Drawing workshop

I made a resolution to actively improve my drawing while I am on the MA. I resolved to do this when I finished my degree, but to an extent I felt that it didn't really happen, and that I was trying to please other people a bit too much.

I don't necessarily mean that I want to draw like Leonardo Da Vinci, or in a photo-realistic style - those are technical skills, which are important, and it's good to maintain them...but they are separate.

I want to make pictures, or even just marks, that can be read by somebody and understood, and also, that create a feeling or a mood. I suppose that's what illustration is all about. But the most important thing is to create work that I am happy with.

We had a day-long drawing workshop yesterday by Roderick Mills, an illustrator and lecturer on the Illustration BA at Brighton University. We were given a big list of materials to bring, and when we arrived Roderick gave us a theme (for the afternoon it was Witchcraft), and came around handing us different pens and pencils and photocopies of images that we might want to use to make our images. There was also a life model, films on the projector, and music playing. And then we just got on with it and drew...and drew...and drew.

It was exciting. At first I felt self-conscious, but with all these things happening around me I found that I could relax very quickly, and I got into a rhythm.

Although I didn't make loads and loads, I am really happy with my drawings - to me they feel very free. Combined with how the rest of my work is beginning to develop on the course, the workshop really helped me to feel as though I am sticking to my resolution.