Thanks To Da Vinci

Wicked classroom caricatures and tattoos fired up the passion for this self taught artist to strive to produce the perfect drawing.

- Tanja Gordon

I guess you could say my school days were a great platform for encouraging my artistic abilities. I can remember spending class time drawing wicked caricatures and comics of my teachers – much to the amusement of friends. This led to a high demand in the tattoos that I would draw on the arms of many a willing ‘teenage rebel’. It was the ‘metal’ era and everyone tried to look the part. Getting reprimanded or thrown out of class didn’t stop this little enterprise, in fact it made my artistry a more valuable commodity, something I secretly enjoyed.

Fortunately, during my senior years, I had two fantastic art teachers who had a more tolerant approach towards me. They nurtured and encouraged my creativity into more constructive pursuits. They used humour and inspiration in their teaching methods, to which I responded well. One of them, Mrs Camus, a cheerful, slightly bohemian South American lady, introduced me to the world of human anatomy early on in the piece. It changed my world. Nothing else interested me. Hours were spent pouring over books on the great renaissance masters: Botticelli, Michelangelo, and Raphael who perfected this subject. I read everything I could on my favourite, Leonardo Da Vinci. This was before ‘Google’, so frequent trips to the library were called for, not to mention a stack of fines for late returns. Particular time was spent studying his drawings, and the techniques he used to execute his genius. I would open the same book over and over and over again, and would find something new each and every time. Da Vinci’s legacy has had a lasting effect on me to this very day. During this time, a competition was initiated by my local council, calling for submissions from all the schools within the region to celebrate the arts for Christmas. My teacher entered one of my works, which was chosen as the winning piece, and published as a Christmas card to be commercially distributed.