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start drawing
- Thread starter davers
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dufous
Well-known member
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
Book by Betty Edwards
www.drawright.com
Just do the exercises in the book. It works.
Book by Betty Edwards
www.drawright.com
Just do the exercises in the book. It works.
Nannymouse
Well-known member
Retired art teacher here. One of the lessons that we learned as wannabe art teachers, was that a person's art ability stopped at the point that the person stopped learning from others, and stopped practicing (yay pinkfan!) what they learned from others. Most folks don't know that many of the 'great masters' started apprenticeship at a very young age, and went from teacher to teacher, as their abilities grew. Many of the great frescos were not done by the masters, but by their underlings. The masters could have quite the little band of students following him around, doing most of the work. The 'god given talent' thing is mostly a myth. Much like sports figures, where, without much training and practice, they would not be where they ended up.
Not so many 'masters' to follow around, these days. However, as dufous mentioned, there are books and videos and many teaching tools that were not available back in the olden days. A good liberal arts college or university can be a great place for learning visual arts. One of my fave profs would tell us that once we left college, we'd very much miss the creative atmosphere, where we'd bounce ideas between each other. That was true.
Not so many 'masters' to follow around, these days. However, as dufous mentioned, there are books and videos and many teaching tools that were not available back in the olden days. A good liberal arts college or university can be a great place for learning visual arts. One of my fave profs would tell us that once we left college, we'd very much miss the creative atmosphere, where we'd bounce ideas between each other. That was true.
X15
Well-known member
@Nannymouse That’s awesome you taught art. Art was always my favorite class yet I never got a grade better than a D lol. I appreciate a huge variety of art but have never really thought of art as a grade. To me, Art class was (high school and college) always about following directions. I believe people can hone their expressive skills with practice but much like everything else in life.. some people get it, some want it, and some got it … it’s merely just a form of expression, a show of energy. The greats are not great because they followed the directions or practiced, rather because they possess a rare gift of expression.
But that’s just input. I don’t mean to seem so pessimistic haha. I’m all about art being available for all. It’s a powerful thing!
But that’s just input. I don’t mean to seem so pessimistic haha. I’m all about art being available for all. It’s a powerful thing!
Nannymouse
Well-known member
Much of what we see in 'classical western' art was very formulaic. You will hear/read more about that in architecture, but it was that way in painting, also. The Greek and Roman art was very much influenced by mathematics.
Grade school art is often very much a 'follow directions' thing, and that's just the way we start learning how to use the materials. Of course, the principles of design need to be taught, as that is the 'language' of art, and students and teachers need to be able to communicate. I would have hoped that your college art would have been more free-wheeling. I suppose that varies according to the admin and your locale. If a college/university is taking on students that may not have gotten the basics in grade school, then the '100' levels classes are going to have to address that.
At my university, the dept head at the time taught Art 101. Many students took it thinking that it would be a piece of cake class. Well, he weeded out those who weren't into it seriously, in a hurry. To get a good grade, i needed to be able to identify artists with their work and 'era', backwards, forward, and sideways, ha. Art classes were by far, harder to get good grades than the teacher classes. Good grief, i was up till five most every morning, trying to finish the projects. This was on top of working nights, and raising two little kids (lots of help from hubby, who didn't get a day off for at least two years, between school and two jobs) I found those 'other' classes, where it was 'just study the book', so much easier.
Had a student that was very much into comic art. That is all the only style that he would do, stubborn as hell. Didn't think that he had to learn anything else in art, and that art class should just cater to one's own particular interest. I don't know why. In music classes, a student sure cannot get by with thinking that s/he (it?) only has to keep to learning one genre. Mathematics covers basic math, algebra, geometry, etc. History doesn't just let you keep to the civil war or French Revolution. Basic Art classes need to provide an overview and to experience that.
I have to admit, that i hated some of the genres. Printmaking, except for woodblock, just griped me to no end. Computer art (as convenient as it can be) really made me very anxious for the semester to end. So, i can empathize with it, somewhat. Put me in front of a 4x4 foot canvas or board, with stereo blasting, and in a couple of hours, i regain conciousness (ha) and am amazed at what happened. Was selling paintings in college for 300-500 bucks. Now, i don't paint at all.
Grade school art is often very much a 'follow directions' thing, and that's just the way we start learning how to use the materials. Of course, the principles of design need to be taught, as that is the 'language' of art, and students and teachers need to be able to communicate. I would have hoped that your college art would have been more free-wheeling. I suppose that varies according to the admin and your locale. If a college/university is taking on students that may not have gotten the basics in grade school, then the '100' levels classes are going to have to address that.
At my university, the dept head at the time taught Art 101. Many students took it thinking that it would be a piece of cake class. Well, he weeded out those who weren't into it seriously, in a hurry. To get a good grade, i needed to be able to identify artists with their work and 'era', backwards, forward, and sideways, ha. Art classes were by far, harder to get good grades than the teacher classes. Good grief, i was up till five most every morning, trying to finish the projects. This was on top of working nights, and raising two little kids (lots of help from hubby, who didn't get a day off for at least two years, between school and two jobs) I found those 'other' classes, where it was 'just study the book', so much easier.
Had a student that was very much into comic art. That is all the only style that he would do, stubborn as hell. Didn't think that he had to learn anything else in art, and that art class should just cater to one's own particular interest. I don't know why. In music classes, a student sure cannot get by with thinking that s/he (it?) only has to keep to learning one genre. Mathematics covers basic math, algebra, geometry, etc. History doesn't just let you keep to the civil war or French Revolution. Basic Art classes need to provide an overview and to experience that.
I have to admit, that i hated some of the genres. Printmaking, except for woodblock, just griped me to no end. Computer art (as convenient as it can be) really made me very anxious for the semester to end. So, i can empathize with it, somewhat. Put me in front of a 4x4 foot canvas or board, with stereo blasting, and in a couple of hours, i regain conciousness (ha) and am amazed at what happened. Was selling paintings in college for 300-500 bucks. Now, i don't paint at all.
X15
Well-known member
There’s a big difference between classical western art, Greek, Roman and of course todays art, or what we consider it to be. I understand the references to mathematics and architecture as those two go hand in hand and were the holy grail of expertise and very much elitist in a very unique kinda way, but there’s major contributing facts that paved the way for all those styles and I dont feel those facts are properly communicated in our modern educational system. And maybe the goal of art class is to make a person more rounded in an “artistic” sense but the way it’s taught is very much a bunch of b.s. Don’t get me wrong, structure and perception, and Principles and all the cheese and wine is cool to know,.. hell water color technique is a good one too if your brain works like that lol. But art Was different then and the text books tell a filtered story. The teachers teach the text books, which should make it all valid I guess.
There were fewer people with amazing Artistic capabilities as there were fewer people, also knowledge didn’t get shared like today... and a whole lot of those people were exploited for their amazing talents. Of course not all of time has been like that but people seem to forget there was no such thing as a free artist back in the day and in my opinion, it shows. People did what they had to do to survive. Again, some people have it and some don’t, but you can believe the ones that did had a completely unique approach to survival.
IMO there is no art class within the school district I attended teaching real art history.. it’s just a sugar coated idea of something we will never be able to understand in the modern day. And for good reason, it’s just too complex for most people.
But a great way to mold the future.
There were fewer people with amazing Artistic capabilities as there were fewer people, also knowledge didn’t get shared like today... and a whole lot of those people were exploited for their amazing talents. Of course not all of time has been like that but people seem to forget there was no such thing as a free artist back in the day and in my opinion, it shows. People did what they had to do to survive. Again, some people have it and some don’t, but you can believe the ones that did had a completely unique approach to survival.
IMO there is no art class within the school district I attended teaching real art history.. it’s just a sugar coated idea of something we will never be able to understand in the modern day. And for good reason, it’s just too complex for most people.
But a great way to mold the future.
Nannymouse
Well-known member
Oh, hell ya. I would have loved to stay in college, i loved it. Being surrounded by the arts, all of them, is awesome creativity fodder!
I would suggest night classes, if a person cannot do full time.
I would suggest night classes, if a person cannot do full time.
Nannymouse
Well-known member
But...it did take a long time to pay off the student debt. We didn't have mommy and daddy to pay for our education.
Maybe a good way to improve skills would be to join an art club...
Maybe a good way to improve skills would be to join an art club...
