Teaching Painting and Drawing

7/15/2013  This week I am teaching in St. Amant for the River Region Art Association. This is my third workshop this summer for this organization. I am teaching beginning painting and drawing for ages 9-15. The first week I taught interior paintings using Henri Matisse’s “The Open Window” as the focal point for the lesson. Through this painting I was able to teach atmospheric perspective, linear perspective and painting on a canvas with acrylic paints. For some, it was a first experience painting on canvas with this type of  paint. For others, it was a chance to push the limits of their knowledge to another level.

The second week I taught Louisiana landscapes using photographs of sunsets over the swamps. I particularly had the students learn how to draw Cypress trees, use atmospheric perspective, and how to blend colors on the canvas.

This week my students are learning how to draw and paint objects together in a still life. We looked at various known artists’ still life’s. I set up a big still life with many objects on a table in the center of the teaching area. Of course they groaned about how hard it would be to draw and paint such a creation. I told them to relax because I was going to take apart the still life, and each student would have a chance to learn to draw the “parts”of the whole. We spent the morning learning how to draw grapes, pears, apples, bananas, roses, and the central vase. Tomorrow we will do some practice painting with acrylic paint. We will paint a color wheel, learn to mix various colors, and handle various types of brushes. By the end of the week, each student will have several drawings and a completed painting of a still life on canvas.

How much fun I have teaching any age student how to paint and draw.