And so the paintings begin...

First let me say that the morning group did not disappoint when it came to creating their drawing for the mural.  They were a lot more hesitant that I expected they would be. They did come around after I pushed them a bit.  I have heard quite a few times from observers and from the artists themselves, that working as a collective has not happened before this.  I have to remember this as we move forward with the project.  It is only normal that the artists might be a little shy at first.  The funny thing is, after three hours of drawing on this 2 meters by 5 meters paper, they understood the importance of communication..and then they absolutely did NOT hold back.  Mamadou Ann told Ridiaw that his drawing of a fisherman looked like a "Chinois" (Chinese person).  Everyone laughed.  They are beginning to share ideas, help others realize their visions...and even actually say when something is not working and offer a solution.  Maurice (who's name is really Morkis) told me today that this exercise is extremely important for their development.  He is a very experienced painter and his paintings are in the President's residence here in Mauritania.  An ally to me..he sees the merit in my observational drawing exercises.  So here is the mural and the last exercise that we did..a figure drawing!  Francesca, an Italian anthropology student writing her thesis on Artists in Mauritania, modeled for us.

So today...we actually started painting in the two groups too.  Since the first group had to do the drawing exercise, they didn't accomplish as much.  The afternoon group had almost three hours to paint.  There is this little dance I do between accepting their paintings and pushing them more to consider composition.  I think this is the biggest challenge.  I will perhaps influent one of them...You never know...I told them on Sunday (our Monday here) we will put the paintings out to critique while in progress.  This put the fear in some..I think that is a good thing...Maurice told me I should be even more challenging and than most people haven't had formal training or any drawing experience and that many start with abstract painting.  I do see trends but there are a few that really stand out as very talented.  

Mohamed Sidi

Dali

Hamadi

Morkis

Ahmed, Aicha and Amal

Bechir