Maha Kamal
A little less than halfway into 2025, I decided to (finally) get serious about art classes. Many know my love for art, especially miniature paintings and the Mughals. I've been largely self-taught, but I've always wanted to know how the masters fine-tuned their realistic light and shadow, their impeccable attention to detail, their near-perfect proportions. Most famous artists you love were classically taught at some point. So in August, I signed up for Friday evening classes on the fundamentals of drawing and painting at the Art Students League of Denver. The instructor, Ali Ghassen, is one of the few masters of the trade. He teaches the way you'd imagine an old, wise Japanese teacher does. There is intense focus, patience, and practice involved. All the things our modern society loathes and rejects. I wasn't ready to sit with the same image for hours, days on end, until I mastered how to properly "block" it out on my blank page. It wasn't until recently (after about 30 hours of practice) that I began understanding how light hits an object, creating a form shadow, a cast shadow, and a terminator. The proper way to sharpen a pencil (a box cutter is involved). To start so lightly that you can barely see the graphite against the paper grain. Since August, I've made progress I didn't think I'd make for years. I feel like I "get" it now. Ali always tells me to slow down and focus on each pencil stroke. You can't rush shading. If you do, it will look messy. If you put in the time, even if it's 20 hours, it will look and feel complete. I'm forging ahead with art school into 2026. Instead of rushing to paint or submit my pieces to art shows, I'm committed to slowing down and learning from the masters. Then I can turn to breaking the rules and establishing my own style. I'd invite all of you to do the same. Not necessarily art, but find something physical that pulls you away from your phone and invites you to wholly immerse yourself in it. Spend hours on it. Step back and think, "Damn, I did that?"
