In which Staff Writer Avery Baumel learns that she can actually draw, maybe, on a good day, if snacks are provided.

On Thursday night, the Barnard Zine Library held the workshop Drawing for People Who Think They Can’t Draw, which was organized by Zine Librarian Jenna Freedman, who also participated in the workshop, and hosted by Diane Zhou, a graphic designer who previously worked at Barnard Library and now works in NYC at large. 

Designed to facilitate drawing for zine-making, the workshop centered around the idea of autobiographical mini-comics and “anti-perfection,” as Freedman put it. We started with an exploration of drawing as a medium and a practice, and as a way to determine and communicate what you care about. 

When beginning to draw, Zhou said, you can focus on smaller aspects of the process to guide your work. You might think about abstraction, looking at the basic shape of the object without getting caught up in details. Or you might focus on mark-making, going beyond the pencil and pen and using, say, fruit juice to draw a fruit. We also looked at the work of several artists,  including Jillian Tamaki and Alex Krokus, and discussed how they think about drawing as a form.

After discussing theory, it was finally time to start drawing! We began with an activity: Given eight minutes, come up with eight ideas for an autobiographical comic. Ideas could include childhood memories, stories you might tell a friend, or anything that’s happened recently. Here are two of my favorites!

At the end of the workshop, we broke out into free drawing. Different layouts gave us options to try drawing from reality: a still-life composed of various fruits and stuffed animals, a balloon formation, and various images of figures. Barnard Barbie herself even made an appearance as a potential subject! 

I found figure drawing much easier than the comics. Remembering eighth-grade art class, I focused on light and shading. Zhou reminded us to try contour drawing: without looking at the page, trace the outline of the object/figure with your pencil, then go in and add details. I think I was pretty successful:

Whether I learned anything new about drawing is up for debate, but it was a lot of fun to tap into my creative, artistic side, especially as a break from midterm studying. This was a wonderful event and I will absolutely be spending more time in the Zine Library in the future!

The Zine Library is located on the second floor of the Milstein Center at Barnard. Upcoming events can be found here.

All photos via Author