My portrait of Theo in his fedora. My first real attempt at a value drawing. Brilliant? Not yet, but there is hope.

Art Camp II - Mary K
Two weeks till I transition back into life as Mr. Bates.
Just spent the most wonderful week in a Basic Drawing class with Mary Kierkseik. Going in I was a hack at best. Coming out I'm a hack with skills. There were a few of us giving our hands a real go for the first time this week, so it was a perfect test for her teaching methods and the sequences of techniques she ran us through. In the end our creations were quite remarkable. Mary will be sending out a CD of photos from the class and when she does I'll post pics.

My Masterpiece Value Project is a study of Theo in his fedora and a bow tie. The reference photo was way washed out, which created problems, but despite that I'm thrilled with what it became. Did I nail it? No, but in it's own right, it's respectable. Had I chosen a reference with more detail, I'm certain I could have done better, but hey, in the end I got skills and it shows. Without the class, I can't even imagine where I would have ended up trying to teach my Foundations of Art classes.

Casey Jones, the digital art teacher from Sky View, wandered around the class not wanting to leave after he had finished his project (a fly rod, reel, and boots still life), because he couldn't believe that he had actually created the image he held in his hands. Everyone that progressed through the class turned out a technically complex, remarkably crafted works of art. The line-up of drawings on the last day was brilliant.

As for Mary Kierkseik, if ever there is a chance to spend a moment of life with her, take it. Bright, delightful, talented, funny and full of life. She exudes enthusiasm for everything she does. Not to mention the girl can teach art.

As for my impending debut as an art teacher, this was the perfect week. Thanks to Lee Burningham for putting his arm around me the day we met and making sure I got into these classes. And thanks to Zan Burningham for inviting me into her wacky world and infusing me with her passion for teaching real skills not fluff. I'm feeling so good about my place in art department. So good.

One final chant for Mary, "Art is great! Art is great! Art is great! Art is great!...!!!"

Shading, Not Shading, Familiarity and More Shading

hey lover, slipped out for a little time to stop looking down at my paper and thought it's been too much time away with too many people in between us for the last few days. miss you and send you love. i really just feel like a chick cracking out of his shell here. or maybe a little beyond that. maybe more of a still wet colt stumbling up to his feet. sort of frozen on the virge of falling, but then finding my feet again. i'm a little tired of new things for a while. i need the relaxation of running on a trail i've run before where i know the curves and dips so that my mind can just relax and enjoy the wind. this cycle of everything new every day is exhausting. maybe that's why I've stepped out of the art room to play with words for a few moments. just to let them tumble off the ends of my fingers. it's a peaceful place for me. thanks for being so beautifully familiar. in that flash of a thought i understand something new about us, and it's wonderful. now back to my shading. i send you love. david

Art Camp

So I've been hired to teach Foundations of Art at Logan High starting in the fall. I get art. I have studied art and art history. I've always thought I would be a decent artist, sort of like writing before I had actually ever written, if I ever took the time to master the craft. Starting in the fall either I am an artist or a faker, so I'm choosing to be an artist.

Last week I spent 5 days in a intensive prep class for art teachers. As part of the experience I had to teach a 20 minute lesson. The challenge of this was hugely intriguing because I haven't actually ever had an art (how to draw, paint, sculpt) class and all of my peers (fun to have artistic peers) had art degrees and have been teaching art for some time.

My goal was to figure out a way to teach a highly complex skill in a way that none of them had ever thought of and in a way that got everyone out of their seats and having a great time. In short I pulled it off.

From my lesson plan:

THE ABSOLUTE BEST AND WORST LESSON PLAN

OF MY LONG AND DISTINGUISHED ART TEACHING CAREER
DEDICATED FOREVER TO ZAN BURNINGHAM AND MONICA BRIGHT,

THE QUEENS OF SEQUENTIAL LEARNING

lesson goal:

1. within 20 minutes teach students to reduce complex compositions featuring multiple figures to simple stick-figure line drawings. the desired outcome is that they will be able to do so by deconstructing works of the masters and by drawing from live model compositions. they will then be able to reconstruct their renderings using simple shapes and forms.

2. focus on hip position and linking head to the hips.

3. prepare students to complete a class portrait.

4. break bad hand habits and achieve more fluid and intuitive drawing techniques.

5. continue progress in mastering knowledge of the masters - neo-classicism

By the end of class I had 11 teachers operating as a human machine and the other 11 completing a rough sketch of the whole composition in less than 3 minutes. Am I boasting... A little bit I guess. But the beauty of it was when I asked Zan, who is a phenomenal artist and who has been teaching art for 19 years if she had ever been taught or actually taught to draw using my method. She hadn't. And then followed up with, "As you were teaching what you were teaching, Monica and I were sitting in the back of the room saying to each other, 'This would really work.' I'm going to use it from now on when I teach gesture drawing."

You know why the Yankees always win, Frank?

Frank Abagnale Sr.: You know why the Yankees always win, Frank?
Frank Abagnale, Jr.: 'Cause they have Mickey Mantle?
Frank Abagnale Sr.: No, it's 'cause the other teams can't stop staring at those damn pinstripes.
Catch Me If You Can - Christopher Walkin to Leo DeCaprio

Such a perfect line. If all things are equal, but one side looks like success and the other does not; all things are not equal.

My Philosopy On Education or Like Moths to Hamlet

I recently spent a few days spreading applications to school districts in hopes that some unsuspecting Principal might unwittingly make me Mr. Bates again and uncage me with the minds of his students.

What is your philosophy on education?
(CVSD Certified Personnel Application, p. 2)

My answer:

To me education is using the subject matter to build a fire so bright and warm and inviting that students and their friends and their parents gather round because they can’t resist the fire’s draw. And once they’re in close and mesmerized and comfortable they’ll pick up sticks and start poking at the flames and writing their names with smoking embers and melting everything not bolted down. And then they’ll take their burning sticks and wander off into the darkness to explore, and then they’ll wander back because they love the illumination of the fire and the camaraderie of their mates. Eventually, they’ll break out food and start to sing and play music and tell jokes and burn their shoes and stay up all night talking about love and death and Hamlet.