Right On!
 

To quote John Denver, "Right on!".

Really beautiful, Debra. You must be feeling better. I LOVE the values and color harmony!

I really like this. And 2.45 hours? As my four year old would say "NO FAIR!"

Hi Debra -

Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful work. I love seeing how you went about it as well as the result.


I've taught a little bit of drawing to folks who get so scared about the idea of drawing a person. I've told them similar to what you said. Even if they're not ready to hear it then, they might remember it one day and take action accordingly. So - why bite your lip?

Open studio non interference mandate!

I have always had a hard time in open studio when I feel the people around me begin suggesting the "right" way to do things. The Artist's School is just that. A school for artists, more workshops and one week introductions than actual instruction. One week you will have a teacher tell you that you work in glazes, begin bottom up and the next it is all alla prima! The sophisticated artist with their legs under them, know they are learning the skills that an individual artist has developed from their own experience, not the hard and fast rules.

Unsolicited corrections in my own case have tended to be based on whatever the student last heard in a workshop and may or may not even be relevant to the situation.

I would have gladly jumped in and given her my opinion if she were ASKING me for it. But in open studio, I try hard to do unto others what I expect for myself. That is, an opportunity to work out things on my own. If I ask another artist for an opinion, it is what I need, but even in my own case, I have gotten completely flummoxed by a friend explaining I should carry a "path from the face into the ear". Someone once told her that. I labored for months trying to see where I had lost my way on that path, until I realized she didn't understand the concept and I had been doing it just fine.

When I was shakey in my skills, I really got shakier unless the advice was given from an individual that could demonstrate the results in their own work.

Another woman in the group mentioned that she should be very good by now. She had studied so many workshops and said the only good work she had done was in Anthony Ryders workshop! With those credentials, she SHOULD have been looking great! But it was apparent that her work was a workshop after workshop hit or miss patchwork with no strong basic instruction. Her gripe was that all her teachers kepts saying "PUT THAT PAINT ON THERE" to be bold and don't hold back. Well she had mud. It was apparent that color mixing on the palette was skipped either in her perception or in the instruction.

I feel really strongly, that open studio is where we get to practice and perfect. Anyone who were to ask, would get hours of my opinions, but unless they ASK, I pipe up.

(Can you tell you struck a nerve?)

The color on that one is beguiling, the closeup is a treat too for clarity and linework - great great job!

The easy way or...
 

Debra, I understand what you are saying about each artist/teacher offering a different, palette, method, etc. We students at Scottsdale Artists' School all mutter about having paint tubes that we only used in a specific class. HOWEVER, if it hadn't been for the learning received there, I would have had to go through all the mistakes that the woman went through who invented the wheel. I never would have gotten to invent the engine much less the automobile. The value of any education is simply to take a shortcut through that lengthy process called learning. Fortunately or unfortunately, I haven't been in this professon long enough to earn an ego so I get to be a sponge in class. The thing about offering solutions to painting problems is that one can see the way an individual artist solves a problem, then use that or not when working independently. If everything I did worked well, I wouldn't need school.

I guess the true value of education is to save one from some of the pitfalls that other artists have fallen into. (Speak of striking a nerve!) As an educator who spent 30 years in the classroom, I KNOW even the receptive learners hear with their own ears. I feel such a gratitude for the generous artists who not only teach but mentor. We all attend classes there at SAS because we WANT to be there. Why else would anyone pay to attend a class unless we wanted to learn? When one disagrees with a particular pathway suggested by an artist/teacher, try it anyway. It can open new avenues that may not even be related. When receptive, the mind can be unlimited in its solutions. So, to sum it up, I'll take the easy way...instruction. Fewer errors that way.

Open Studio is certainly independent study with no teacher. Learning from others is optional.

I am hoping you are supporting me. Of course, I am suffering from a lot of envy of those who CAN attend these workshops. I have gotten a lot of scholarships but have that crummy day job that keeps me from availing myself of the stuff in the studios.

I am, in fact, trying to conceptualize a local workshop to audition for them as an instructor, designed specifically to show the regular students how best to avail themselves of the opportunity of open studio. I see the bickering and whining about the problems, but not many participants are actually aware of the broad range of opportunity at their fingertips, just to be able to have a model, and easel AND OTHER ARTISTS to bounce ideas off.

In another forum, there was a complaint of "down time" in very intense workshop they attended. The down time I have had in SAS workshops were the most valuable. Having things stuffed into your head in that week is often more than you can bundle up and take home, but the opportunity to discuss it with your peers sometimes is more valuable as you can struggle through it and see what it means on a more realistic level.

I have a DEEP love for the whole studio concept. It is such a gift and sort of fading from the norm. In big cities with big schools and big culture, they are in the garrets and basements of artist's communities. In my air-conditioned, locked in oven, the mingling of artists is usually accomplished in my underwear on the computer (Cynthia, please don't tell us there is a dress code!! ha ha!)

I think people don't even know there is the opportunity and in many cases, there are no open studios. I looked for 15 years and asked every amateur painter I could find. I signed up for a five week supervised figure study at the Museum and was smart enough to ask the MODEL. Found out I was three miles from the school and have never left.... well I moved closer, now I CAN walk in the winter.

The workshops are a different animal than a full curriculum, the open studio is like a gym for artistic athletes.

Debra, you are making such wonderful progress on your own just by attending the open studios that really, you are not missing out on much by not taking the workshops. Most of the time is spent doing exactly what is done in open studio - working from a model and sharpening your own observation/hand-eye coordination skills.
I've taken 4 of them so far (one was on a scholarship, which was nice) and take them on my vacation time from my job. Three of the four offered very helpful critiques, but those critiques consisted of about 5 minutes per day for the 5 day workshop.

One strange thing that happened every time is that by the middle of the week, half the class was coming to me for advice and wanting critiques! That was really awkward because I was in no position to offer advice since I was there to learn, not teach. I did answer questions when I thought I could do so adequately, but felt it was an insult to those incredible instructors to do so.

I totally agree with you about biting your lip when tempted to offer completely unsolicited advice to other artists - especially in a workshop. In open studio, however, if you are asked your opinion or for help, that is a terrific place to share ideas - like a "hands-on" forum!

Debra
 

So nice to see what you are doing now. Gorgeous as usual. And when you start teaching please reserve a space for me as I'll travel from Washington to learn from you!

Dianne

Hi Debra -

I recognized Kim right away. I was surpised to see her, then realized you are here in AZ. Great job! She poses for us a lot at ASU - usually undraped. She's a great model. She sits very still! You captured her well - visually and spiritually. The colors and brushwork are very intruiging. Congratulations.

Kimber