A Film Major’s Guide to Sketching and Drawing: Hated but Helpful
Written by Laura Sands. Graphic by Laura Sands.
The biggest thing that scared me about coming to college wasn’t roommate disagreements, homesickness, or making friends, but the inescapable class of Sketching and Drawing 101. A daunting class. I applied to SCAD, woefully lacking any physical art skills. I had excelled in high school-level film and writing classes, sure, but I hadn’t taken an actual art class at all, so being in a class with people whose whole life was drawing scared me. When this quarter rolled around, and the mandatory foundations class of Sketching and Drawing appeared on my schedule every Tuesday and Thursday at 11, I dreaded every bus trip to Garvin.
Yet as the quarter progresses, I am finding myself learning more than I ever thought possible, and I am consistently surprised when I can apply it to my major in film and TV – even more surprised when I enjoy it.
A few weeks into sketching class, and I can already notice how, despite my frustration toward it, it was a needed class. One of the first things taught was the study of angles. How all angles lead to a vanishing point: to create a realistic scene, they all must work together. On the less technical side, the lines are used to create a hierarchy, showing the audience what to focus on in a scene. Now I find myself applying this same thought process to mise-en-scene and setting on a film shoot. How can I place the camera so that the angles of the countertop are all leading to the main character, creating hierarchy?
For our first project, a line-based realism sketch with texture and weight, I had to learn to notice the smallest details of lighting, so my line weight was accurate. In previous film projects, I have primarily focused on big lighting- what lights did I need to bring, where did they need to be placed, how to adjust the camera for harsh outdoor lighting- but for this project, I had to notice how one fold of a blanket was slightly more shadowed than the other. I focused on smaller objects and how light played with them in minuscule ways in order to accurately portray them. I then use this newfound minute attention to lighting when I shoot film to create the best art across mediums.
Not only did I have to pay more attention to all lighting details, but also to everything. When I was drawing a plaid blanket, I couldn’t just draw a bunch of squares and call it a day; I had to notice all the wrinkles and folds, so that the squares were much rounder, mimicking the folds. To make my project seem as realistic as I could, I had to slow down and notice everything. This has now spread into my everyday life- sure, it helped me notice the small things in a film setting, making sure each object in a frame is purposeful, but it also changed me on a bigger scale as well. When I’m sitting waiting for that Garvin bus, I find myself not quickly scanning the crowds or scrolling my phone, but taking time to slowly study the light filtering in the leaves, the way the kid next to me’s skirt folds, the patterns on the bus seat. Taking time to notice these things makes us better as artists, filmmakers, and humans.
While I have already grown so much in this course (I had a lot of room to grow), it didn’t come without the hardships I dreaded. Because I don’t have previous experience, I often feel as if I am not as good as my classmates. I get scared to even start a gesture because I am constantly comparing myself to the person next to me. Additionally, because all of this information is new to me, every step I learn, it takes me much longer to complete checkpoints and practices compared to other students. Yet these struggles came with their own lesson, showing me that comparison is truly the thief of joy. When I focus on doing what I need to do to improve, what I can change and learn from now, rather than my inadequacies, is when my work is at its best.
When I talk to my fellow Film and TV majors, we all groan with empathy when someone mentions their Sketching and Drawing class. From my experience as a student with little physical art experience, I struggle with not feeling good enough at it and falling behind. Yet, when I take a step back and really study my complaining, (is the SCAD administration possibly right in that, yes, everyone should take a Sketching and Drawing course?), I admit it has been helpful. I have learned more things that do apply to me and my specific career. So, would I want to take Sketching and Drawing again? Absolutely not. Did it, despite my hesitation, ultimately benefit me in my own field? A hundred percent.
