This semester, I am taking my first-ever studio art class through the Tufts-Skidmore Spain program. The class is appropriately titled, Sketchbook: Walking in the City because instead of meeting in a classroom, we meet at new places and museums in Madrid. My class meets on Thursdays, and I find it a great way to relax and explore before the weekend.
For example, we learned about lines and proportions at the Museum of Anthropology. As someone who does not identify as an artist, mi profesora Fani was patient as she explained some of her own tricks that help her transform 3D objects into 2D on paper. I initially chose to draw a mortar from Equatorial Guinea because it looked more doable than some of its neighboring artifacts, but it was deceivingly difficult to draw. Once I achieved the basic image, Fani explained some different types of crosshatching that I could use to show light and depth.
For our next class, we met at the garden at the Atocha metro station. I did not know that there was a botanical garden inside one of the biggest train stations in Madrid! As one would likely guess, we learned how to draw trees and plants with charcoal. Considering we were drawing in a train station, it was not surprising to see many travellers peeking over our shoulders to see what we were doing. This class is absolutely a must-take for any student who wants to explore Madrid with an artistic lens!

My mortar drawing and the tree

Can you see the similarities between my drawing and the tree?