Returning to Disciplined Art Instruction

I am teaching a college Drawing II class from the model this week. Most of my students have never had the experience of drawing from the figure, especially in an academic setting. I love teaching figure drawing and anatomy but art students seldom share this passion. Why? There is rarely enough focus or time given for students to build such a passion.

We live in a fast pace culture of instant gratification and communication, a constant pull on our short attention spans. The result (in my studio teaching anyway) has become a watered down art training in the name of expediency. For me, the last decade has been a gradual shift away from teaching the subject to teaching the student. A kind of art therapy, I suppose.

This sort of teaching focuses on much needed empathy...helping students develop sensibilities, connect to their surroundings and to the relationships of things. I have seen my role more as an artist/mentor. I once heard a quote, "empathy is the glue that binds society." Our culture certainly lacks empathy. I take this role seriously, as a Higher calling in fact.

I sometimes feel, however, that I have sacrificed fundamental art training. I need to provide more of an opportunity for students to build passion for art-making. I must balance art "therapy" with focussed, disciplined art training. For now, the discipline needs to be demonstrated to my students through my own work.