Nicola Evans has been volunteering at The Model for over a year. As a marketing professional, Nicola lends her expertise one morning a week to The Model. As well as a passion of PR & marketing, Nicola harbors a fine talent for drawing. To improve upon her skills and make the most of The Model’s phenomenal education programme, Nicola recently took part in Michael Wann’s class ‘The Art of Drawing’. Michael Wann is a celebrated artist famous for his wonderful charcoal work that artfully weave technical skill with nuanced emotion. He has been the recipient of countless prizes and awards such as the AXA Insurance Drawing Prize & the Tom Caldwell Drawing Prize. In this short guest blog, Nicola tells us about her experience in The Art of Drawing and why you should consider taking the class.
“I always dreamed of the day when I could take an afternoon off from work weekly to pursue a hobby and so it was with great anticipation that I signed up for Michael Wann’s drawing class.
I had not drawn for a while – so it was quite nerve wracking walking in – especially knowing what Michael could achieve with charcoal. However, the class couldn’t have been more relaxed. All the artists in attendance varied in levels of experience. Michael is a patient, encouraging instructor that gave us direction when we needed it.
Us newcomers started off by learning the fundamentals of art like perspective and how to create dimension & tone. Michael really encouraged us to experiment and take drawing at our ease. ‘Loosen up’ and ‘make a mess’, he would often say, ‘accidental marks are often the ones that make a drawing come alive’.
After our crash course on the essentials, we moved onto landscapes. It’s so easy to lose yourself when drawing big open skies; time just seems to disappear.
By the time the final class rolled around, my technical drawing skills had definitely improved. I was becoming braver using charcoal, less precious about creating a masterpiece and just having fun experimenting and exploring the millions of different effects you can get from a burnt piece of willow.
The class was a very relaxing experience. It felt like yoga for the mind & thanks to Michael, I am very inspired to continue drawing in the future.”