Sapphire Eyes ~ 10 Chapter Challenge

Part One ~ My Hands ~ The Letter

Part One

ARMATURE – A structure made out of wood or wire, which supports the clay during the creation of a sculpture. An armature can help ensure that a sculpture is structurally sound and doesn't collapse or deform over time.

SURREALISM – A movement in art and literature that sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind. This included the irrational juxtaposition of random objects. The movement's artists find magic and strange beauty in the unexpected and the uncanny, the disregarded and the unconventional.

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Hands are the most versatile part of the human body. Think about it. Hands move and bend in tons of ways. Hands can play piano, mold clay, bounce a basketball, make dinner, and do homework. We use our hands to help someone up, to caress the ones we love, and to slap, pinch, punch, and push people away.

Have you ever tried to draw hands before? They are not the easiest subject. I don't imagine many people sit and stare at their hands unless they're trying to draw them, so you might just need to take my word on this—hands look weird.

In my Drawing 101 class we worked on drawing hands for a week, and the teacher told us to draw our own because we knew them so well and the model was right at our fingertips. Not surprisingly, most of us sucked at drawing hands. You don't need to stare at your hands all day to recognize when an artist makes a mistake on the hands. They stand out like a gangrene thumb. But by the end of that week, everyone in the class had at least one drawing of hands that looked right. Well, everyone but me, that is.

On that last day, when we put up our drawings for everyone to see, the teacher came by and mentioned that my thumbs were too skinny and the pose was just a bit off. I told my teacher I used distortion, even though the truth was that this drawing was my first stab at honest realism.

It wasn't until weeks later, when I found the stupid drawing shoved under my bed, that I realized my drawing was fine. It's my actual hands that are all wrong.

The Letter

My Chance ~ Mirna

Self-portraits are boring. If it wasn't an assignment for art class, I'd totally draw something else, like a tiny sailboat lost at sea, or a dog leading a blind man, or a lady sitting at the edge of the waves on a surf board, drawing the sunset in her own notebook, or any of the hundreds of ideas I have teeming in my head. But instead, I'm tracing boring old me, myself.

I stand back from my bed and examine my tracing. So far I've captured my long hair, though I probably won't color it to match my brown straight locks. I'll have to shade it heavily instead. I've also drawn the heart shape of my face, my full pouty lips, and my eyes, which are a pretty standard shape and size. Again, I'm tempted to color the drawing so I can portray my wicked cool eyes that always seem to change color with my mood. Okay, maybe this self-portrait isn't that lame. Sometimes you need a new perspective; Jimmy always said that. And that's not just a drawing tip. Maybe I can do something to this boring sketch to make it unique. Like leave all of it in pencil shading except for my eyes, which I can color with colored pencil in many different shades.

I step back up to my bed and get in a comfortable position on my hands and knees near my sketch book. Jimmy always said he couldn't believe I draw like this, but I say if you teach yourself to draw and you're not lucky enough to have a drawing table, you make do with what you have. The bed, the floor, the deserted alley. Whatever. I do occasionally draw with a sketch book in my lap while I sit on the floor with my back against the wall–even during class, which drives my teacher Mrs. Rivera insane. But this giant 24" by 36" isn't going to fit in my lap.