Speakers: Ruth Payne, UK
Ruth Payne: Hello, I'm Ruth and I'm from the UK.
Can we see some of your Draw Awesome artwork that you're most pleased with?
Ruth Payne: This was a charcoal drawing I tried by myself at the end of the charcoal module. I loved exploring just how dark you could get the charcoal, in contrast with the light areas and loved using the needle eraser to bring out areas such as the edges of the feathers. This drawing was a completely new area for me and I never attempted this before. We used blocks of watercolour to start with, without any under-drawing whatsoever, and then went in with the ink pen to bring out some of the detail. It certainly helped me to loosen up, which is definitely one of my aims. This was an undirected challenge with coloured pencils. I was amazed at the result I could achieve with careful layering and careful observation of colours and loved the reflection in the eye. This was another new area for me, mixing pastel pencils, which are quite new to me, with ink. I've never attempted drawing the sea before either. So I was very pleased with this. This was a guided tutorial from Phil and this is one of the last challenges I did. We had to do an animal that meant something to someone else. I did this picture of a friend's dog in pastel pencils and just loved the way they blend together and create the texture of the fur and in particular bringing out the highlights in the eyes.
Before starting Draw Awesome, what was your level of art experience and what did you struggle with?
Ruth Payne: I did art 'A' level in the 1970s, so I've had a bit of experience with art. I've done some watercolour courses and portrait and figure drawing in charcoal. My main areas that I've struggled with are getting proportions correct and actually handling watercolour. And also I haven't had much experience of different media.
How do you think Draw Awesome has helped you?
Ruth Payne: Since doing the Draw Awesome Course, my drawing skills have improved hugely. I can see things now coming together on the page much more quickly, which reduces the frustration of having to keep erasing things. I'm much more confident now and I've done a few drawings for friends. I'm using different media that I would never have thought of, such as pastel pencils and Phil has shown me a different way to approach paintings, such as watercolour, putting colour on straight away instead of an under drawing, which I was really nervous about at first, but I'm now embracing. It's really good fun.
Finally, what are some of the things you've enjoyed most about Draw Awseome?
Ruth Payne: I think the Draw Awesome Course has been constructed really well, with a good mixture of guided tutorials, self directed work and rest weeks. Sometimes I've looked at what we're going to do and think "I'll never do that!" But with Phil's careful guidance, I've done it and I I've been really pleased with what I've done and best of all, it's given me so many more tools in my box that I can approach other things with a lot more confidence. I'm really glad that I started the Course and I'm near the end... ...which is a bit sad!
