There is nothing revolutionary about blind contour drawing as people have been teaching this method for years. For some of my students this may be their first exposure to the technique. I remind them that the exercise is about drawing what they see and not what they know. Sometimes, the "well-trained" student becomes frustrated because they can't demonstrate those techniques that they have learned. The loss of control can be quite frustrating for some. Others may be challenged because they have never really looked at a subjects so intensely before. Either way, the exercise is good for students and brings them out of their comfort zone and it may shatter perceptions about who the "good drawers are." I normally offer the students an array of materials to work with, such as chalk, charcoal, ink, pencils, chopsticks and paint, etc. This year, after working for about a year with drawing apps on the iPad myself, I introduced five i-pads into the drawing class as an option for students.
Friday was our first day with doing figure drawing with a live model. For most, it was the first time they had drawn a nude model. I decided while we were dealing with "newness" and experimenting with risk-taking, this was a good time to introduce the iPad. Students did a series of drawings over the eighty-minute class, which included blind-drawing, 80% blind drawing and a series of quick gesture drawings. Over the course of the period, students were asked to change materials and experiment with everything. Some students were drawn quickly to the iPad while others completely resisted the technology. I loved the way the majority of students moved seamlessly from traditional material to digital technology and back again. For the last twenty-minutes of the period, students were invited to choose their material of choice to create a detailed, final drawing. Interestingly, in my class with sixteen students, only one student opted for the iPad and in my smaller class, no-one opted to use the iPad for their final drawing and all chose traditional media.
Something
that I observed while watching students work side-by -side with iPads and
traditional drawing materials was that their posture changed when they
used iPads. Students using the iPads were clearly in their comfort zone.
It was interesting to observe students standing or sitting up quite
straight in front of the easel to draw and yet spines were curved when these
same students were using iPads. Perhaps this has something to do with the
smaller size of the iPad versus the large expanse of the drawing paper or
perhaps it is just comfort and familiarity. (As I am creating this blog
on my iPad, I too have taken on this relaxed posture, perhaps iPads and laptops
have just become an extension of us.)
At
the end of this first class we had a show and tell where each student put up her
favourite drawings. There were iPad drawings in the mix, along with drawings on
paper. I asked the students to compare the drawing experience between an
iPad and a traditional instrument and the reviews were mixed. Some
students said that the iPad was more comfortable and the line was more smooth
while others said that they felt constrained by the size of the iPad (regulars
not the new minis) and would use this tool with ease if it was as large as the
A-2 or A-3 paper that they were using. The drawing adventure continues in this
upcoming week with our live model coming out for two more eighty-minute
classes.
The
drawing apps for the iPad that we used included: Brushes, Paper 53, Procreate,
Artrage & SketchbookX
