9-13-09

The key components that I plan to include in drawing lessons definitely involve both technical skill and expressive drawing, as discussed in From Ordinary to Extraordinary. I find it necessary to teach drawing skills such as perspective, shading, and creating the illusion of texture, and design elements and principles through lessons that still allow the student's to find creative solutions toward an original and very personal piece each time. As was stated in FOE, these skills increase visual awareness. If learning to draw is learning to see as is often said, sharper visual awareness will provide the tools young artists need to create their best artwork, even if they decide to steer completely clear of representational work.

I will encourage personalized balance between a student's achievement of naturalistic renderings and capacity for expressiveness in artwork by using an unbiased grading system that includes artists' statements and individual sketchbook entries. This will extend to my own teaching, as I will try to keep a balance of representational and non-representational artwork in my demonstrations and overall classroom environment. In my own experience, there are students who do favor naturalism by choice and others who prefer abstraction. I will discuss creative goals with each student in order to help them reach their own creative ambitions, rather than trying to "free" their work, or guide them into more accessible styles.

The drawing that I've picked is a portrait of Erykah Badu by N. Lyon.

I chose this image because I think that even the most naturalistic work can be personal and expressive, and that this form of work will never be obsolete artistically, even if it is unpopular. I've found that when I used to draw portraits of people (specifically when I drew a portrait of the depicted musician above some time ago), I would become much more aware of that person's physical qualities that I addressed and begin to see them much differently, almost from the perspective of one that creates the human aesthetic.