I had the loveliest Valentine’s Day – two sisters asked if I would give a private drawing workshop at the Studio for their mother as a birthday gift for her. We had a great time! In two hours, we covered several drawing media from Prismacolor to pencil to vine charcoal, and we drew lots of small objects from observation, paying careful attention to detail. The idea of Contour Drawing (which is still one of the best drawing disciplines ever) is to look at the object as you draw rather than the paper itself.  You  pretend that your pencil is touching its actual contours, as if it were an ant crawling around the edges, recording every bump and irregularity.

Workshop participants drawing studies of feathers, roses and pistachio nuts for practice and discipline

Our favorite subject of the afternoon lesson was a pistachio nut. We got to know our own nut intimately as we drew its every detail – it’s a challenge, for sure. But the drawings turned out beautifully – and at the end of the lesson, we mixed the pistachios up and had to pick out our own from the pile – everyone recognized their nut! Then we ate our models.

Note to self – do more drawing! It’s a wonderful way to observe, to meditate – and to snack.