I am so excited about this! After 4 years without an annual student art exhibit, things are finally coming together. I am consumed with planning all of the details. I have been collecting works of art from my students. There will be over 300 works of art on display at the exhibit. The exhibit is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC and will take place Friday December 3rd, 2010, at the Greenwood Community Center, 100 Surina Way Greenwood, IN 46143. I will post more details when available.
Composition is the arrangement of forms, lines, and values in your artwork. A nicely composed drawing or painting will draw the viewer’s eye into your work and toward the focal point, or center of attention.
Composition is an important element of your art. It takes some pracitce. Doing thumbnail sketches (very small simple sketches) of your ideas for your drawing or painting in many different arrangements is useful in developing a strong composition.
Suggested reading on this subject is an older book that I have in my library, Composition in Art by Henry Rankin Poore ISBN 0-486-23358-8. My copy was published through Dover Publications, Inc. New York.
Perfection in any aspect of life is unattainable. This includes your artwork. Don’t set the standard too high or you will fail every time. If you can allow yourself to make mistakes, you will learn from them and improve. If everything in your artwork has to be perfect, you will only frustrate yourself. Making artwork should be an enjoyable process.
Take time to observe your subject. This is the most important step in rendering a work of art. The hand obeys the mind, and it is the mind that utilizes the information that you see. Art is about observing and interpreting the subject.
When a student is having trouble with a drawing, I observe them as they work. Most of the time I will note that they are not looking at the subject matter frequently enough. To make a point, I may ask them to read a few sentences from a page. I will then remove the page and ask the student to write the words that they have just read. An almost impossible task! The only difference between writing words and drawing an object, is that when you draw you are observing lines, shapes, and values instead of letters.
Do not fear the paper. It sounds easy enough, but for some it is difficult. This fear stems from fear of rejection and lack of confidence. Maybe someone has commented negatively about something you have drawn. That hurts! Maybe the person didn’t even realize that what they said was taken negatively. That is most likely the case. But your lack of confidence in your work makes the end result the same. Art is interpretation. If you wanted an exact rendition of your subject, take a photo of it. Everytime I draw or paint, I change elements in the subject matter to please me. Saying to someone ‘this is my interpretation of…….’ is really all the validation you should need. Go forth fearlessly…..in art and in life. If you make a mistake…that is good, you will learn from it. Vow to get back up and go at it again with your newly found knowledge.
At an early age I came to the realization that art was my gift. My first mentor happened to be my next door neighbor. I am quite sure I was an annoyance to him. He and his wife moved in when I was 4 years old. They were an older couple. Mrs. Martin had been a victim of polio in her youth. She and I enjoyed playing games together. It was like having a grandma living next door for me. I soon became very curious about the artwork that Mr. Martin worked on in the garage and in the back bedroom. Although I was told not to enter those areas of the house I would find excuses to leave Mrs. Martin’s company and take a quick look at his current painting projects. Mr. Martin was a private person and really did not think his artwork was of great value. I remember he was impressed by Monet’s work. He painted copies of some of Monet’s work. I wanted him to teach me how to draw and paint. I only remember one time that he actually drew something for me. I watched intently as he drew a horse model that I had brought over. He said nothing about how to draw the horse as he rendered the drawing. I had to learn through observation, which is exactly what it takes to excell in drawing……being able to observe your subject with intensity.
My grade school art teacher Mr. Taylor, was another early influence. During his class one day I drew a horse. A fellow student took my drawing up to Mr. Taylor to show him. He called me to his desk and accused me of tracing it. I was hurt, but had to prove to him that I did not trace that horse! That was third grade. By fifth grade Mr. Taylor offered to teach me how to oil paint during school lunch. I would go through the lunch line with my friends and then to the art room to hurriedly eat by myself and then spend the rest of lunch period painting. The resulting painting of mustangs running in the wild hung in the entrance hallway at Homecroft Elementary for the next 13 years, until Mr. Taylor retired and took it with him.
My high school mentor was Mr. Gale. During high school my illustrations were used by the school paper and my artwork was included in the yearbook.
Also during high school I boarded my horse at a local barn. The owners, of the property and their daughter traded drawings I did of their horses for a portion of my board payment. They were very supportive of my art.
Now, as a teacher, I have often wondered what was most responsible for my ability and confidence. Clearly I had an interest from an early age, but I think it was the combined nuturing attitude of the people previously mentioned.
It gave me confidence in myself and my abilities.
As a result, I put a huge emphasis on building the confidence of my students.
It was about a year after high school that I began working in a local frame shop where children’s art classes were also offered. As fate would have it…..one day I was asked to fill in for that teacher. I had no experience, I very reluctantly accepted…….the rest shall we say is history………
It is truly a blessing to have a job doing something you absolutely love.
As I like to tell my students…. “My way of approaching and rendering a drawing or painting is not the only way.” There are as many approaches to drawing and painting as there are artists. You can start with my method as I teach you during class. If you stay with art long enough, you will develop your own method of approaching drawing and painting. That is good…..it exhibits your confidence in yourself and your abilities.
Below you will find a list of books that I have read and recommend. They will give you insight into other artists methods of drawing and painting.
For Parents of Young Artists and Adult Artists…………..
Drawing with Children (A Creative Teaching and Learning Method That Works for Adults, Too.) Author: Mona Brooks ISBN 0-87477-396-2
Drawing for Older Children & Teens (A creative Method for Adult Beginners, Too) Author: Mona Brooks ISBN 0-87477-661-9
For Teenagers and Adult Artists………
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain (A Course in Enhancing Creativity and Artistic Confidence) Author: Betty Edwards ISBN 0-87477-513-2
Drawing on the Artist Within (An Inspirational and Practical Guide to Increasing Your Creative Powers) Author: Betty Edwards ISBN 0-671-63514-X
The following book is perfect for Teens and Adults……
Creating Textures in Colored Pencil Author: Gary Greene ISBN 0-89134-653-8
I am hoping this blog will serve as a useful venue for expounding on the subject of teaching art.