Half-Hour Portrait

My post about Andrew got me thinking about artists who have influenced me through the years. First, there was my mom. Mostly I remember feeling frustrated as a kid because I couldn’t draw as well as she did. (It took me a long time to accept that I couldn’t teach myself everything I needed to know about how to do anything.) Fast forward to the University of Michigan, and my first life drawing class. I don’t remember the teacher’s name. She wasn’t friendly, she wasn’t encouraging, and she was very tough. I thought of her as the “drill instructor.” But she taught me the value of working fast. I certainly don’t paint quickly all the time, and the half-hour time limit requires a very high level of concentration, but I really value the looseness it forces on me.