LARA Term 2: Drawings and Reflections

My second term at LARA:

More drawings

I was pleased to get a lot more drawing done this term, in comparison with last term, although it did mean many long dark days. The term didn’t get off to a great start thanks to the various grades of cold and flu that were circulating in London this winter: I don’t think anyone escaped without some sort of lurgy.

I seemed to have integrated some of the lessons of the first term over the Christmas break which was encouraging but as ever there were many new challenges and stumbling blocks.

More being stuck

Being stuck was a major feature of this term; where I was unable to solve an (apparently) simple problem. Unable to proceed because of it I became increasingly frustrated by my lack of progress on the problem, eventually getting so angry that I could no longer work on my drawing. Not useful, I know.

With the benefit of hindsight (and a bonus of writing this termly review) I can see that I was becoming overwhelmed by  my own negativity, forgeting the tools and simple strategies taught to me so consistently. This is a particular problem for me, once I begin to lose my sense of perspective (not to mention my sense of humour) it is increasingly difficult to regain and I descend in ever decreasing circles. It is slightly ironic that the atelier process, as taught a LARA, is designed to provide a structured process to drawing, so that in the event or error or something not working, it is always possible to backtrack a little and regain the previous stage of solid and correct drawing, at least that is the theory.

An emotional process

I need my own process, a structured method of dealing with attitude and frustration, a way to regain some emotional control.

The stumbling blocks proved to be opportunities to make great strides, once I had taken a little (okay, sometimes a lot) more time and focus to resolve the issues they presented.

I think now I should spend a little time working on my own emotional process.

I’ll be reviewing some specific pieces work from this term in more detail, so look out for those posts:

Portrait Drawing: A learning process