. Last,
As a busy marketing executive, Mary also didn’t have a lot of time to devote to studying drawing, which was a real frustration to her. Very sensitive to beauty, she wanted to be able to render what she saw.
Before
After
Mary drew her hand on Friday night, before my instruction. In her ability to correctly understand how the fingers appear before the palm of the hand, and in the detail of the fingernails, it’s possible to see that she had already studied a little drawing. Problems with light and shadow and understanding shape still remain and leave her drawing flat.
Mary drew her hand like this the next morning. She already has understood light and shadow and how to “see” in a way that has made it possible for her to bring real depth to her drawing.
Before
After
In these two drawings, she was given the task of drawing a portrait of someone else. Here she drew a portrait from memory of a friend. This was prepared on Friday night as well.
She drew this portrait of another student by the fourth day of my teaching her.
Before
After
Last, Mary’s self-portrait before I started teaching her.
…and her self-portrait after five days of instruction.
Mary had this to say about her training with me:
“I just took Deborah’s five-day intensive drawing class and if you’re somebody who wants to learn how to draw, I mean more than just squiggles and little stick men or stick women, then this is the class for you. I learned so much, it’s incredible. Deborah is a great teacher, to really guide you through this and at the end of the class you’ll feel really confident and ready to take on more drawing.”
Go from “Pencil Drawings by Mary” to “Pencil Drawings by Jennyfer”