dont be uptight…let yourself fly~

Today Ms Shia gave us white chalks and black charcoals to play with…
Lesson 2 is again an experiment with shading except onto colored paper which represents the midde color, grey.
Today's exercise was to look at the play of light on everyday objects ; the colored paper representing the middle shade, light represented by white chalk and the shadows represented by black charcoal…no blending is allowed!
I chose the wine bottle because it was nearest to me. I placed the bottle right up close to my face but Ms Shia says, the object should be against an uncluttered background and at a distance…
Oh…ok, I'll just hv to work with my sunglasses (with optical presciptions) on ...;)))

And this is what my 1 hour's effort look like….mmmmm, practise practise practise required.

Well, its not as easy as I thought:

a) firstly the chalk wouldnt stay put on the paper…Ms Shia said it was a case of the wrong type of colored paper.
b) secondly the chalk gets onto the palms and then gets transferred onto the clothes and today of all days, I was wearing white…I fretted how to avoid the further transfer of black charcoal onto my face itself…aargh….me getting uptight brought a smile to teacher's face. "I can imagine Michelle as a child and wanting permission to rush to the bathroom to clean up" ;}
notes:
Question: "how to make your chalk/charcoal drawings stay put onto the paper?
Answer: " spray it with a common hair spray" ….ooooh, I see.

Next hour was spent on fun and open expression exercise: DOODLING~
Oh oh, my mind actually went blank for awhile.
Ms Shia :" Dont be uptight,,,,let yourself fly , just draw anything that comes to mind…shapes, objects, numbers, real or imaginary".
I was stuck for a minute and then as my doodling unfolded….I ended up drawing stuff from diving. Its obvious that my mind was already thinking of the coming Redang trip on Monday.
I heard Ms Shia's overtone "dont stick to a theme, keep your mind open …."
Huh? Too late, I couldnt go anywhere else …look at all that outpouring of loving feelings??? hahaha. First love diving, second love art?

I loved what Ms Shia said about how everybody can draw…Its a matter of your own personal confidence to accept your own ART…yesssss, I definitely can identify with this statement.
Andrea said she just stuck to a particular music…wow, the symphonies in her head must have been beautiful, her 2 designs were refreshing (she definitely was not uptight, smile). Kim drew her cheongsams and what she wanted her tailor to sew for her …I wasnt quite sure what Jessica drew but Chris seemed to be wrapped around her gardens and and I saw a doodle of flowers in colorful profusion~

Today was somehow liberating…and it was even obvious to Eddie who says "someone is in a happy mood today after her drawing…." , yea yea yea , I was grinning when I came home. Hee hee hee.
Next on the list is to buy a small pad for doodling anywhere and anytime. I'm gonna bring it to Redang too, la di da…woo hoo.
And next lesson, I must make a note to bring an apron to wear over my day clothes too.

lesson one: back to basics_michellechoongkhoo

Ms Shia Yih Yiing (link to her website) our art teacher at MIA art centre, Ampang is full of encouragement and quickly puts the new students attending lesson one at rest.

Andrea, Jessica, Chris , Shairin & I were initially put thru our pace of drawing the object in front of us so that Ms Shia could evaluate our efforts…..hee hee, me thought Smita's mineral bottle was my object and proceeded to draw nervously... Gosh its been more than 30 yrs since I last touched a 2B pencil….knuckles tight and full of concentration, I attacked my art block until Ms Shia brought me to earth again with her comments …."mmmmm, I'm curious what is yr profession?"
me: " errr, hee hee….why?"
Shia: " your lines are so precise, are u by chance a draughtswoman?"

And going round to the other students, thats how Ms Shia warmed us up and slowly encouraged us to earnestly put in more efforts~

Gee, its not so easy to put the modest 2B pencil to shades of dark,grey,light tho obviously black and white is easy lo.
Nor was it easy to put textures and shades to basic geometrical shapes….but noticing how my fellow students were so engrossed in their art, I endeavored and plodded along with lots of help from my eraser. LOLz

The 2 hours flew by …..phew, my stiff fingers needed to relax , my right palm was all black from the furious erasing and rubbing.
I looked enviously at the other senior students who were already drawing figures or getting guidance from Ms Shia on their oil paintings ….I just cant wait to be in their shoes~

I can't wait to go home, dig out my long forgotten pocket guide to painting and read up or hee hee to let my imaginations roam ….. gee, how does one make a potato look like one on paper without colors? Nvm, I will tackle that next time, meanwhile let me try to do some copying and see if my sketches can look anywhere near those images in my pocket guide….

That brought chuckles from hubby at 1am as he dropped by to see whatever could be keeping me awake ~
Eddie : "oh lordy, now we are painting is it?"
smile, erm not yet…..but I hope soon….smile
And with that, I went to bed , quietly satisfied.
Oh I did have sweet dreams last night but strangely it was not about art….this morning I awoke from my dream that was about me buying the biggest smokey quartz ring that looked just about my style….aiya~mother's day is coming soon….
I sure hope my dream about the ring will come true….I'm going to Pavilion to check out Tiffany & Co if there's my dream ring in their showcases….
aaaaah the possibilities in a dream, Life is a gift~