Hello Everyone,
The last letter I sent was about the half marathon I ran last Sunday. I think that this past week constituted the other half of the marathon. I had final projects due in each of my three classes and I had to move out of my apartment and say goodbye to folks in Savannah and elsewhere. As things got down to the wire, there were moments when I was literally running through the streets of Savannah just to save time. In case any of you were wondering, this is a very bad way to lead life. As I write, I am on a plane to Paris and am looking forward to a break from schoolwork before beginning class again in Lacoste in two weeks.
Despite the craziness of the quarter, and in some cases because of it, I learned a lot, both artistically and personally. In my computer illustration course, I learned the basics of Photoshop, a program that is essential for emerging illustrators to understand. I am now much more comfortable both adjusting scanned images that I have done by hand and creating images entirely on the computer.
My other two classes were back-to-back beginning at 8 am on Mondays and Wednesdays and were taught by the same professor. He required a lot of process work, which meant I got very little sleep on Sunday and Tuesday nights. But it was good for me because I not only learned necessary technical language, but I also learned about the typical arc of an illustration project. For each project, we needed to have 18 thumbnails, small sketches that are a way of visual brainstorming. (We shorten the word and usually end up saying something like, “Do you have your 18 thumbs yet?” or “These thumbs are killing me!” This continues to crack me up.) Then we needed to have three black and white comps, which are developed sketches which would show an editor or art director what the final image would look like. Once we had settled on one of these comps and made any necessary changes, we would need to do three more comps in color. Once we had settled on one of these, we could begin the final art.
The process work is a double edged sword. On the one hand, it makes you much more aware of different formal elements as you’re drawing and I think my images are generally much stronger than they would be if I just plunged into the art blindly. On the other hand, it can deaden a bit of the spontaneity of art making. I quickly learned that my favorite parts of this whole process were the initial brainstorming and the final art. But almost all tasks have parts that feel like chores and making images is no different.
At the end of last quarter, I talked about how having a consistent style is important for illustrators. At that point, I didn’t feel like I had much continuity in my artwork. It’s always hardest to notice your own style for the same reason that it’s hardest to notice glasses when they’re on your own face. This quarter, though, I’m beginning to detect a style that is emerging in my work and I believe my peers a bit more when they tell me they can recognize my work. I’m realizing that I am most comfortable using shading to draw and that line work is my biggest weakness. I am not a compulsive sketcher like many of my peers, so I’ve had to make a conscious effort to work on drawing with line. At this point, my strengths lie more in coming up with a concept than in rendering an image. In general, I feel more grounded in the program, understanding where I fit in and what I need to work on.
Another important part of my academic learning this quarter came from observing the way my professors taught. In general, I was impressed with the way both organized the classes and their systems of grading. It’s helpful to be taught by people who have so much experience in their fields because they can provide astute criticism within seconds of looking at an image. As I consider teaching art at a university, I am increasingly aware of how challenging it would be to evaluate students’ work fairly. Of course, at some level, this is always subjective, but I now have a better sense of methods to use.
Some learning is about acquiring knowledge and other learning is about realizing things you already mostly know. One thing I mostly knew but hadn’t put into a concrete thought before this quarter was how important writing is for my sanity as an artist and as a person in general. My thumbnails and sketchbooks have writing all over them; I can’t seem to brainstorm visually without some verbal reinforcement. Pretty much any kind of writing, from academic papers to letters to poetry, helps me relax. For me, art is like going out and having an adventure whereas writing is like coming home and decompressing at the end of a long day. In the end, I think that the more I write, the better artist I will be.
A final thing I learned this quarter: art is a priority for me, but relationships will always take precedence. My closest friends at SCAD and I have been talking about how if we were told that we couldn’t do art again, we would be sad, but life would go on. However if someone told us that we couldn’t see any of the people we love, we would be devastated. I don’t want it to sound like I’m not enjoying doing art -- this isn’t the case at all! I am simply beginning to understand where it fits in with the other things that I love. I have posted the work I did this quarter on Facebook. If you don’t have Facebook but would like to see the pictures, let me know and I can email them to you directly.
I’m realizing that this was a rather narcissistic letter, and I apologize. At some point, I’ll probably write about narcissism and being an artist, but I’ll close for now. Know that I arrived in Europe safely and have made my way to Germany, where some friends are kindly putting me up and keeping my big suitcase while I wander around. More on what I’ve been doing once I’ve done it!
Have a good week,
Sarah/Mouse
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