Correct Technique
It may sound like a ludicrous joke, but the reason why some people never learn to draw properly is because they have no idea how to correctly hold a pencil. I know this to be the case because I have taught numerous private art lessons and seen this happen time and time again. There is nothing on earth quite like the expression on a fifty-six year-old woman’s face when you tell her that she can’t hold her pencil properly. If looks could kill, I’d have barely got past the first lesson.
The problem with holding the pencil wrong is not that you can’t draw; it’s more the fact that the pressure on the nib is all wrong and the hand will then, in utter frustration, drive the pencil further into the realms of artistic despair. This means that shading becomes far too heavy-handed (or conversely too light) and the drawer has barely any control over where the pencil goes. Add to this the problem that many beginners stare down at their drawings for many minutes—instead of looking at what they are drawing and taking it in—and you have a problem which needs to be sorted, if only for the sanity of the art teacher.
The correct way to hold a pencil is really however it feels comfortable to you, but the important thing, however you do this, is to hold it at more nearer the nib than away. By doing that you have direct control over what your brain sees and the movements your hand makes. You’d be surprised how being aware of something like this can transform a piece of art-work in a matter of seconds.
Anny’s surprise engagement party: I think I know what we should put together. We should arrange some time at val thorens ski as a surprise, I know that it is on the other side of the Atlantic, but she is worth it right?
