Do you know how to identify a good art instructor?
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| (Annie Strack teaching plein air painting in Spain) |
My new watercolor class started yesterday at a local arts center. I started my course with the basic lessons about art materials -- I explained the different types, grades, uses, properties, and care of the various materials we use in class -- paper, paints, brushes, and more. How the materials are made, what the ingredients mean and why they are added, explanation of art and painting terms, and on and on and then moving on to drawing and design before getting into painting techniques.
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| (Annie Strack filming for television) |
Most of my students have been taking watercolor painting classes from other art teachers at that center for years, and after the class they confided in me that everything I taught was new to them! Their previous teacher/teachers just SHOWED how she painted, but never EXPLAINED her processes -- like what makes a good composition, or why she choose certain colors, or the importance of values, or how color temperatures work, etc., -- nothing.
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| (Annie Strack giving the keynote address at the Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society) |
My students lamented that their other teachers had never explained the differences between artist grade and student grade materials. Or the difference between washes and glazes. Or how to mix colors, or clean their brushes properly, or the difference between opaque and transparent colors, or, well, anything. They were so grateful to finally have an experienced professional teacher, and they eagerly soaked up knowledge.
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| (Annie Strack's students at Nunez College) |
Sadly, I've seen this all too often. A person can be a great artist, and at the same time, have little or no knowledge about art. There's nothing wrong with that. But being able to paint beautifully does not mean that they automatically possess the ability to teach art. I’ve watched lots of talented self-taught artists paint, and many of them have no idea how they create – they “just do it.”
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| (Annie Strack teaching at Delaware Watercolor Society) |
Some of these artist can enjoy great success, and their paintings are featured in magazines and even win top awards in major juried exhibits. These are the idiot savants of the art world. People who were never taught how to mix colors or hold a brush, and yet they can produce a beautiful work of art through intuition -- without understanding how they did it.
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| (Annie Strack teaching watercolor painting techniques in New Jersey) |
It’s like the people who can play an instrument “by ear,” but can’t read a note of music. Their music can sound perfect, but if they don’t know what key they used, or can’t tell you the name the chords, or show you the difference between flat and sharp, then they can’t teach you how to play the instrument.
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| (Annie Strack's workshop students in Mississippi) |
Anyone can call themselves an artist, and any artist can call themselves an art teacher. This is why it’s so important for students to make sure that their teachers are good teachers, as well as good artists.
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| (Annie Strack's students at the Bayou Lacombe Art Center) |
I'm seeing some of my former students are advertising that they are now teaching workshops and classes, even though they've only been painting for a short while.
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| (Annie Strack teaching a workshop in Ocean City, Maryland) |
Although I make it look easy to my students, art and teaching both require training and practice. Someone may copy my lessons or paintings, but they can't teach from experience that they don't possess.
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| (Annie Strack's students and Yves-Marie Salanson of Sennelier in France) |
I have decades of training, knowledge, and experience, and spent years perfecting lessons and developing instructional materials for artists. It's better to learn my material directly from me, rather than from someone who has taken a workshop from me or just watched me demonstrate a technique.
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| (Annie Strack teaching at at Rowan College) |
Before you sign up for an art class, make sure the instructor has demonstrated knowledge of whatever it is that she is teaching. Besides experience teaching in legitimate and prestigious venues such as schools, art centers, arts supplies stores, and artist organizations, look for teachers who have glowing references and recommendations.
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| (Annie Strack's workshop students in Charleston) |
Most art instructors publish tutorials and lessons, and you can usually find samples online and in print. Look at their online videos and check out their DVDs. Read their tutorials that they wrote for art magazines, for art supply companies, and online blogs. You need to see evidence like these examples that prove the artist's teaching abilities. If you can't find any evidence, then it probably doesn't exist -- and that is a BIG red warning flag!
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| (Annie Strack teaching artist materials at Plaza Art Stores) |
The funny thing is, the bad classes are often the same price as the good classes. Would you rather spend your time and money in a class where you won’t learn anything, or would you rather spend that same time and money taking a class from a professional artist who has the knowledge, experience, references, qualifications, and credentials that prove her worth as an extraordinary teacher?
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| (Annie Strack teaching for the Louisiana Watercolor Society) |
Don’t sign up for a class just because the artist is a remarkable painter, make sure the artist is a remarkable teacher, too!
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| (Annie Strack teaching workshops at Jerry's Artarama's annual Art of the Carolinas) |
Same goes for those of you who book the workshop artists and hire the art instructors – the good teachers don’t cost you any more than the bad ones, so do your homework and get the good ones!
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| (Annie Strack teaching for the Philadelphia Watercolor Society) |
There are a lot of art teachers to chose from -- make sure you choose an artist who has a strong background in teaching art, has demonstrated her abilities by winning tons of awards, is recognized as a top artist by her many prestigious Signature Memberships, has actually studied art, and is vastly knowledgeable about artist materials and supplies.
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| Annie Strack helping students learn how to make paint in Italy |
Labels: Annie Strack, art instruction, art lesson, art tutorial, artists, Painting Demonstration, painting lesson
6 Comments:
Amen Sister, my first teacher was not a real teacher but year after year she worked at a name brand craft store "teaching" and held classes in her home weekly. I have heard so many workshop teachers say "it just happens, or it just paints itself" because they don't know why or how.
Thanks Shy! I see that with many workshop instructors, too. Often they are hired solely because they have AWS and NWS after their name, and have won a lot of awards. That doesn't always translate to teaching ability, and some of them don't even know how to mix paint -- much less how to apply it.
My one and only WC teacher had a great video on YouTube and a beautiful studio so I was looking forward to learning from her. However, she never got out of her chair and there were some people there who were really in the weeds and could have used some help. She also would make disparaging side comments about the students' works. She is still highly regarded. I don't know, still aggravates me today. The points you've made tell me you are a teacher who engages and invests in your students' success!
A good one Annie, happy New Year! I hope I get to paint with you this year .
I've taken some workshops from teachers who have just sat in their chairs and "coasted," too. It seems to be an attitude acquired by teachers who've amassed a following. One of the recent workshops I attended was a South American artist whom I had admired for years. I signed up for his workshop early, not wanting to miss out on a chance to study under him while he was in Philly. It turned out to be the WORST workshop I had ever taken! He spent the whole time talking about himself and sharing his opinions about everything, and his demos were copies of his previous paintings. No explanations of techniques. He did not bring his reference materials, so there was no explanation of how he derived his paintings from his references. He was so full of himself, that on the second day he began to talk about himself in the 3rd person. I learned nothing about painting from him, but he did teach me valuable lessons about the dangers of egomania.
I think I was at one of said artist's demos also and felt there is a conflict between 2 different ways of painting. He said to paint with passion and yet most of his works are mostly grey with splashes of bright color. He worked fast and seemed to follow his own formula. And I take lessons with another artist who, at first, appeared somewhat rigid about colors and sketching properly first and appeared not as passionate. But his works are full of passion and elicit a response more so than said artist. It just goes to show that passion can come from both methods.
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