As a graduate student, I assisted with an event held at the University of Windsor, in honour of Ron Silliman's poetic work: the alphabet. The conference was called, fittingly, the alphabet Symposium. I herded wayward scholars, scampered across campus to sort out last-minute tech issues, comforted the anxious, and handed out spiffy name tags as well as the programme which I had lovingly written and typeset (no one commented on its flawless appearance but I knew that they knew). Aside from these moments of excitement, I spent a lot of time sitting alone at the sign-in table. I had spoken with Dr. Louis Cabri, my supervisor, about my new habit of sketching public scenes. He encouraged me to record the event, and so I gave it a shot.
Why don't I have a sketch of Ron Silliman? I really don't know; it might have something to do with the arrangement of the room. I was quite excited to practice my rusty life-drawing skills on the scholars but I soon came to realise that everyone has the same when they're at the podium. That, and they look like they're eating or taking a microphone to the eye (sorry about that).
On a technical note, I was still getting used to using a waterbrush (a paintbrush with a water reservoir in the handle). It was still hard to control the water flow. I was also getting used to the Caran d'Ache neocolor ii crayons that I've since come to enjoy to much. But in these early days, both of these now-beloved tools were a real pain.
Wonderful sketch, and article Sonia.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Elizabeth!
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