Art School Confidential

I was approached about a month ago by a woman from church who asked me if I'd give her daughter some art lessons.  I thought she was kidding AND I wasn't sure how she knew I had studied art.  Certainly didn't hear it from me.

People have this weird habit of asking if I'm an 'artist' once they find out I've studied art.  I just can't get that word to come out of my mouth.  Getting a BFA for me was really just an expensive hobby.  I can hear 'artist's' rolling their eyes at this.  Deal.

So it's official.  I am now teaching art classes.  To 4 very energetic 10 year old girls.  Kind of feels a little daunting but, we're still in the beginning stages so we'll see how this plays out.

Our first class was on the 12th and I completely forgot about taking pictures.  I snapped a few yesterday so I've got a few to show.

Every teachers dream...student in focus-mode

Lady E is admiring her squiggle work

Ladies S and J also in focus-mode

Lady C is trying not to be distracted by my snapping pictures

Lady J's handy-work

...and some more...

 I think the Ladies are having fun.  Which is wonderful.  Sometimes a little too much fun, I have to reign them in at times to get them to pay attention.  The first class I'm still not too sure how much they got out of it.  And I'm sure their parents see what they're bringing home and wondering if they made the right choice.  Hey, Rome wasn't built in a day!

I'm teaching them some pretty technical stuff.  I'm using stuff from old college text-books so it's interesting.  But I want them to learn something real and not just from a coloring book.

The first class we had I taught them about gestural.  (And there's 5 kinds of gestural but I only showed them two.  And I still think it all went over their heads).

This class I taught them contour, focusing on 'blind contour' drawing.  Which is why their sketches look so funky.  I thought they did great.  It's kind of a challenging concept trying to draw what's in front of you while not looking down at your paper.  I'm hoping that all these exercises will get them geared up for doing some more detailed artful drawings.  Once they've learned the basics.  AND if they do their homework!!

There's one girl in particular whom I think has some promise.  At least she has really good focus.  The others do too...when they're taking it seriously.

Overall I'm glad to be doing it.  It's something else for me to think about other than laundry, dinner and diapers.  Yay for me!