Ann St. Martin Stout
LEAVES ARE FREE
Many years ago, I came across a statement that really made sense and still makes me think. In the booklet “Drawing Textbook,” Bruce McIntyre writes, “Imagine what it would be like if all educated people … were able to use drawing to exchange visual ideas to the same extent which they now use writing to exchange verbal ideas.”
He points out that knowing how to draw is not the domain of only those we recognize as “artists,” just as having the ability to do arithmetic does not make one a mathematician.
Learning to draw using the seven laws of perspective (surface, size, surface lines, overlapping, shading, density, and foreshortening) is a way to exchange ideas in addition to writing and speaking. McIntyre feels that more important than “teaching drawing as a subject of art, is the teaching of drawing as a means of communicating visual knowledge.”
Years ago, I acquired The Drawing Textbook, (widely available online new, used, and pdf download) to supplement our homeschool education. It came to mind recently because of my participation in Inktober. The Library Arts Center in Newport has promoted Inktober as part of its mission to be a creative catalyst in the area. Kits to encourage participants were available (free) as the month changed from September to October. Each kit included a small drawing notebook, three pens of varying widths, and the list of daily prompts compiled by Inktober for its worldwide participants.
I started on Day One, October 1, with the prompt “dream” which I enjoyed drawing. I am not a great illustrator, but I can usually get my point across in a sketch. Through the years, I’ve become somewhat practiced at drawing simple things like creating alphabet flash cards for a kindergartener, drawing maps of the older sibling’s college town, and creating silly sketches of family members. I enjoy experimenting with facial expressions on cartoon figures. But if my goal is to be creative with some regularity, then I’ll feel quite successful when I make it to Day 31.
“Dream” and “path” were prompts I liked. I was satisfied with the results. When I got to the Day 15 prompt, “dagger”, I decided to depict it jabbed into a cake, hmmm, it came out looking more like a cake knife.
The Library Arts Center (LAC) is rooting for accomplished artists and sketchers as well as dabblers, and those of us in between. It is impressive to look at the Instagram hashtag #lacinktober2023 and see all the drawings that relay information about the prompt, including emotion, motion, and personal interpretation. One of the LAC’s goals is to bring together a community of creators by offering free monthly art kits, a variety of affordable classes, and year-round exhibits. Go to www. Libraryartscenter.org to stay updated on the latest happenings, or to be added to the mailing list.
So while I begin to put into practice the lessons of former Disney illustrator Bruce McIntyre, and heed the new adage, “practice makes progress”, I think by Day 31 of Inktober I may allow myself to feel pretty successful.
— Ann St. Martin Stout is a Newport native and, with her husband Greg, has raised seven children there. Arts, culture, local history and her Catholic faith are among her interests. She has written two books and can be reached at [email protected].
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