Drawing Session in Cala Figuera

with Anne-Kathrein Erban

Do you remember a time when you were younger and you really enjoyed spending time with paper and coloured pencils, becoming completely immersed in what you were doing?

And while drawing you recreated things which existed around you or you invented things for your own pleasure and which perhaps made others happy, too? But as you grew older your expectations changed. You perceived the world around you differently and your drawing did not match what you saw. Creating realistic-looking images seemed a goal which could not easily be reached and you probably resigned and decided only people with talent can draw and I am not one of them.

But when you stop to think about it – is creating realistic images really what drawing is about? Well, the best and fastest way to obtain realistic images is to take photos. Drawing is something completely different. It seems to involve other channels of perception. Ask somebody who took a photo with their mobile phone if they remember how it felt to be in exactly that place, ask about the shapes, the colours, the shadows, the noises, the smells, the wind, the birdsong, the cold, the heat, the passage of time. What you can be sure of is that the person who took the photo will always remember the place by looking at the photo. You as a sketcher or painter will have the whole situation engraved in your mind and it will stay with you forever. Drawing means taking time, learning to see, embracing the moment, sharpening your senses – and at the same time it is a fantastic way to get away from everyday life.

Think of drawing as your very own way of putting down lines, as individualistic as your handwriting.

As the wonderful artist and teacher Paul Klee said,

“Drawing is the art of taking lines for a walk”.