Learning arts systematically? How I survived back then.

When I entred MMU in 1999, I chose a wrong programme.
However, I took the challenge to rectify my mistake, as an appreciation of getting PTPTN from the government and as an opportunity to obtain a Bachelor degree.

The first problem I faced when choosing a wrong programme was the need to master drawing skills. To be honest, drawing was not my cup of tea at that moment, and I did not have interest to learn drawing. However, for the sake of survival, I treated drawing as a professional work systematically.

I established a systematic learning sequence for arts: definition, incubation, illumination and verification.

Step 1: Definition
Before entering a class, I do pre-lesson learning by clarifying meanings of all jargons used in the lesson. I believed I need to know exactly what I need to do when I was given instructions to draw something. Thanks to internet, I managed to get definitions of all art movement, e.g. pointillism, expressionism, realism, photo-realism, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, etc. I also made to best of the visit to National Art Gallery (now National Visual Arts Gallery) in KL. I kept asking questions in the class, and seeking for meanings of particular art movement and style in MMU Library.
With sufficient knowledge and understanding on what jargon actually means, I could at least talk about arts--without a mastery of creating them.

Step 2: Incubation
To produce quality drawing requires incubation time. This would be the time spent to establish the ambience for inspiration and generation of ideas. Preparation to draw, like setting up the canvas, mixing colours, washing brushes, sharpening pencils or charcoal, etc, can be regarded as incubation as well. I also built up a habit to listen to New Age music during this period of my life. I particularly like Enya's music.

Step 3: Illumination
I started drawing by sketching what I had in mind without worrying the beauty of the sketches of work or not. After multiple attempts, I would proceed to the illumination stage, when I began to fill in colours, lighting, and life into the sketches. Static drawing or sketches turned animated in my mind. I began to think and express what I thought through illumination on the drawing.

Step 4: Verification
After getting a few versions of drawing done, I spent time framing them accurately according to the specifications set by lecturers. Then I brought all the framed works to the faculty and got hold of my lecturers to comment on and verify their quality. The chosen or preferred version would be considered as verified version. I moved on to finalise this verified version, adding values to the work and submit on the due date.

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Learning and re-learning drawing in MMU in 1999 and 2000 was indeed a painful experience in my life. However, during those years, I tried convincing myself: even if I cannot draw now, but I can learn to draw! And I realised most of my course mates also cannot draw like me. Those who actually can draw, among my peers, I can actually count by hand. I did think of changing faculty, to IT or Management, but that would lead to two problems:

a) financial problem: I already spent money buying drawing materials, tools, etc. The study loan was approved and changing programme would lead to chaotic situations, and I did not actually have money to repay fee in the new programme.

b) curriculum: I was not scoring very well in physics, add maths, etc, and I might not be able to score flying colours in IT or science-oriented programmes.

So to master drawing, I thought of following the footstep of Leonardo Da Vinci, get a Master and learn from him persistently until I succeed. To cover the weakness of drawing, I will work harder on non-drawing subject matters, hoping that I could score in those subjects to compensate. I managed to establish good discipline, i.e. spending most time learning and practice instead of going out the campus, like my peers did.

In fact, I was reaching the end of the journey, it would not be worthwhile to give up at that moment.