when i told a good friend (and probably the best painter i know) i was teaching three sections of oil painting this fall he said, "oh that's easy. just tell them to move the paint around until it looks like something." lately, i keep thinking of him saying that and laughing as i look around the studio at all of my students' paintings that look like they will never be finished.
the first major painting of the course is always a set-up of white objects. they only use two reds, two blues, a yellow and white. no black. they ask me for it...daily. but no, no black.
they make thumbnail sketches, using viewfinders to create an interesting composition. they build their paintings from the general to the specific, from thin to thick, with me barking out those phrases over and over again. and most of them do quite well, BUT...in this class more than any other i find it so hard to manage the variety of skill levels in the room. some have barely ever even drawn and some have taken class at the mfa since they were 5.
most of them need practice. last year's group was very advanced so i created the curriculum for them. and somehow i didn't realize until it was too late that these guys would need something different. less finished paintings and more of them. we should have done 30 paintings by now instead of 3. in the face of challenge they have become precious and uptight...and yes, it's my fault. i've been managing it student by student, but the truth is, i'm exhausted...and part of the reason i'm exhausted is because my curriculum isn't doing enough of the work for me. i flit about the room like a dragonfly managing crises. half the time the crisis is a tipped jar of turpentine or paint on new shoes rather than any deep artistic issue. i kicked these kids off the dock and now i'm saving them one by one.
many of the finished paintings look good to the students. they were able to model most of the forms and mix the colors they needed...but it feels like it took and awfully long time and i wonder how helpful it is to do all that learning in only one painting.
how do we decide what speed our students should be working at?
how do we use time as an ally in the fight against preciousness and tightness?
i'm already planning for next year.
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