Thanks to Jason (soon-to-be the friendly, witty, too-cute-to-true Starbucks barista about 200 paces away from Dash's home) who alerted Dash to the Bearfruit Academy classes at the National Library, Dash seized the opportunity to learn from Mr Siew Hock Meng, a most accomplished art master in Singapore.
Before the hectic work week begins, Dash has to record her key learning lessons from Mr Siew on pastel art:
To draw efficiently:
1. Get the larger items right first, then look into the smaller details. Yesh, this sounds about right even for the other important things in life. Spending some time to get the larger stuff in place can help make the smaller details a smoother ride : ) Of course, the other key is *not* to skim over the details of the smaller items when the time comes - Details matter too! And often, the details are what brings the other parts to life and is probably the most fun (and gratifying) part of the experience : )
2. Do not be afraid of making mistakes. Pastel is a forgiving medium - one can always try again if the earlier attempts didn't work as well as one wanted. So get started! And preferably in bold and generous strokes! :D
3. Hold your pastel sticks firmly with three fingers (and so, Dash's intuitive two-finger grip of the pastel stick lends strength but without the energy needed). And with the right grip, draw with the necessary energy : )
Interesting, what struck Dash most is Mr Siew's sharing that in these times and today, what is perceived to be good pastel art is not about capturing life-likeness - that can be done with photographs. If Dash understood Mr Siew rightly, good art today is about capturing the art of the moment for the objects/people being drawn: By art, he means that the art piece needs to look hand-drawn. By moment, he seems to refer to the perspective of life that the artist wants to bring across to the audience - from the artist's state of mind, philosophy and attitude to life.
If Dash interpreted Mr Siew's sharing rightly, then the latter depends much on the artist's constant cultivation of his/her character and honest and continuous reflections and dialogues about the world and his/her interaction with it; and then capturing all these in art. A most difficult enterprise, Dash must say.
(All of a sudden, getting a PhD in Mathematics seems a much easier feat! At least one knows when one got the answers right!)
Before the hectic work week begins, Dash has to record her key learning lessons from Mr Siew on pastel art:
To draw efficiently:
1. Get the larger items right first, then look into the smaller details. Yesh, this sounds about right even for the other important things in life. Spending some time to get the larger stuff in place can help make the smaller details a smoother ride : ) Of course, the other key is *not* to skim over the details of the smaller items when the time comes - Details matter too! And often, the details are what brings the other parts to life and is probably the most fun (and gratifying) part of the experience : )
2. Do not be afraid of making mistakes. Pastel is a forgiving medium - one can always try again if the earlier attempts didn't work as well as one wanted. So get started! And preferably in bold and generous strokes! :D
3. Hold your pastel sticks firmly with three fingers (and so, Dash's intuitive two-finger grip of the pastel stick lends strength but without the energy needed). And with the right grip, draw with the necessary energy : )
Interesting, what struck Dash most is Mr Siew's sharing that in these times and today, what is perceived to be good pastel art is not about capturing life-likeness - that can be done with photographs. If Dash understood Mr Siew rightly, good art today is about capturing the art of the moment for the objects/people being drawn: By art, he means that the art piece needs to look hand-drawn. By moment, he seems to refer to the perspective of life that the artist wants to bring across to the audience - from the artist's state of mind, philosophy and attitude to life.
If Dash interpreted Mr Siew's sharing rightly, then the latter depends much on the artist's constant cultivation of his/her character and honest and continuous reflections and dialogues about the world and his/her interaction with it; and then capturing all these in art. A most difficult enterprise, Dash must say.
(All of a sudden, getting a PhD in Mathematics seems a much easier feat! At least one knows when one got the answers right!)
No comments:
Post a Comment