Drawing Lab :: one

Drawing intimidates me.  I've drawn my whole life and taken classes in and out of college.  I learned perspective, drawn buildings, and even got paid to draw bridges and highways.  Still, I quickly get frustrated and embarrassed at even the slightest scribble.

E, my 9yo, loves to draw.  He's very creative and detailed.  He has taken some wonderful drawing classes.  But, like me (the apple doesn't fall far), he gets frustrated and embarrassed.

When my friend, Angie (Angie Allen Wedding & Event Stationary) suggested a link up inspired by a book by Carla Sonheim, Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists - 52 creative exercises to make drawing fun, I immediately signed up.  This is a much needed exercise for me and E to do together.

 Lab 1 ::  Draw a cat in bed 

E and I both thought this exercise was to draw a cat curled up in a bed.  We laughed when we realized WE were the ones to be in bed while drawing cats.  We crawled into my bed and began drawing cats:  E on his stomach and me sitting with a pillow propped under my paper as a drawing surface.  This is what we produced:

I love where E went with his cats.  He had a story for each but decided his favorite was what he called the pear cat.  It's the cat with what looks like a MacBook head.  He said the apple looked like a pear.

(Click the image to enlarge.)

 My favorite was the second cat I drew.  For the life of me, I couldn't draw two the same way.  Each time, I started from a different part: the ears, body, cheeks, etc.
 

We had a fun time doing this and look forward to the next lab.  If you want to join us, stop by and post a link to your work (blog post, flickr, etc.) on Angie's post where we will share our exercises each week.