Week 3 — Art Activity — Drawing

The first drink sketches that I drew made me feel like a child drawing. I wasn’t satisfied with how they turned out but maybe it’s because I’m not great at drawing real-life images. The first drink was just a tea cup because that’s my favorite hot drink. I know it looks simple but that’s what I like about tea. Then I proceeded to draw a hello kitty tea pot, which I actually don’t own; the tea pot came to me from an online image. I ended up drawing another drink, which is a boba iced tea. The rest of the images were a little bit more fun to draw. For instance, I drew the trees from animal crossing and I thought that was a fun idea. The last two sketches are not my favorite because I’m not good at drawing people. I drew myself surrounded by clouds kind of like the saying, “you got your head in the clouds.” I think that makes sense because this semester makes me feel like I have my head in the clouds since I get really easily distracted at home. And the final sketch is me again but more life-like; I even drew myself wearing a mask since that is the new normal. I felt kind of silly drawing because I haven’t drawn anything in a long time. I would like to draw more because I want to be more comfortable doing it.

• Do you think if you practiced for 100 hours, or 1,000, that you would get a lot better?

The way I see drawing is like writing. I usually don’t write hand-written papers because I’m so used to using my laptop for everything. As a result, my handwriting has gotten messy and my hand even cramps up when I write for too long. However, I noticed that whenever I write consistently and take my time, my writing tends to look better. I think with a lot of practice anyone can become better or at least decent at something. However, I don’t think that I would become an outstanding artist after 100 hours. I do believe I would become better but not perfect.

• What is your major? Can you think of ways that simple sketching could be useful in your major?

My major is English Education and I think that sketching can be used to create diagrams or visual learning tools for students. I also believe that the act of writing or drawing helps your mind remember concepts at a better rate.

• Is Drawing a Language? Can we say things with drawings that are hard to say with words?

I do think that drawing is a language, especially when it comes to story-telling. I see this especially in comic books and children’s literature. I think that visual art is great for teaching and communicating. I like the fact that images can be universal; for instance, I can show a picture of a dog to someone that doesn’t speak my language and they will know that it is a picture of a dog. I also know people who are terrible with words, which is why art is a great medium for them to express how they are feeling. This also works with social media because people use “reaction pictures” to respond to text or other posts. For instance, I can put a picture of Kermit drinking tea and I know that it means “that’s none of my business”.