SS6 76 Reunion
skyangel on April 22, 2018
I've been asked by a teacher friend of mine this week if I would give some kind of art lesson to the children in her class. At first I was quite excited about the idea as it sounds fun and I'll get paid for it but having thought about it more I must admit I feel rather lost on how or what to do with them.
I learnt art through a process of studying the objects I've had the desire to copy and then progressed to trying harder to capture the character of that object, or how it affects me emotionally. This to me seems like the best and only rule you ever need to follow. From my earliest pleasures of defacing books by drawing on the end papers or going over beautiful b+w illustrations with my crayons I've always gone where the fun is and not the science. To this day I still glaze over when people start talking about colour wheels and complimentary colours etc. I used to read books talking about using brushes on Bristol board yet found ink pens on copier paper perfectly suitable for my needs. I love to learn things but at my own pace and in my own direction which is now why the art above is a combination of pencil drawing, over inked, and then scanned in and worked on as a digital image. Each stage feels flexible enough to allow me to play around but change my mind if I'm not happy enough, like with the music notes here. From what I've observed of other artists, we all have our own routines and methods for making our art and that's such an individual thing that I'd feel very arrogant saying to anyone, especially a child, ‘That’s wrong, you should do it like this.'
I don't think there is ever really a wrong on the outside, it's the way your art makes you feel on the inside that counts.
DarkVisor at 5:33AM, April 23, 2018
Sounds (reads?) like you know what to say to the kids: just what you wrote to us. Be honest, kids don't like being talked down to, maybe show examples of different styles and types of art so they won't get frustrated if they can't do a particular style
NicAndBen at 1:48PM, April 22, 2018
This page is the epitome of bittersweet. Hope this doesn't sound silly, but that last panel is just so powerful. The fact that you're even thinking of how there's no 'right or wrong' way to art shows that you would be an excellent teacher. Just saying.
moizmad at 1:29PM, April 22, 2018
Laura was playing their song "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It's Flavour On The Bedpost Overnight" and it brought tears to Lucy's eyes, and still tweaks my heart as well.
fallopiancrusader at 11:25AM, April 22, 2018
I'm excited to hear that you will be teaching! I've never taught kids, but when I teach dance classes to adults, I have to balance similar issues. A few principles I follow: 1) I say "I can show you some techniques that will make these moves easier and more efficient, but at the end of the day, there is no right or wrong way to dance, so you are always welcome to reject whatever I showed you, and do your own variation." 2)Whatever move I am teaching, I always have an easier variation ready to teach,in case some students aren't getting it. 3)I am never negative. Even if someone is failing miserably, I remind them that I am much more excited to see them trying than I care about whether or not they get it the first time. 4)I always have many different ways of explaining any given move. Different people have different ways of picking things up. 5) I always show how a simple move relates to a more advanced move later on, so that they have a sense of what to look forward to.
Infected Blood at 9:24AM, April 22, 2018
I can't teach. I get annoyed and bored. I had to teach university classes and hated pretty much every single second of it. I'm guessing we gave different approaches to teaching, but the results are similar in that we'd rather not :D
Ashley.Grenstone at 6:42AM, April 22, 2018
<3
BearinOz at 4:43AM, April 22, 2018
How old are the kids? I used to do a lot of stuff for my wife's grade 4 kids (unfortunately all lost now, as the clown who took over threw it all out, before she could go back to collect all her stuff). I did B&W comic style 2-3 pager stories for them to colour snd fill inthe narrative/voice balloons. If they're a year or two older youcan give them simple 'anatomy' lessons, on character drawing- face, body, hiw to buildup from basic shapes. A lot of kids would love to create simple comics - we all did, eh ? B-) p.s. I felt emotional up ^^ there. The 'musical silence' was nice.