Thursday, August 27, 2009

What Makes A Great Art Education

My first formal art education began about 40 years ago in the 7th grade. My instructor the late Frank Erickson structured an educational art experience that for years I likened to a comprehensive university arts program. The last several years I have come to appreciate that the experience was a combination of a structured program with the addition of considerable personal mentoring.
Frank himself a student of the University of Utah and a student of Utah’s LeConte Stewart built an arts program unique to the public education system. Students were introduced to the triad system of mixing color. Many weeks were spent making water color paintings on 4” x 6” pieces of paper using specified combinations of the primary, secondary and tertiary colors. As students gained an understanding of the basics they were allowed and encouraged to move on to the joys of oil painting and sculpture.
Frank really went the distance in mentoring students in oil painting. He scrounged up wood pallets with the assistance of Jan Denbutter the schools custodial manager, also himself a superb and gifted artist. The pallets were hauled to Frank’s home where at the end of his driveway tirelessly he would rip the wood into stretcher bars for the students to use for stretching canvass for their oil paintings. He was always making note of the caution required to avoid those “damn nails”.
I can only imagine the hundreds and hundreds of lineal feet of stretcher bar material he provided to students over his many years of service at Salt Lake City’s Granite Park Junior High School.
The stretcher bars were only one element of the process. Salvaged army canvass and seemingly bullet proof lacquer used as primer and gesso were also available at no cost for the students to use. Cutting the stretcher bars, stretching the canvass and priming the canvass are fundamentals I still enjoy today.
The basics and more advanced technical aspects of the oil painting process I learned were not all regimented or structured lessons. The fun and enjoyable aspects of the creative process were also identified and practiced and shared. Weather permitting outdoor painting and drawing was encouraged. Frank was always detailing out the roads and byways traveled to paint outdoors.

The aspect of art that is the focus of the Wasatch art blog is that of sharing and learning the enjoyment of the creative process. Ultimately a great art education is a combination of knowledge of technical skills that an artist can employ in different ways through the creative process. Most of all though enjoying the process, socializing working and exchanging ideas with other artists all come together in different ways at different times to make for great art experiences.
For more information and to learn how I personally use art as outdoor recreation please visit my blog:
http://easelbrushbus.blogspot.com

Keeping a sketchbook The epitome of (recreational) simplicity

Keeping a sketchbook
The epitome of (recreational) simplicity

One might think of a sketchbook as an artist’s tool witch it is, but a sketchbook and the use and development thereof is a tool that can be used by all individuals, artists and non artists alike. And used and enjoyed by Individuals of all ages.

When discussing art with non artists I continually hear “I can’t draw,” or “I am a terrible artist.”
Good news, For the purpose of keeping a sketchbook it does not matter. Keeping a sketchbook is your own personal and private book. The benefit and enjoyment of creating a sketchbook comes through simply enjoying the creative process.
Sketchbooks are used for recording and developing ideas. You can put down your ideas before you forget them and come back to further develop them. While my focus will be on the visual development of the sketchbook I combine both visual elements as well as text notes to record ideas before forgotten and to serve as a reference for further development.

So how and why do I use a sketchbook and consider it a part of my recreation?
First I like to clarify my favorite definition of recreation: recreation - an activity that diverts or amuses or stimulates.
Quite simply sketching allows and enables me to really pause, stop and stand still. Whether for a few minutes of time out taken during a busy day or as the focus of a day’s recreation. Sketching allows me to really cut out all distractions and really focus on the joy of visual creation. It is also an opportunity to take a moment to stop and think and to explore thoughts and ideas. I am amazed how looking at sketches made a seemingly long time ago takes me back to the moment the sketch was made with amazing clarity.
Considering the fast paced lifestyle many of us are faced with and the complexities of living with and coping with the most profound socioeconomic recession in years quiet uncomplicated moments spent sketching can be considered a luxury.

Sketchbooks are about as basic as it gets. The benefits of maintaining a sketchbook and the impact it can have on your own creative process are profound. Keeping a sketchbook will make artists better artists. But anyone keeping a sketchbook will become a better thinker.
The late Frank Erickson one of my first great instructors in the fine arts often said “you never really see anything until you paint it” over the past 40 years I have continually found that to be true. Creating images to communicate entertain and inform opens up thoughts and ideas that might not adequately be represented by words or pictures alone. Combining both words and pictures communicates in an interestingly complete way. Drawings really become a language by themselves.
I think drawing is an important way to understand what you see; it definitely changes your perception of the world and the environment around you.

The classes I instruct focus on enjoyment of the creative process and enjoyment of the experiences gained sketching on location. As one practices sketching proficiency in the technical aspects of drawing and draftsmanship will be realized.

Throughout this blog I will present demonstrations of the tools and techniques I use. Please also reference my blog http://easelbrushbus.blogspot.com for more examples of sketchbook projects.