My First Art Workshop in Collaboration with Misk Art Institute

Better Than Never

Early last week, Misk Art Institute contacted me to deliver a training course at their headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I wasn't surprised by the call as much as by the subject I had to teach: The Basics of Blind Drawing.

The topic was part of the month's announced plan. The attendees were supposed to learn (...) by drawing blind contours, without ever looking at the paper—and that is "not to produce a realistic work of art, but to strengthen the link between the eye, the hand, and the brain to remind the artists that when drawing, they must learn to see first."

I didn’t agree on that “ever”. I tried to change the workshop's topic entirely to one of my favorite subjects (such as character drawing, visual storytelling, environment painting, composition, ...). I sent beautiful paintings in the hope of persuading the institute, but the answer was NO.

I felt a little frustrated; as, for me, drawing is a harmonious act between the heart, the eye and the hand, and the idea of ​​drawing without looking at the paper does not need, in my opinion, an instructor. Also, after any art workshop I deliver, I like the attendees to return back to their homes with a significant value they acquired (skill, concept, inspiration, etc.), a target which may not happen here.

I returned to maneuver, so I asked them to remove the word "ever" from the description, which was done. With this, I returned to the area in which I could deliver with excellence.

Hirameki

Over the past years, I've volunteered to teach the kids in our neighborhood to make drawings from random shapes, and I have made this exercise a part of my private digital drawing classes.

I call it Hirameki after a book I bought years ago and in which I found a fun and interactive way to search for beauty in the chaos of random shapes.

Drawing from Random Shapes | Course Title Slide | Alhyari & Misk Art Institute

Drawing from Random Shapes | Exercise Course Slide (Faces) | Alhyari & Misk Art Institute

Drawing from Random Shapes | Exercise Course Slide | Alhyari & Misk Art Institute

I decided to take this idea to the next level by dividing the workshop into 3 sections:

(1) Without prior instructions, the participants begin by drawing what they see on random shapes that they draw themselves with colored markers, then I follow by explaining the basic rules of drawing better lines and shapes. At this point, I give the attendees the same exercise asking them to avoid their previous mistakes.

Drawing from Random Shapes | Course Slide on Balance | Alhyari & Misk Art Institute

(2) The second part of the workshop covers the basic rules of perspective drawing to create the illusion of mass and volume. This part ends, like the previous one, with another exercise in which the students try to avoid drawing flat forms.

Drawing from Random Shapes | Course Slide on Shadows | Alhyari & Misk Art Institute

Drawing from Random Shapes | Course Slide on Composition Lines | Alhyari & Misk Art Institute

(3) The last part deals with composition and visual storytelling in the aim to add relatability and drama to the drawings. Like its predecessors, it ends with an exercise and feedback.

Drawing from Random Shapes | Course Slide on Backstory in Visual Storytelling | Alhyari & Misk Art Institute

Drawing from Random Shapes | Course Slide on Composition | Alhyari & Misk Art Institute

Drawing from Random Shapes | Course Slide on Facial Expressions | Alhyari & Misk Art Institute

The institute approved the plan, and the workshop went as it should.

"Thank you for the successful workshop." - Rayan Alashban, Project Officer at Misk Art Institute

I went back to my house in Khobar, and I am now working on the material of the next workshop, which I will present at the Institute on the 29th of this month: The Basics of Contour Drawing... or as I call it: Basic Perspective for Visual Storytelling 😅!