New toys -- easel and stool!

So, the painting class that my sis and I are taking started March 6. The next class is next Monday (the community center was closed this past Monday), and I subcumbed to temptation and bought a French easel like my sister's.

Yeah, it seems like an extravagance, but I got it at Jerry's Artarama for a pretty good price, and got a folding stool while I was at it. I don't need the stool for the class -- they have chairs -- but I'm going to class after work, and was pretty overburdened for the first class, so the easel made a lot of sense. This easel has the advantage of holding everything neatly in one compact package, and it even has a shoulder strap. The teacher gave us some homework -- sketching -- so I've been having a bit of fun with that.

The first class (which I forgot to blog about) was interesting, but it was really apparent which of us had had drawing lessons. My sis and I, and maybe one or two other students, had; the others were still more or less at the grade school level. I was slightly disappointed that the teacher didn't recommend a good drawing book so that the students who were interested could improve their skills, and I don't think she gave enough constructive criticism during the class, either. I know my drawing skills are a bit rusty, but she mostly stood behind each of us in turn saying, "That's nice."

I've gone a bit overboard this week buying art books -- mostly on drawing -- but I know that, while I'm ok with the geometric stuff, I'm lousy at drawing people; and that while I have some basic shading concepts down, I haven't got a clue when it comes to stuff like crosshatching and stippling.