Drawing withYour Imaginiation

Drawing is important to an art curriculum and there are many component that I would use to make up my drawing lessons. Basic contour lines, positive and negative space, value and shading are very important. I also think that perspective and foreshortening skills should be taught. Students want to know tools and tricks to make their art appear more realistic. Visual spacing and proportions are difficult for me as an artist so I would want to teach that and how practice and good observation makes a big difference.

When I try to balance naturalistic drawing with abstract expressions, I want to make sure to point out how one reflects on the other. Shading can make a naturalistic drawing appear more real and rich. In an abstract it adds more interest to areas and a person who knows how to render an object and has basic skill of shading can apply that to their abstract image. The tools that are taught in school are the background of making art. It is up to the teacher to use these in their lesson, along with creative expression and imagination, to keep students interested and so that they can solve the problem in their unique way.

I love the artist Julian Beever and his 3D sidewalk art. He draws on the sidewalks and uses perspective from one angle to make the images look very 3D. It is a different approach other than using proportions, he has to stretch out the image but from a certain angle the image appears coming off of the sidewalk. He images from the other angle look abstract and unreal. I would use this artist to show realistic images being drawn in an abstract way.

Identity Change

High school was not all that long ago but in those few short years I feel like I am a new person. I look at life differently. I have different friends, different demands, different choices I have to make. It is funny to me because in high school you really do think that you are grown up and very mature, or at least I did. But then you go to college and get a huge smack in the face and actually have to start caring and worrying about things you never needed to while living with mom and dad. I think that I am wiser now, which I should be since I have been through more, than that of a 18 year old high school graduate. I also takes things more seriously like school and work in college because I know that my choice now will really affect my first job that I hope to get in the next few years.

My artwork has changed and I think it is because I was very much about pleasing others in high school whether it be my teachers or my parents. I did do a lot of portraits and realistic paintings in high school and now I am starting to do more and more abstract ( which I never liked in high school) basically because I am starting to develop deeper ideas and emotions versus making art work to WOW my peers. I think this is a good step for me to improving my art and making my identity as an artist stronger and more personal. After the readings in RWR where it discussed about teachers and their horrible step ups for a classroom and how art if often was on the defense and the teachers has to stick up for what they were doing, it made me think of how my identity after I have been teachering for some time will change. I have a feeling that my artwork will change as well.

teaching and an artist

There is a mutal respect that comes between you and your students when you are an artist that continues to work and develop your own ideas and projects. As a teacher I hope to share with students my love and passion of art. I feel that showing that you are working and developing your thoughts helps connect and contribute to "teaching" students about art. I could connect to them just teacher to student, but sharing your talents becomes more a connection like artist to artist. It can be scary to some people to conncect personally to students, but that is what students will remember and reflect upon more, you teaching them on a personal level, not a curriculm level.
I don't know how I will incorporate the "art" I am making in my classroom, but maybe my passion and excitement about a project. Explaining and talking about itdeas that I could be working on, and asking for input and discussion could spark interest for other projects. It is very inportant to me to make art and I hope to do it as part of my class time schedule. But...my students and their needs will come first. I have to rethink when I will work in my art but I have never not had some project that I am working on. It is a good habit that I hope will continue.

Relationship between teaching and art making is based around pushing the boundaries and ideas for each project. It is ok to present a project of social, cultural, and personal concerns. The balance between technical skills and student making meaning art will reflect on how I set up the lessons. I plan to have a skill that we develop, but the project is based around a bigger theme. Skills take practice but developing inner and personal thoughts through visual art will be my biggest challenge as a teacher.

I went to a larger high school and had two very talented art teachers. They both operated their classes in different ways and I enjoyed and will hope use some of their strategies when I am a teacher. It is tough to get high school kids motivated to continually stay focus on one piece of art for multiple class periods. In my classroom I remember a lot of complaining and sleeping. It was sometimes not the most friendly environment but I was one of the few students who stayed on task and worked hard. One teacher was very strict about what we could and could not do with out art, which, towards the end of high school, made me really not like this teacher. Yes, we could present ideas or try something different once in awhile but the teacher would comment about how he did not like it or it was not what he wanted. I felt like most of my art I was making for him and not for myself. The other teacher loved it when you came up with something unexpected out of the realm of the original project and kept us busy but not overwhelmed. I am worried that it will be hard to find a good balance between objectives and allowing students more freedoms. I am also worried about management of my class but I think that will come after more practice in a classroom. I hope to learn more about adolescence in general and how to handle their issues productively. It was not that long ago that I was in high school myself so I think I will be able to relate personally, but how as the authority? It will be interesting.