The body of work challenged my drawing habits and I can see that in the variety of drawings and outcomes – some look tentative, others strong. Some taught me new ways to hold a tool; others new ways to put pen to paper – but all are still creative and confident, and I can recognize my own hand in them all.
Drawing of tongs, looks tentative 
Continuous line drawings, which look bold
The exercises done with my non-dominant hand and the continuous lines seemed messy at the beginning. And though they are, I can also now see them as lively or amusing. The later ones with mixed media and characterful lines are a bit more closed off – too tightly controlled perhaps, they’re not as free and loose as the work from topic one.
Topic one’s speed and surety of making marks and not erasing means the lines themselves are as, if not more, interesting than the overall pieces and the objects I was trying to depict. It helped cement the idea that there is no wrong way to make a drawing. The pieces are bold, unapologetic, and look strong side by side. The impact on me has been to let go of the idea of good or bad drawings – some (non dominant hand for instance) are objectively messier and less representative, so I would have said bad before I started, but now I can see they are just more fluid and playful.
Topic two engaged more of the creative eye and brain. The end results are different from each other but both made of interesting lines. It forced me to think about the ways a tool can be used to mark the paper; suddenly one tool has multiple applications, almost like holding several tools at once. It shows how a line can depict more than a shape, and makes me as a viewer want to look closer to see what information is being relayed by the drawing. This makes them look tangible, and expressive. Rather than only looking outside the box for ideas, this topic got me looking closer and examining what I wanted to draw, both before and after the drawing was complete. These pieces are more representative of the objects, the placement of the lines more controlled and precise. But they still evoke a light hearted, playful nature once they’re complete.
Seeing the pieces of work together, the objects drawn in different ways, gives me a new appreciation for the work. I know I can consider more ways in which a drawing could turn out and the knowledge gives me new notions of how to start a piece – or what to expect of a finished piece. Or sometimes just to let go of those expectations altogether.
The continuous line drawings done with coloured pen are some of my favourites, they’re accurate without being prescriptive, there’s still life in them. I also especially like the tongs drawn with two tools at once – makes it seem like leaping off the page. Although I could see myself spending more time now deliberating over how to use a tool as I know there are so many options– as proved by doing the emotional and characterful lines– I can also appreciate the vigour and confidence of getting straight to work, knowing there’s no such thing as right or wrong; as I learned by drawing blind or with the wrong hand. There’s an element of feeling more confident about starting to draw, now that I can see the ability to create a vibrant and visually different body of work after only a couple of months of practice.
Rebekah's OCA Learning Log 