Reading the tutor report confirmed what I had expected about the reception of my work in part 3. I’m glad that those few drawings which I found better had indeed passed the test, but for the rest, honestly, I’m devastated. It’s really a question of whether this course and I will ever come together for good.
I’m more than willing to work on my skills, but at the same time I often feel so annoyed by the task instructions and I’m so quickly exhausted when drawing, that I don’t know whether I’ll be able to sufficiently improve for passing this course. It seems like I have objections against everything and can’t get my head around it. For example, suggestions to look at other artists immediately invoke my response of: Sure, because I like looking at other artist’s work, but I don’t want to copy anybody’s style, I want to find my own style! So I’d rather not over-emphasize the activity of studying other people’s artwork.
Then the suggestion to look at other OCA students’ artwork. I’d love to, and I’ve done so regularly with the old student site, but now after the switch this is no longer accessible. No-one seems to use the artwort upload on the new site, and the old works are not available. This has been a topic of discussion in the student forums, but the issue has not yet been resolved. I hope that this functionality will soon be available with the old uploads available as well. I always found looking at other students’ work very inspirational.
An important advice in this report is to get back to earlier exercises and projects and improve the work I’ve done there. This is indeed what I intend to do, only that I’m finding it difficult to organize alongside regular coursework. I consider several options. One is to first complete Assignment 4 where I’m currently at, trying to integrate some of the advice and make studies that actually help to develop the final drawing. And then take a break to revise my earlier work, repeat some of the exercises and try to improve my skills. The other idea would be to use part 5 as an extended practice field and just do all the projects, and alongside them review the earlier exercises as I see necessary. And afterwards decide which option I’ll chose for submission.
I had begun thinking which option to choose in part 5 and a preliminary conclusion was that I feel very drawn to the figure option but since I have only myself as a model this is a bit difficult. And since I should developt my mark making and also the ability with tonality, choosing the first option might be a good idea. Conclusion: I’ll complete assignment 4 and then proceed to option one, supported by reviewing the exercises for part one of the course.
Other suggestions in the tutor report
Four artists were suggested for a closer look: Paul Noble, Charlotte Verity, Piet Mondrian, and Leon Kossoff. I already had a brief look at them today, liking some better than others, and finding them all interesting. I think I can make something out of the recommendations. They may also help me to become clearer about the style I’d like to develop for myself.
Suggestion to read the grading criteria: I’ve done so already and felt quite intimidated. I know that my drawings don’t live up to those standards, I understand the standards, but I don’t know how to improve and get there… I don’t think it would be a good idea to try and copy somebody else’s style. Maybe it’s as simple as that, I need more practice and I must learn to devote sufficient time when I’m drawing. Which is essentially the same as “try harder” and “keep going”.
Something I don’t like about all this online blogging is that writing and preparing images eats up so much time. It’s essentially a repetition of what I’ve thought earlier. I already stated several times that I wanted to draw more and write less, but I don’t succeed! Maybe it’s because I find writing easier than drawing.