Drawing II and III
I'm holding the first class in the gallery, at Anthony Blunt's leave. The room is airy and more than large enough for the number of students who signed up. Some of the faces are more familiar than others, though I'm starting to recognize most of the island's inhabitants on sight, even if we haven't been introduced. There are chairs set out with drawing pads, large smooth wooden boards with clamps on their tops to hold paper in place. I've never taught a class like this before. I've trained soldiers and Avengers but art was always something I did on my own, something private. It feels strangely like trying to dip a toe in the waters of some other man's life, like I'm playing at who Steve Rogers would have been if he hadn't become Captain America.
I remind myself, not for the first time, that I am Captain America no longer. So what does Steve Rogers have to give?
"Welcome," I say to the group once it's gathered, "to drawing two and drawing three. My name is Steve Rogers. I'm from Brooklyn, New York, on Earth, from the early two thousands. As a young man, I was an illustrator for pulp novels and comic books, which is where my background lies. Due to the size of the class and the nature of art, I hope you don't mind that I've consolidated the two courses. There are few enough of us that I think we can all work at our own pace, and I'll be able to instruct you individually as necessary.
"I'm operating under the assumption that, if you haven't already completed drawing one and two here on the island, you have some experience from your life before. Perspective, principles of light and shadow and lines, I'm assuming you're already familiar with. For those of you who signed up for drawing two, we're going to be working primarily on technique. Shading, stippling, cross hatching, composition. How to render an image fully in graphite and pen with a focus on realism. The goal is teach you the tools you need to craft a natural talent into a skill.
"For those of you who signed up for drawing three, we're going to be focusing on developing your style. Once you've learned how to draw what you see, you can begin to draw things how you see them, how you want others to see them. We're going to develop your individual points of view and create a portfolio of finished pieces that you think reflect who you are as an artist. At the end of the course, there will of course be a showing."
I gesture to the space we're in.
"We'll be working on still life drawings, figure drawing with live models, landscapes, you name it. Your memories and imaginations will also come into play, but we're going to start with the tangible. Today, I'd like you all to draw each other. Simply pick another student in the room and sketch their portrait. I don't care if it's full body, or just their hands, just their profile. Find someone in the room you see clearly, or want to see more clearly, and document them." I lift my own sketchbook and the pencil I carry around that's worn down to no more than four inches of soft chipped wood.
"You can start now. Feel free to ask questions, of me, of each other. Drawing can be an isolated process, something you do in solitude, something you do in quiet, but the sharing of art cannot help but be intimate. We're going to be seeing each others' work for a while, so we should start getting to know each other now." I flash them a smile and balance my sketchbook on my knee, watching them start, looking for who attacks the paper confidently, who drops their lines lightly and hesitantly to the page- looking for who my students are in how they begin their work.
[Gathering for those in Drawing II and III. Tag Steve, tag each other! During or after class. Non-students also feel free to swing by after class and find Steve tidying up the space.]
I remind myself, not for the first time, that I am Captain America no longer. So what does Steve Rogers have to give?
"Welcome," I say to the group once it's gathered, "to drawing two and drawing three. My name is Steve Rogers. I'm from Brooklyn, New York, on Earth, from the early two thousands. As a young man, I was an illustrator for pulp novels and comic books, which is where my background lies. Due to the size of the class and the nature of art, I hope you don't mind that I've consolidated the two courses. There are few enough of us that I think we can all work at our own pace, and I'll be able to instruct you individually as necessary.
"I'm operating under the assumption that, if you haven't already completed drawing one and two here on the island, you have some experience from your life before. Perspective, principles of light and shadow and lines, I'm assuming you're already familiar with. For those of you who signed up for drawing two, we're going to be working primarily on technique. Shading, stippling, cross hatching, composition. How to render an image fully in graphite and pen with a focus on realism. The goal is teach you the tools you need to craft a natural talent into a skill.
"For those of you who signed up for drawing three, we're going to be focusing on developing your style. Once you've learned how to draw what you see, you can begin to draw things how you see them, how you want others to see them. We're going to develop your individual points of view and create a portfolio of finished pieces that you think reflect who you are as an artist. At the end of the course, there will of course be a showing."
I gesture to the space we're in.
"We'll be working on still life drawings, figure drawing with live models, landscapes, you name it. Your memories and imaginations will also come into play, but we're going to start with the tangible. Today, I'd like you all to draw each other. Simply pick another student in the room and sketch their portrait. I don't care if it's full body, or just their hands, just their profile. Find someone in the room you see clearly, or want to see more clearly, and document them." I lift my own sketchbook and the pencil I carry around that's worn down to no more than four inches of soft chipped wood.
"You can start now. Feel free to ask questions, of me, of each other. Drawing can be an isolated process, something you do in solitude, something you do in quiet, but the sharing of art cannot help but be intimate. We're going to be seeing each others' work for a while, so we should start getting to know each other now." I flash them a smile and balance my sketchbook on my knee, watching them start, looking for who attacks the paper confidently, who drops their lines lightly and hesitantly to the page- looking for who my students are in how they begin their work.
[Gathering for those in Drawing II and III. Tag Steve, tag each other! During or after class. Non-students also feel free to swing by after class and find Steve tidying up the space.]