The Upward and Artward Bound

Class # 1

Ever thought about sharing what you know about art or painting with a group who has never thought about art or has never painted? How do you ever convey the excitement and passion that overflows from inside your existence! I have been involved in some way with art and making art for as long as I can remember. It has been a constant thought for most of my life. What do other people think about? I don’t know, but I do know that I think about something creative at least 65% of the time that I am awake.

Recently, I have had the opportunity to teach a beginner watercolor class to a group of high school students through the Upward Bound program in our area. This summer program is designed to help teens to improve academics and also prepare for the transition to college life while meeting new friends and bonding with their peers. When the opportunity arose, I jumped at the chance to expand the minds and creativity of these curious young vessels. What brought them to sign up for this class? Have they ever picked up a brush at all? Have they ever looked at a cloud in the sky and seen a flying bird or a clown’s face floating above? I didn’t know, but I intended to find out!

The cost of hosting a watercolor class can be enormous and as state-funded programs go there is not always enough to go around. I turned to Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff when I realized that the allowance was not going to be enough to provide quality supplies for the class. Anita, who heads the Brushes for Vincent Program at Cheap Joe’s, was very generous with her donation of materials. We were provided with everything from brushes to paper to water buckets! I really could not have done it without them. Young artists need to use good supplies to learn and we were very fortunate to have Cheap Joe’s as a sponsor.

Thanks, Cheap Joe’s!

As an artist, you sometimes think that everyone sees things the same way you do. This is not true at all. When you teach a class you may explain a concept the way you understand it to be and when you compare to the results of the students, you realize they did not perceive your instruction the same way you intended. It is important to watch and listen to your students to learn the best way to teach the lessons. If they are not grasping the process, find a better way to explain it. Another thing I discovered on my first night of instruction is that, it is vital to keep your audience’s attention! This may keep you from wiping the saliva off of the desktops at the end of the class! Also, giving them plenty of exercises to do is a great way to teach a technique, however, it is equally important to give good visual examples as well, as kids learn by example.

I think the one thing I found most difficult to get across in this watercolor class is that watercolor requires using water. The students seemed to like to dabble in the thick paint and mush it around on the paper. So what do you have to do to get them to load up on water? Well, just give them a bigger brush and more paper then say water, water, water! Some of the exercises seemed more difficult than others. Was there an easier way to get them to do the lesson? This is just basic stuff but very important none the less. These are the building blocks of watercolor, without these simple concepts you have no foundation. And potentially, all you have in your future watercolor experience is doom, failure and frustration. I started to tell the students, “Wax on, wax off, wax on, wax off”, however, I thought that would be a bit dramatic! But the same concept is true with watercolor as it was with karate in the Karate Kid! Wash on, wipe off, control the wash, save your whites, anticipate, be the watercolor! Yes, Sensei!

Ok, even as tedious as it seemed, the first class was not a bust, and I do think some of the kids learned a little something; however, I did have one casualty, a very disinterested gentleman. But, hey, it’s the first class; I still have a chance to bring him back from the edge!

Class #2

Well, it seems the second class is a bit more relaxed, maybe too relaxed at times. So much, the students needed reminding that this is still a class, and their good conduct is still required. They are, however, more forthcoming with news of hooking up and being couples in the small but social group. I just smile, thinking how grown up they must feel and hope they have proper supervision outside of their group activities. But back to the lesson, today, we go through the steps to create a simple still life of a single apple. Most of the students’ paintings are recognizable, even if just by the color. Some are quite impressive and the potential of their abilities is really exciting. I asked them then to draw and paint anything they could see visually in the room. It could be a roll of paper towels, a paintbrush, and one student even attempted a pair of sunglasses and depicted them rather well I must say.

I could see at this point the battle between learning and socializing was taking a turn and we still had plenty of time before the class was over. I decided to challenge them with an exercise of a personal nature. I asked them to draw another person in the room, and with the specific instruction that they could not pick up their pen tip until they were finished drawing. Well, the results were quite entertaining; however, they learned to pay attention to specific details to identify their model. The critique session brought a lot of laughter and everyone had a good time with the review. All of the drawings were identifiable which, was the whole purpose of the exercise. I was so pleased with their participation that I let them have the last few minutes to talk, ever so softly. (yeah, right!) Incidentally, it turns out the disinterested gentleman from the first class was actually a very good artist! I think, personally, he was just trying to establish his place in the class or just get attention, which, in the end, with all of his participation, is what he got!

Tune in next time for the next episode, Tables are turned? The teacher becomes the student?

Same Art time,… same Art channel!