Pushing the Boundaries!

Having received an email promotion showing a couple of finished Harry Potter illustrations with working drawings along side and the following highlighted blurb...

Cliff Wright Drawing Workshop

The illustrator behind the beloved books: 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' & 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' returns for a second drawing workshop at Trading Boundaries.

Cliff's art has helped ignite the imagination of children and adults worldwide. This is a fantastic opportunity for any budding artist to get an insight into the mind of the man who drew the famed Harry Potter hippogriff!

... I had eagerly enrolled and went along, not sure what to expect but fairly sure it would involve some insight into the process of creating the book illustrations shown and perhaps a drawing exercise in creating scenes from imagination?

What we got was a talk and drawing-based seeing/thinking exercises. The only reference to the illustrations were framed prints for sale in the shop after the event.

Having said that...

... I had been thinking about re-reading Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards to look at some of the techniques used to switch into 'drawing mode' as I have recently been lacking confidence in my drawing and am aware of worrying about the mark making instead of just getting in to looking and drawing and Cliff's workshop used very similar techniques.

Cliff did an excellent job of describing the process of 'really seeing' using meditative focus techniques to try and empty your thoughts and concentrate on seeing as though you're seeing an object for the first time and at the same time drawing without looking at the marks you're making. Reinforced with the idea of constantly questioning what you see and the way we see. Which all enhances the act of creative mark making.

All in all it was an enjoyable and useful workshop just not what I was expecting!