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What: #58 Draw in the gallery at the DIA

When: May 27, 2016
Where: Detroit Institute of Arts
Why: A few years ago, I attended the DIA's evening program on a Friday night and among the other great activities happening in the museum - live music, dance performances, docent tours - there were areas set up in various galleries for artists to draw. Except, I realized they weren't professional artists, but anyone could come in on those nights and sit down to try their hand at pencil drawings. So, on a lovely Friday evening, my friend Sara bravely left her adorable 2-month-old daughter at home with her (very capable!) husband, and joined me for a night of art.

We had a choice between setting up in the Greek & Roman exhibit hall or the African art wing, and we chose the latter, focusing on this wooden Royal Figure from the 1800s.

As we settled into our benches - locally handmade and now copied around the world - with our sharpened pencils and our gummy erasers, we tried to capture the essence of the figure before us.

I tried to just see geometric shapes from my angle, to just look for lines disconnected from their intended body part or object, and sketch the outline to start. Then, I wanted to do some shading, which I thought would help me block off the proportions. I was trying to stay focused in our hour on just the left half of what I could see, leaving the right half unfinished, but one line blended into the next, so I found myself completing the sketch. For the first time, I took a look at what Sara was drawing, and realized how much I liked her shading skills, and also how different it was for us to be seated at different angles looking at the same figure! 

My finished sketch had some strengths, particularly the leg and hands. The head and torso were really difficult to get right. When I showed my sketch at home later, guesses of its origin were anywhere from an Ewok to an abstract Native American print, but when I compared it with the original figure, I was told that it was actually closer than would have been expected!

I wonder if with more time, I could have done more, felt more free to erase and start over on the face and torso, and with Sara's guidance, do a better job of shading. I guess that can always happen the next time I go back to draw in the gallery!