We couldn’t help but share Billy Boy’s infectious smile with you once again! Here, Koeberg students pose with their completed books. The height of finishing this project, was when the students shared their stories aloud in front of class. We were so proud when Teacher Minah commented aside that one student had never been so calm or confident when speaking about their work before. It just goes to show, once more, how expressing one’s own story through the open parameters of art enables deeper self-belief and self-confidence.
(Source: dramaticneed.org)
This past term, Tatu Somfula has worked with a dedicated group of students in our first-ever Intermediate Drawing class. The students have attended classes on Saturdays. Each keeps a sketch book for work during the week and try to keep up with Tatu’s rigorous homework assignments. Here are some “take home” self-portraits the students completed this week. Their progress is absolutely stunning!
Making their mark, students release inner inhibitions from “tight” drawing, loosening up their strokes under Tatu’s guidance. It is this letting go that allows students to draw more freely and to open into the more expressive parts of their left brain.
Image of the Week: Dream Drawings, by students at Huntersvlei Primary School
While we adore our facilities at the PPCAC, we have long wanted to have classes held in the township for students with scheduling constraints. Adeline Meje Primary School has been generous enough to offer us a safe, classroom space over the weekend in which Tatu Somfula leads a weekly drawing class for boys. Why only boys? In a township where more than half the fathers either work from afar or are completely absentee in their childrens’ lives, we feel it urgently important to bring powerful male role models into teen boys’ lives. Tatu, an esteemed member of his community and committed artist, is one such role model. We look forward to seeing some of the artworks as they progress from Beginning Drawing in the 1st term to Intermediate Drawing in the 2nd.
Intro to Drawing
Tatu Somfula, is a self-taught local artist who is training to become a regular teacher with Dramatic Need. This term he’s teaching an introductory technical class on drawing, which is his forte. Building a class using skills he has already developed, this class focuses specifically on acquiring drawing skills; at an intermediate level in the future, we aim to guide these newly minted artists to utilise their skills for a wider scope of content and expression. After 2 lessons, these students are improving quickly in their sensitivity to light, shading and form.
