Art Blog - Tales from the Art Side

Some aspects of teaching kids art are quite obvious and straight-forward: the correct way to hold a linoleum cutter; using gel medium when painting a thick impasto; or mixing a hue with its complement to dull the color slightly. These are the kind of facts and techniques students must acquire to ensure proficiency within a given media. This kind of information is essentially the first order of knowledge in the hierarchy of aesthetic understanding, and it answers the artistic query of how to create. (How do I sculpt this form? How do I draw a face? How do I clean a brush?) Typically, the necessary skills are demonstrated by the teacher and then replicated first hand by the students… Continue reading… 3 comments

He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches. George Bernard Shaw is credited with this line from his 1903 play Man and Superman, although it is unknown whether this was actually the opinion of Shaw, or merely a line of dialogue for one of his many characters. Either way, it is a platitude that still finds its way into our modern conversations with a great degree of regularity. And while there is no definitive way to determine how many believe this sentiment, the fact that it shows no sign of fading into obscurity after a century of use says a great deal. Misconceptions like this one are so unfortunate because not only are they fueled by ignorance, but they perpetuate it as well… Continue reading… 7 comments