Beyond Realism

I've noticed, for years, a preference towards realism in the students I teach. I've blamed this on a number of things - the way society views art, other teachers, even the kids themselves. But then I started thinking and I realized that the majority of Bootcamps I teach focus mainly on the observable.  

If I want kids to know something, it's my job to make sure they do. By modeling mainly making art from observation at the the beginning of the course, in my drawing and painting Bootcamps I've been the one setting the preference for realism. In trying to make sure they learned the "skills" that I felt like I should teach them I was setting a preference for realism. Suggesting or supporting other styles later was falling short for many of my students.

The primary skill I want my kids to leave with is making the art they want to make. So I've come up with a new rule for myself: when I teach and model realistic art, I also have to directly teach methods artists use to go beyond what is directly observable. I can't assume students know or will try on their own. My job is to open as many doors as I can. 

The Challenges

This realization came at the perfect time. My Art 3 class is working on figurative art, all proportion and sight measuring and composition so far. As they finished pieces in progress this week, I started class  with three days of short challenges designed to elicit thinking beyond the observable, featuring student artists as experts. 

Day 1 artist inspiration.

Day 1: Symbolism

In my Art 3 class I have three independent study students who excel at using the figure as a basis for abstraction. I asked these kids to share how they add to the figure as the basis of the challenges. First was the artist pictured above, who talked about how he adds symbolism to his figures, based on feelings or emotions. 
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Day 1 Challenge: Open the social media platform of your choice and draw the first figure you see with added symbolism for 10 minutes. 

Student response to challenge 1.

Day 2: Patterning and Color

For day 2,  Bre talked about how she abstracts the figure, adding patterns and bold color or value. 

Day 2 Challenge: Pick one image from a magazine and draw it, adding arbitrary color/ patterns. Draw with marker for 10 minutes. 

Student response, day 2.

Day 3, Proportion

Day 3 artist.

On day 3, Kayla talked about her amazing, cartoon-inspired style and how she plays with the proportions of both humans and animals. 
​Day 3 Challenge: Play with proportions to draw a  10 minute self portrait.

Student response, day 3.

These three challenges were short, but, in my opinion, very powerful. They each represented a new way at looking at the figure, a possibility with potential. Potential was there for me, too. I've realized that I need to adapt all my Bootcamps to include experimenting with style and I've started thinking about how that will look as Art 1 is introduced to acrylic paint next week. I'm excited about what's next.