by Shelby Miller managing design editor
“I don’t really think of myself as an artist,” said Katherine Getchell, junior applied linguistics major. “I don’t consider myself naturally
talented at it. It was a lot of practice drawing.”
This is a startling statement coming from the president of Moody’s Art Club; But, when it comes to art, Getchell tends to take the approach of a concert pianist or an Olympic gymnast: prolonged and continual practice. “You’re not going to learn to be an artist unless you practice,” she said.
All the non-drawers and non-painters of the world may avoid art, thinking it is more of a natural ability, but not according to Getchell. For her, natural skill is the byproduct of practice, not the initiator of it. Artistic skill, especially when it comes to Getchell’s primary media — painting and drawing — demands not just natural dexterity of the fingers or the superior creativity of the mind, but the continual use of both.
Getchell began drawing in high school, first in the margins of spiral notebooks using pen and ink or pencil and pen. It wasn’t until coming to Moody and joining Art Club that Getchell starting using acrylic and oil pastels. Now, she primarily uses acrylic and pen and ink to construct her art pieces.
Art Club, one of the oldest student groups on campus, exists to provide a nonjudgmental, relaxing and supportive environment where anyone — from the amateur artist to the more professional one — can simply come and do art: “It is a place for people to learn how to do art in a safe environment,” Getchell said, “to give people a chance to express themselves in a kinesthetic, tactile way.”
Such a strong vision was the reason Getchell first started attending Art Club, which meets on Dryer 4 every Tuesday from 6-9 p.m. For her, Art Club became a place to unwind, a creative outlet to relieve academic stress and produce something that was different from class papers.
Getchell specializes in using art as a visual to explain something else. Drawing or painting familiar and beloved characters from either her own or other peoples’ favorite books, movies or video games proves a challenge to her, and this challenge motivates her work. Ninety percent of what she makes, she said she gives away. “I think I use art to show people how I love them because I am a gift giver,” she said.
“[I’m drawn to] the idea of taking something I’ve imagined and being able to see it on paper,” Getchell said. “When it’s done it’s something that expresses what I was feeling in the moment.” The process of learning and progressing in artistic skill is more an art to Getchell than the finished product. “You don’t need a plug.It doesn’t have to be adapted,” she explains. “You just grab a pen and paper and you can do something that helps you unwind.”
Getchell encourages all who think they can’t do art to attempt it and once they have, to continue practicing. Her advice: start with copying a character or a simplified drawing. “Maybe you won’t be the next Picasso,” she said. “But you can learn to make something you’re proud of.”
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This piece is considered a “standard” article in our print edition.
Artist Next Door: musicians, storytellers, painters, sculptors,
graphic designers and all the sort here at Moody