So, the other day I happened to catch this video on You Tube. It was a painting demonstration by a well known artist and teacher at an art institute. He was very good doing his thing but as soon as he began talking, I was turned off by his approach. The first thing that came out of his mouth was telling people how not to paint and how to paint. That seems to be the scenario for most art teachers I’ve come across. Rather than they encouraging one at what they do, the teacher would rather belittle others and end up discouraging many artists. I’ve talked with several who have quit painting because they have lost all interest in it.
Art is art regardless of how one paints. Like in music, if it moves someone, then you’ve done your job. If you are just painting for yourself and you happen to like it, that’s all that matters. The hell with everyone else. On the other hand, if you don’t happen to like it, change it until you do. The problem with taking art lessons, for me anyway, other than I’m too old to sit in a class and don’t do well in that kind of environment, is that one is not allowed to freely express themselves artistically. You have to follow rules and guidelines created by the teacher.
I remember a similar situation when I went to music college. Before going in, I was pretty creative and was pretty good at improvisation. When I graduated, all that was lost as they sucked it all out of me. It was mostly learning how to interpret someone else’s work without having the freedom to interpret my way. There were plenty of rules and regiments we had to follow and it just seemed to me that we became machines instead of musicians. The professors told us what to play, when to play and how to play. You were dirt if you didn’t follow orders. It took me years to unlearn all of that garbage they taught me before I became creative again.
The great thing about art for me these days is that, I paint when I want, what I want and how I want. I have no one telling me what to do or how I should do it. Because of this, I am more artistic and enjoy what I’m doing. I don’t have to think about rules or other garbage teachers try to shove down my throat because they have been taught that way themselves. I don’t have to sit there learning about early artists or their history. It’s not going to make me paint any better. If I want to find out something about an artist, I’ll either look it up on the internet or go to my local library. All I have to do is paint, not think, just paint whatever comes out of the right side of my brain.
I would like to see more art teachers on the internet teach the art of painting instead of the art of ego. Stop telling me what style I should paint in, just show me how to do human cheek bones or the fur of a grey squirrel, the why's and the wherefores etc.
