To read the introduction to this series, click here.

Today was my first drawing class, and it went well! The teacher, George Tkabladze — henceforth “instructor George” — had us jump right in by drawing the still life setup below.

Then he came around to give each of us pointers. I glanced around to see how everyone else was doing, and we all seemed to have recognizable objects on our paper.

After my first attempt, instructor George showed me how to use a center line to sketch out the shape of the objects, quickly drawing out a composition for me to use as a reference.

We spent the rest of class working on our still lifes while he walked around and offered tips. I noticed I was having the most trouble with judging relative sizes and distances, so that’s something I’ll be practicing. The gourd was a particular nemesis.

But it was fun to try it out, and I kept my eraser handy. Here’s a picture I took near the end of class.

Next week, we’ll have our second class, and my Stained Glass class will meet for the first time. I’m looking forward to both!

— George