Art Orientations
Assignment & Overview of Lessons
Evolving Painting Process
Explanation of Art Orientations
Student Profiles:
Phyllis
Roxie
Colette
Janis
Kay
Twyla
Yonova
Burline
Cecilia
ASSIGNMENT: Choose a student profile below and answer these questions about the student's art orientation.
OVERVIEW: The Painting Projects were to 1) Make an Interpretation of a masterpiece painting of their own choice and 2) Paint a self portrait. The Teacher, Anne Coe (AC) hoped that students would transfer some technical skills. A Final Critique of the painting by class members follows each profile.
Evolving Painting Process
The painting process demands several decisions which I broke into characteristics (plans, backgrounds, portrayal, color mixing, stroking, problem solving, finish. I asked the following questions.
Explanation of Art Orientations
The following are examples of different art orientations (Michael, 1983). An art orientation is a student's psychological way of art making. There are four basic art orientations: schematic (primitive), mechanical, intuitive, and intellectual (Michael, 1983). These orientations appear in different combinations and are guidelines to understanding a student's natural style of working and suggestions to help them develop a wider repertoire of art making.
A schematic [the term primitive seems demeaning) orientation is one that is simple, undeveloped, stereotypic. These students tend to rely on basic outline drawing and familiar images (flowers or favorite cartoon characters). They rush through a project with the excuse that their solution is way they intend it to be. Their designs are usually simply plopped in the middle of the page. These students need more guidance in how to elaborate their work through shading or patterns and the addition of backgrounds and in making different arrangements [composition}.
A mechanical orientation is one that relies on mechanical crutches, such as rulers, erasers, and patterns. These students feel safe with familiar tools and their work appears very organized but rigid. Their work is highly symmetrical in design. They crave exact instructions, are very grade conscious, and need much feedback. They need encouragement to use flexible and expressive techniques, such as clay and gestural drawing. Classroom teachers usually fall into this art orientation.]
An intellectual approach is one that is highly analytical or detailed and may lack a holistic finish. These students are more interested in fussing with details, such as the eyes of a portrait drawing. Consequently, they fail to finish the head or body. They need encouragement to capture the essence or make more abstract images and to use such fluid materials as clay and large brushes with ink.
An intuitive approach is one that is highly spontaneous and expressive. These students end to work fast, all over the page, and to use a variety of lines and colors. They may need encouragement to attend to details.
SEVERAL STUDENT PROFILES TO CHOOSE
OVERVIEW: Painting Projects were to 1) make an Interpretive Painting of a Masterpiece of their own choice and 2) Paint a Self-Portrait. The Teacher, Anne Coe (AC) hoped that students would transfer some techical skills. A Final Critique of the painting by class members follows.
Phyllis: Action Schumstic [slang for klutz].
Interpretation of a Masterpiece Painting: Phyllis chose Matisse's Marguerite. She mentioned that "it's [simple figure] easier than flowers. I got kicked out of my last painting course. The teacher told me I had no talent." AC directed, "Put down a layer of yellow ochre in the background to capture Matisse's underpainting. Phyllis remarked, "If I don't know what I'm doing, I might as well dive right into it." Dawn joked that Phyllis' will love the color ochre after this painting. Phyllis retorted, "It's [the color] like baby poop." Kay chimed in, "with mustard." She used yellow ochre to paint the background in long vertical strokes. Phyllis then simply outlined her figure and flatly painted the black dress and black hair areas. I noticed that she mixed some yellow with her black to capture the colors in the underpaint as instructed. She looked at the figure's face and complained, "She now looks wall-eyed like the fish I used to catch." After two hours, Phyllis sat down [tired], and reflected. "I didn't do badly. I used too big a brush for the nose. Can I go home now?'
The next day, Phyllis started a second version of the same painting. She compared this to the first one, "It's bigger and better." She filled in the yellow ochre background, drew in the lady, laid in a flat flesh color for the face and neck, and painted the black hair and dress. She then added a black nose outline and neckpiece. She told me that she practiced drawing those eyes at home. She critiqued the work, "The face is more angular here and I still don't like the eyes. I guess no [drawings of] eyes are perfect. The last version [painting] was "kiddier (sic)." Phyllis was slowing down, practicing, and becoming more discerning of lines and forms.
The following week, Phyllis painted out the figure's face because the skin tone was "too red.." She also complained, "I can't do those eyes. An artist friend of mine showed me how to make eyes more almond-shaped and I practiced." She added more yellow strokes to her background. On Friday, I noticed that she had changed the face a third time. Again she complained of the eyes. I noticed that the new painted face seemed competent. She responded, "That's because AC painted it. This girl is a madam--more experienced as compared to my first innocent-type girl [painting]. I worked with street people, especially the prostitutes in the criminal system and I wanted to capture that look. The expression is harder and the eyes, sadder." She repainted it a third time and ended by adding the word "Marguerite," as Matisse did. She noted that the best party of the painting is the eyes but her lip line was too big.
Self Portrait: Phyllis chose a sepia tone photo of herself as a child (6 year-old). She reported, "I have few pictures of myself. Let me see what this kid grew up to be." She practiced drawing the contour during one session and then played with flesh tones for another session. By the third session, she painted a blue background color imitating Kahlo's painting Itzcuintli Dog with Me. Phyllis explained, "I like the way it's mottled." However, when she painted the background, she just brushed in blue color with up and down strokes. Then she mixed a mint green color and applied it for a dress area. She adjusted the green area so it looked "like a halo," so she decided to keep it that way. AC exclaimed, "Wow, pretty color. Contrasts well with her red hair." Phyllis complained, "Eyes are too big."
During the next session, she painted her red Volkswagen from the side view, a cactus, started to draw and color a series of acronyms: AHS (Ames High School in Iowa from which she graduated); UNM Lobos [meaning wolf); ADOBE (Arizonans Development Better Environment), and a cactus representing SALT (Superstition Alliance Land Trust); COTN (Children of the Night is a group in which she volunteers); US Army Service Clubs (where she worked, USO (United Service Organizations (Private non profit group started by major religions); and a heart (Volunteer Center of LA). She felt that her eyes again were the biggest problem, but they showed "a wide-eyed innocence." I asked why she painted the dress green and she flippantly remarked, "I like green. I'm Irish." She confided that she works better fast, "before the work gets tedious or boring." She mentioned that she learned how to make highlights in the hair area by adding some yellow. When looking at her painting again, she sighed, "The starry-eyed little girl grew up and It took over. She is still a young and innocent person." Her emphasis on EYES intrigued me. Of course, they are difficult to draw but something more here.
Final Critique: Phyllis shares her description and interpretation, "The subject is "Little Girl Growing Up. See What's in Her Head--the milestones!" Twyla added, " It's happy and nostalgic and the colors are cool. Cecilia, "Yeh, the paint is flat." Colette responded, "She uses simple outlines and eyes are wide open. Dawn insisted, "The composition is circular around the main figure. Roxie reprimanded, "Well she finished it in 20 minutes" and Phyllislis retorted, "No, it took a whole hour." In judging the style of her painting, Burleene guessed, "Well its formal in that it's straight forward with a halo effect around the shoulders." AC added, "It's expressive in that it tells a story about her child memories and her adventuresome spirit Phyllislis joked, "It's the positive side of my life." Janis joked, "OK, now do one on the dark side next." Phyllis art orientation seems ____________________. Why?
Roxie, Flat Colorist. Born in a poor family in Appachia, Roxie was self educated and worked as a hair-dresser for most of her life. She married early, had one child, lived in Philadelphia and worked in a burn unit, divorced and traveled cross-country. She ended up in Fountain Hills Arizona for 12 years. To escape its development and politics, she moved to Apache Junction and remarried a musician. She felt that she suffered from emotional problems most of her life and added, "I now counsel worried people and make talismans, massage oils, and herbal tinctures from stuff that grows in my garden--depended on their needs. " She is retired and a part time hairdresser, who also took drawing with AC.
Interpretation of a Masterpiece Painting: Roxie was enamored with color, especially the work of Van Gogh because he contained things with solid line. She was fascinated with paintings by Ron Burn's, an artist -in-residence for the Humane Society. For her technical drawing exercise, she selected his work called, Feline Fine. She owns four miscreant cats that she loves. She invited classmates to go hear him speak at the Scottsdale Art Walk. She reported, "I usually do realistic pictures but I saw his bright colors and flipped out. I admire his work with animals--they all come from the pound."
After an hour, she laid down a yellow ochre background, planned the major shapes, painted the large green chair around the cat. Finally, she started to draw the cat. Frustrated with the dimensions, she complained about how she disliked vine charcoal. When I asked her why, she stated, "Icky! Goes down too fast. It has a life of its own. Then it disappears after I worked so hard of the drawing." After an hour of fuss and socializing, Roxie finished the drawing and cried, "insanity!" Kay commented, "The colors are vivid combination of red and green and purple." AC encouraged Roxie to make brush strokes in different directions, as in the original.
The next day, Roxie was flabbergasted. She asked AC, "I have no idea what to do next." Ann told her to continue the green paint around the kitten. Rozie wanted to make sure that cat's face was drawn well (correct). AC suggested that she add more forehead. After Roxie filled in the chair, she started to outline it in black, still avoiding the cat face. AC praised, "That's coming together. Don't be so neurotic." Roxie seemed to work piecemeal from the outside to the inside and tackled the hardest part last. During the third session, Roxie outlined the figures and mentioned how strange the colors were. She confessed that she made a mistake, "That's not his tail but a [cast] shadow. I have to make to make the tail lighter." Later she scumbled paint over the cat with ochre.
During the last week. Roxie told me, "I like simple shapes and outline. I struggled with the hair. It forced me to stay put. I started last year to draw realistically in bed when recovering from an illness." She regarded art as therapy. The bright colors released her suppressed emotions. She shared sketches of her beloved cats. My high school art teacher ignored me and I was mad. I couldn't even see in drawing class so I giggled most of the time. Now I'm more serious." Later in the course, I asked how kitty was? Roxie beamed, "She's fine. Everything in my house is a she [except her husband]. Roxie added that she darkened the pillow behind the cat [for contrast].
At the final critique, Roxie complained, "I want to be done." Roxie confessed, "I went back with a dry brush for hair, but I wasn't successful in that small part. It's like a paint by number although the colors are bizarre." Dawn chimed, "I like the subtle hair lines. He's real cute. The eyes are bigger than the original." AC summarized, "This is beginning painting. You can really screw up here, but be consistent. Success depends on the type of painter you are.". Upon reflection, Roxie admitted that she knew nothing about color when she came to this class and now she can't contain the colors exploding in her head. Roxie's painting exhibited central placement, thick outlines, and flat colors.
Self-Portrait with Patterns. Roxie collected several photographs and arranged images of her family, cats, and mental monsters in a hat on her head. She made a colored sketch at home with half of her face covered by a huge hat full of these images and paint brushes for flowers. She discussed various color combinations with Twyla, who had color mixing charts from a previous class. Roxie spent two classes practicing the drawings. Finally, she painting a blue background.
During the next session (3/15/00), she informed me that she painted her face section at home by using several colors and layers of glaze. Then she added the blue facial contours AC pointed out that her face was too pale and needed shadows. During the session, Roxie painstakingly overlapped tiny clumps of lavender flowers in her garden. She justified, "The density of the plant calls for it to be dark. I dappled shadows throughout the arrangement and used cross-cross strokes here for each long stem. I used a brush with only three strands of hair to made the flowers feathery." The process was calming and healing to her. No doubt, painting was a form of therapy for her. She decided to give her painting to her husband as a gift.
During third session, Roxie again painted vertical strokes on dark blue to suggest the crevices in her mountains. She layered them to make s darker values. She seemed to be drawing here rather than painting. After an hour, she grew tired and went home early. Next time, Roxie told me about Maude, her black super dog, Karma her parrot , and her mustang horse. I noticed that she had changed the color of the hat brim and she responded that it needed to be warmer. At home she had painted clouds in a soft impressionistic way. She had added many tiny plants and flowers and called it "a paisley effect."
Final Critique. Roxie: She told the class that her portrait was her wearing a hat of things that "crowned her life." Yonova added, "Overflowing life." Kaye said that the picture needed balance but Roxie contradicted that the dark dog jumping served that purpose. Yonova remarked that the sweater looked like wool. Roxie clarified, "Yes, the texture is chenille." Kaye added, "It has lots of contrast-soft and bumpy." Colette announced that she liked "the hair strands trailing off. "
In judging her work, she acknowledged that she was not finished. She complemented her clouds and the hat brim became the horizon life for her life. She stated, "I need more eyelashes and a shadow over the eyes [from the overlapping hat]. AC praised her, "Incredible array of tedious strokes." AC noted that Roxie painted all the intricacies first [which is harder] but still the painting is successful. However, AC suggested that she drop the mouth line or tone out the teeth and made the man [her husband] more shadowed. AC explained, "He is too light here. " AC later pronounced, "It's her caricature, so leave it that way!" Everyone pointed out the rich array of plants. "Like paisley," summarized Roxie. Janis interpreted, 'She's saucy and pert."Roxie's work is characteristic of the ____________ orientation. Why?
Colette, The Cookbook Approach. Collette grew up in a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She informed me that she lived outside a great deal while her mother worked in a doctor's office and her dad was a welder. She obtained a degree as an occupational therapist at the university there. At 22, she moved her with her husband, so he could work in his father's ironwork business, She has two young children and still works part time in occupational therapy.
Interpretation of a Masterpiece Painting: She chose to imitate Hopper's Barn and Distant Houses. She explained, "I like barns and the light contrasts at sunset. It's hard to do, but it's exciting." She first scrubbed a yellow ochre coat into the background and later drew in the composition. AC noticed that Colette was fussing too much with the drawing and told her to start with the paint. AC further remarked, "Maybe the drawing is good enough already."
Colette missed the next session, but at the third session she cried, "It's overwhelming. I wish that I picked apples--something simple." She started to carefully paint the wall of a house and announced, "I'm getting all variations of color, although pastels are easier to blend." AC later noticed that Colette's dark values were all black. AC corrected, "This is 40% black" and compared it with the value chart. AC directed, "Push it. Study the values. This applies to life in general [another truism]. Check your values and everything else falls into place."
During the last session, AC, told Colette to neutralize the green color with its complement. Again they consulted the color value chart. AC pointed out, "That background area is all value and texture." Colette later reflected, "I'm hesitant and learn step-by-step, like a cookbook, then I adapt colors." Colette confined that "everything is toned-down now." AC added, "Colette's Hopper landscape is the hardest. It has a simple composition but shapes are deceptive. The tones are difficult to capture. Don't lose courage."
Colette's Self Portrait: Colette, who loved to hike, chose a photograph of herself resting by a stream. She scrubbed in her blue background on the canvas and added green strokes to create a woods effect. She sketched her image from a three quarter rear view directly on the canvas.
During the next session, she struggled with her face making it too dark. Her husband had joked that she looked oriental. She complained about her large Roman nose. Later, AC helped her shorten it and told her to get "wilder with the hair and to get rid of the Elvis side burns." Colette joked, "My alien lady with penis-shaped nose and buck teeth."
During the next class, she consulted a photograph and drew in the Superstition Mountains in the background. She found these mountains "awesome and fearful [to climb]." She intended the mountain to be "pleasant to look at." AC later discussed her point -of -view. She suggested, "You don't need such a severe angle. Treat the mountain as a series of planes. Background has several layers to it." She then laid them out in vine charcoal. Colette painted in the green forest areas and the purple mountain background and went home early.
For the next class, AC announced to Colette that her painted figure was "angelic. Most plant life is negative space. So surround your angel with darker plants." AC also found that the colors didn't look "deserty" (sic) and she suggested more yellow in the greens. Also AC felt that the sky was too dark. She asked Colette to come to the window to look out at the sky and to find the sun source. Colette spent the entire class bringing in a darker green in the background areas, lightening the sky, and adding irregular blue strokes into the tree line.
Colette explained her own work, "We were camping and stopped at this beautiful place. You can hear the rushing water of the creek and the large pines swishing in the wind, and in the background is the magnificent Superstition Mountains. I achieved the goal of climbing to the top. I could sit here the rest of my life. Not only did I connect with my artistic self, but I connected with a class of older and intellectually stimulating women."
Final Critique: Colette was the only student to try a figure from a different view--the rear with a turning head. The class immediately started to interpret her work: "shows a casual relaxed atmosphere, meditative and pensive; time alone; don't interfere." Burline was attracted to all the soft colors that surround her. They blend together." AC validated this judgment, "Yes, it adds harmony. She has created optical texture here. Needs more highlights on face, similar to the halo around her hair." She further instructed, "It's a risk you take. Like the subtle highlight on her blue jeans." Yonova further interpreted, "I was attracted to the subtle dusk at the end of the day." AC encouraged, "Push the softness on her face." Twyla suggested, "Add more glow in her hair. Twyla further remarked that the work more than representational because of its soft expressive feelings." Colette was pleased to announce that she had climbed to the top of that mountain--the flat iron this weekend. Phyllis joked, "Oh is that a guy taking a leak at the top of the mountain [in your picture]?" Colette's art orientation seems ______________
Janis, The Scribbler. She was from a small farm town in Peru, Indiana. In the 1960' her family moved to Mesa, Arizona, and she went to high school, Arizona State University and taught fifth grade for 15 years here. She got married, left teaching and became an entrepreneur who made toys, jewelry, and knitted goods. She desires to get her art endorsement, which requires several studio courses.
Interpretation of a Masterpiece Painting: This is her first painting course although she has taken drawing with AC. She tackled Matisse's The Dream and explained her choice, "I like curved lines. The colors are bizarre. Who would ever think of putting those colors together. He liked to show happiness. I can play with the look of that." She started by laying out the figure free hand of the canvas with vine charcoal.
For the next session, she chose another of Mattisse's works, Laurette with a Coffee Cup. When I asked her why she changed masterpieces, she answered, "My other [painting] was too thin and watery and rushed. This one is thicker and has a different color palette - earthier." She first "scribbled" the canvas with a thin wash of yellow ochre yellow and raw sienna. Then she described, "After I drew the image in colored pastels, I smeared them, so the paint picked up the color intensity and gives you more variation." Then she painted the dress in a flat mint green which looks gray in the photograph. Then she brushed in the black turban and tablecloth and overlapped the cup, saucer and spoon. She outlined eyes and nose in black and mixed a variety of colors, red oxide, ochre, and some blue for the skin ton directly on the canvas. To make a dress pattern, she added white to original mint green to make it translucent, "a filmy thing." My strokes are curvilinear. She added lips of pure oxide and struggled with shadows under arm at the end. She refined the skin shades by adding layers of darker brown and left some peeking though, as on the arm. She played with the zigzag patterns in the saucer and commented, "This was fun!" I asked, What did you learn from Matisse? " She replied, "Overlapping shapes, understanding of values, mimicking his thin lines. I can't get them quite right." AC added, "That red color needs more blue in it."
Next, AC asked Janis to compare her work with Mattise's. Janis answered, "I have more [noticeable] brush strokes. I painted the figure up and down, instead of lying on her side. It made more sense to concentrate on her, then the cup. If you change the angle, it frees the mind." AC complimented, "Your [female figure] is definitely more attractive. In those times, consumptive--a kind of frailness was beautiful. You need a shadow under the arm. Is that line part of her turban?" Janis announced, " I painted frantically because the paint dried fast. AC summarized, "But it is successful. "
Janis reflected, "I splash it [paint] around and make a mess. I'm a little off the wall and left-handed. AC added, "She's a visionary. You should see some of her drawings. Her drawing is fluid --at times "scribbly," as she calls it, and parts evolved with little drawing. Her work perhaps is more confident while she experiments with different effects, such as creating " the filmy effect." She enjoyed experimenting with the paint in different ways. Yet, her work communicates with few details, as Matisse did.
Self Portrait. Janis drew a giant hand in the center of the canvas, which she had photocopied and enlarged. She masked off some of the white canvas and glazed the background blue and mauve with a large brush. She sprayed her color to make a blue wash and daubed some color to create "a misty effect" with the finger tips. She commented, "Magic energy at my fingertips. AC squealed, "Flame-like." Janis reflected, "I'm happy with the effect. My husband is jealous, Painting takes time away from him." She enjoyed experimenting with the paint in different ways.
During the next session, she commented, "I don't know what I'm doing now. I guess I'm doing what the paint wants. It's very emotional." She painted in the empty triangular area in yellow, "to suggest the fluidity of speech." She had covered her large painted hair so it was barely noticeable. She fussed with red lips and added bright green eyes. "This is my creativity statement," she announced. Later, she and AC experimented with hand possibilities in vine charcoal. AC later suggested, "For a wild use of color, consider the work of Gabrielle Munter, a Fauvist painter." AC showed a book of his paintings.
Final Critique: Janis described and interpreted her portrait as a metaphysical hand. She described her lines as lost and found ones and the texture [really pattern] as tie-dye. Classmates found her color iridescent, bright, cool and hot, mostly flat space with a dominant triangular arrangement. Janis explained her process as slow building of glazes. Janis explained her translated Sanskrit symbols: "Om [hello, speech, hope, thought, seed, and plenty." She was particularly enamored with the "cool word" abounding in, which meant the goddess of learning." Interpretations ranged from the mysterious, uncomfortable to powerful energy and healing. Collette specifically mentioned "laying on of hands" and that it reminded her of the sixties. People felt that the orange area in front with words was too bright. AC suggested either repeating the orange in the fingers or softening the orange area with a contrasting colored glaze. If she wanted more vibrancy, Kay suggested using the opposite color of orange, which is green around the hands or words. Janis's words seem very poetic or antiquated?Janis's art orientation seems _______________. Why?
Twyla, the Cobbler. Born in Pontiac Michigan, close to Detroit, her father worked for railroad as a train master. She studied at Central Michigan to be an art teacher but never finished. She married and raised a family. Because her husband is in computer industry, they moved from Colorado to Florida, and back to Colorado where she lived for 30 years and worked as a city clerk and realtor. She was now pursuing her dream to take art classes and be a professional painter. She loves living in the desert because "it's unique, dry and warm."
Interpretation of a Masterpiece Painting: She selected Matisse's Lady in Blue because "It's bold. I can learn from Matisse's thick paint and washes." She first photocopied the piece, drew a grid over it, and enlarged the shapes on her canvas following the grid format. She filled in the major colors brightly and flatly. In contrast, the women's dress was a transparent dark green color (straight from the tube). She mentioned that this technique was new to her. Sometimes the methods get confusing because she is also taking a watercolor course.
The next day, she compared printed versions of this same masterpiece in two different books. This print one is greener, while this is more gray. AC asked, "What version do you like better?" She chose the green one and mixed a duller, lighter and a flatter green and overlapped the dress. Twyla confessed, "I have a hard time with rules. Twyla then asked AC for help mixing burnt sienna because she has none to make a flesh color. AC started to mix the ingredients and joked, "This texture is snotty!" Females seem less inhibited with their verbal expressions when they are around other females.
The last session, Twyla made thin white lines with a new painting tool and remarked, "It's a tracing wheel for marking patterns on material. It has white paint like a fine roller. I'm a cobbler. I make things up." AC praised her genius, "It's figuring out the effect that we are after...simulating something. Twyla announced, "I took watercolor but acrylic is really different.
AC finally called the class together, "Tell us why you are done?" Twyla explained, "I captured the spirit in a real creative way with my new {dress pattern] tool. Dawn praised, "Slick!" AC asked. "What was the hardest part?" Twyla responded, "The challenge of the line variety--it's simple pattern but my brushes were too big." AC replied, "Yes, its coloring required precise lines. Oh wait, I see something that sticks out. Tone this red (background) area down." The foreground should advance and background recede in this case.
Self Portrait. She indicated that she didn't like her picture taken, so she didn't have many from which to work. She began by mixing cadmium yellow and burnt sienna colors straight on the canvas with a paint retarder. Then she sketched a large central image of her smiling with a cowboy hat and sunglasses. This image was flanked on either side with smaller versions of herself. She explained, "This represents stages of my life at 20, 39, and 40--no deep meaning." She added that she had taken a portrait watercolor class, but this class was better. AC noticed her competent gradation of values and praised, "Nice shading and blending job, especially on the neck area. See the yellows comes though--the jewels of color." Next, she added flesh color on the right side and finally modeled the hat and jacket in browns. AC suggested that she add some highlights as well.
During the next session, she added shadows in purple around the sunglasses that she painted in a bronze color. Twyla explained, "I'll paint over it until it turns out correct. I'm flying by the seat of my paints now. " For the fourth session, Twyla played with the scenery reflected in the sunglasses. She explained how she used a mirror to reverse the scene, like Leonardo did. This mentioned that acrylic paint didn't flow as watercolor. So she had to struggle with the acrylic paint. She also added an adobe house scene in the smaller sunglasses. She related that when she was younger she wanted to live in an adobe house. She had made up the mountain scene in background. AC praised her for darkening the area around her central figure because "It made the central figure advance [contrast]."
Final Critique. "Let's pick on Tywla," AC invited, "She keeps pushing her painting." Twyla described the three figures of herself at different ages of her life in front of a tent with trees and mountains in the distance. Janis reviewed, "Her work has glow and structure. Twyla remarked, "I've changed the colors 18 million times. I took two other human figures out." Other people suggested removing the mountains and trees that didn't look real to harmonize with her other painting. AC reinforced, "Yes, the mountains are too white and detailed for the distance. The blue tent fabric is convincing [real]," remarked Kaye. "And so is the suede jacket!" Roxie suggested. Twyla remarked, "Yes, "I tried to bring the yellow throughout the picture for harmony." I changed the scene in the eyeglasses. "What did you learn" asked AC. Twyla interpreted, "The glasses are a shield. She has a cocky expression." Kaye remarked, "Look at how her face glows! It's that purple and yellow mix." AC summarized, "Yes, that's because she is a slow blender. Twyla's art orientation seemed _________________. Why?
Burline, Stroke Struggler. Burline explained, "I took oil before acrylic painting. I'm struggling with the acrylic paint. It dries so fast and I'm having trouble with my spray bottle..
Interpretation of a Masterpiece Painting: She copies Renoir's Portrait of Claude Monet, so she can learn how to paint portraits. Because she started drawing on the canvas, AC reminded her to put down the underpaint color first and showed her how to scrub the color across the canvas with a sock. AC then reminded, "Make an organizational drawing then the details. " Burline drew in the major areas, painted them in blue and some green, outlined the body, filled in clothing in black color and glazed with blue. She scumbled the hair and beard with raw umber and then the face. She added highlights to the face, especially under the eye and show around the nose. She confessed, "My first effort." AC pushed her to get thicker and to add more red in the hair area. Later, she added highlights on the man's lids and stated, "The more I do, the worse it gets."
On the third day, she worried about shadows. She tried to make the beard more natural by overlapping thinner lines with flesh color. Later, she added some red color too. She compared, "The colors look different here than at home. During the next Friday, she repainted the nose and joked, "The title is the man with the funny nose." It's got a curve here a mile long. I'll have to do something with it, like make the face thinner by moving the eye and ear some." Later, AC showed her how to make the nose more angular and Burline added more multi colors to her blue background with a crisscross and flip strokes. To blend the colors at times, she used a dry brush. Finally Burline was pleased.
Burline's Self Portrait. Burline painted her self-portrait by a window with deer outside. She fondly described, "The deer outside my house as sun sets are drinking from the stream. Everything looks real pretty in the sun. Even the weeds are lit." She first scumbled a beige background and sketched her portrait and background. She was having trouble drawing the deer, so AC shows her how to layout the row of deer on the eraser board. Then Burlline started to lay in shadows, but AC noticed that Burline's values were too timid. AC called the class together to see shadows. AC asked students to shut the lights , turn on the spotlight, and bring over a value card. As she posed she asked which value was closest to her face in shadow. Someone matched a dark tone. AC directed, "Push it a lot darker. Don't be afraid of light and shadow." Then Burline laid in the darks in muted brown and added hair with light streaks.
During the next session, Burline had painted her portrait and AC advised her to put shadow in the teeth area especially in the corners. After shading the teeth, Burline switched to a delicate brush to add highlights in the hair. She fussed the entire class with this. Burline had forgotten her photos for the next class and AC was delighted about this. AC directed, "You don't need them any more. Dawn complemented her on the "wonderful peachy sand color." She decided to work on the window frame this time. So she brushed in a blue shadow area to the right and defined the window frame with a subtle outline. For the following class, Burline experimented with the mountains and tried to make them "look far away and lighter, like the sun was hitting them." She was struggling with atmospheric perspective. She pointed to the ground area in which she will add more growth. She pointed to an area that "were really weeds, but looked so golden--so pretty."
Final Critique: AC started by asking the class why was the painting appealing? Several answers were "more glowing softness [in the window area]; nice contrast in values, nice tan, and gorgeous under paint and hair." Burline criticized her own work, "The water area is still dead; having trouble with the face and the shadow, skin color looks hard. I learned a lot about acrylics--harder to use than oil. Now my figure is 3-D." AC then noticed, "The landscape now dominates; Make background lighter; use pastels. Keep edges soft and use multiple colors." Burline's art orientation seems ____________________ Why?