Type of Work: Illustration, Figure Drawing
Fall 2014When I was a young girl, I loved to draw and I loved to ignore my elementary school art teachers who instructed me to “draw what I see.” If tasked with drawing an apple, I would draw an idealized apple—impossibly round and shiny and red—not the apple in front of me, which was probably lumpy and bumpy and bruised. I drew from the visions in my own head, but tended to ignore the reality of what I was supposed to capture. During my freshman year of high school, I took a basic art class and upon completing the first assignment, my teacher promptly informed me that because I didn’t draw what I saw, I was simply “not good at drawing.” I figured since she was a teacher she must be right, and I must be awful, so I stopped taking art classes altogether.
Fast forward to the fall of my sophomore year at the University of Notre Dame, where I sat in an introductory drawing course. It had been nearly five years since I last attempted drawing in a classroom setting and I was quite terrified. While not the best work I’ve ever made in a classroom, this was the project that broke me of my fear.
Photos:
1. Self portrait at age 5
2. Self portrait at age 10
3. Self portrait at age 15
4. Self portrait at age 20