I went to the college on my day off to do lab work and get caught up. Thank God Justin (a fellow student) was there to tell me how to paint a mirror! I asked him how you mix colors to look like silver. He said mirrors are just a series of reflections and that I have to paint each little reflection. I had no freakin idea! I asked the teacher for her suggestions and she told me to add more detail and paint the glass vases. How do you paint glass? I don't know what detail is! She told me to look for the difference in hues and tones. She is such a bitch. I wonder if the college has a remedial painting class because she is sapping the joy of painting out of my want-a-be creative spirit.
I went overly prepared to class on Tuesday only to find the college locked up! I never got a phone call nor email. The parking lot was plowed, the pavement salted and still the doors were locked! I moved here from Southern California and find these people wimps with snow. I know this nasty teacher is gonna put so much homework on us that nobody will ever want to paint again.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Community Based Non-Credited Courses
I ended up taking three semesters of Introduction to Painting. The first class was really scary, but I soon found out that the instructor really didn't care if you sucked. That was a good thing at first, but after a year of taking the same class over and over again I came to the conclusion that a more intense intervention was going to be necessary. Sure she helped me to choose colors better, but somehow my happy trees were still not looking happy compared to Bob Ross's.
I thought that maybe my painting were not very good because I lacked the ability to be detailed. I am inherently a big picture type of gal, so I thought I'd better get detailed if I was going to make my trees look better. I decided I needed to learn to draw.
The first drawing class was a general drawing class. I was surprised that I actually learned how to draw something more than snoopy or a hangman. My classmates were wildly encouraging, or maybe just a bit nearsighted. I completed the class and decided to take Drawing Portraits in Charcoal. That first charcoal class had me driving to school in the midst of a full fledged anxiety attack complete with tears, heart palpitations, and heavy breathing. Not a single thing in my life has ever cause the fear that this first class did because it was so far outside of my comfort zone. To me taking that class was similar to taking a class in widdling wooden figurines with your toes while wearing your socks. The amazing thing is that not only did I survive, but I actually got fairly good at it. After Mom looked at my work, she suggested that I focus more on drawing and less on painting. Ugh! My whole goal with all of this is to be able to paint Bob Ross's happy trees.
I thought that maybe my painting were not very good because I lacked the ability to be detailed. I am inherently a big picture type of gal, so I thought I'd better get detailed if I was going to make my trees look better. I decided I needed to learn to draw.
The first drawing class was a general drawing class. I was surprised that I actually learned how to draw something more than snoopy or a hangman. My classmates were wildly encouraging, or maybe just a bit nearsighted. I completed the class and decided to take Drawing Portraits in Charcoal. That first charcoal class had me driving to school in the midst of a full fledged anxiety attack complete with tears, heart palpitations, and heavy breathing. Not a single thing in my life has ever cause the fear that this first class did because it was so far outside of my comfort zone. To me taking that class was similar to taking a class in widdling wooden figurines with your toes while wearing your socks. The amazing thing is that not only did I survive, but I actually got fairly good at it. After Mom looked at my work, she suggested that I focus more on drawing and less on painting. Ugh! My whole goal with all of this is to be able to paint Bob Ross's happy trees.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
First, ahem, Second class.
So I started my first day as a 41 year old coed. First, all of my classmates are around 19 years old and my teacher is around 33. I accidentally missed my first class because I thought it started in February. Then I came to the second class unprepared because I interpreted the course description wrong. How was I to know that the 50% of the class lecture time would be on the same day as the 50% studio time? Luckily a lot of other classmates made the same mistake. Unfortunately WE GOT YELLED AT!!! I can not remember the last time I tolerated someone yelling at me. I had to deep breath to keep from a violent response. I actually picked up the syllabus and concentrated on reading it so I would not come unglued and syllable slap her into learning that she works for us.
Today we learned to stretch canvass over something called a stretcher bar to make our own canvass picture surfaces. Now I can stretch that expensive rolled painting my brother gave me that I could afford to pay the $600 to get it done professionally. Shoot, I could drop the class, master the stretching of oil paintings technique, and charge half price for doing it as a lucrative new business. Wait! That is my business mind taking over again.
Next we learned to prepare the canvass with something called gesso so that the paint will go on the canvass smoothly. Next everything was fun until it went full throttle. We have to complete a self stretched, self primed, canvass painting each week. If we can't do this during class (which I can not), we have to come back to the art room and do it on our own. My fellow students are far more talented and faster than I am, so I'm going to need two to three time the studio time that others need. Our first assignment is to paint a picture of a part of a table of junk set up in the studio. I spent an hour and a half trying to make a vase look symmetrical. I thought this was an intro class! This class is already 4 hours on Tuesdays. I plan on spending all day Thursdays there too. How can these students take more than one class? Most of the kids are so sweet to me probably because I'm as old as their mothers. Tomorrow I buys supplies and get back to the studio for my homework.
Today we learned to stretch canvass over something called a stretcher bar to make our own canvass picture surfaces. Now I can stretch that expensive rolled painting my brother gave me that I could afford to pay the $600 to get it done professionally. Shoot, I could drop the class, master the stretching of oil paintings technique, and charge half price for doing it as a lucrative new business. Wait! That is my business mind taking over again.
Next we learned to prepare the canvass with something called gesso so that the paint will go on the canvass smoothly. Next everything was fun until it went full throttle. We have to complete a self stretched, self primed, canvass painting each week. If we can't do this during class (which I can not), we have to come back to the art room and do it on our own. My fellow students are far more talented and faster than I am, so I'm going to need two to three time the studio time that others need. Our first assignment is to paint a picture of a part of a table of junk set up in the studio. I spent an hour and a half trying to make a vase look symmetrical. I thought this was an intro class! This class is already 4 hours on Tuesdays. I plan on spending all day Thursdays there too. How can these students take more than one class? Most of the kids are so sweet to me probably because I'm as old as their mothers. Tomorrow I buys supplies and get back to the studio for my homework.
Letter in the mail
To my gleeful delight, and my husband's bemusement, I got my acceptance letter. It came with my new student number, student services available to me, and directions to get my student id! Truly, I think this is more fun this time because it's just for personal growth.
Applying as a student
I carefully filled out the application listing the high school I graduated from and the year. Them I put my three colleges down and my degrees. I sent the application in with the typical fear of failure that only someone labeled an x-generation-er can relate to.
Where did this come from?
Let me explain some things before I go into this blog. I earned a BA in Business Marketing with a minor in Health in '91. I earned a Post-Baccalaureate (a dumber version of a masters) in Education is '93. I taught at various high schools, institutes and Jr. Colleges. I get my pleasure from learning as much as teaching, so I rarely pass up an opportunity to take a class or pick somebody's mind.
Here is how it recently started. I decided I wanted to learn how to paint like the most impressive painter I knew, Bob Ross. You know who he is... PBS's "The Joy of Painting." I've been trying for 25 years to paint happy trees to no avail. I even set my DVR to record all episodes of Bob's epic lessons. Somehow I just didn't get it, so it became time to get professional help.
When we moved to our town, the local community college would send me catalogs. I'd circle the non-credited classes I wanted to take and then I'd leave the catalog in the basket until the next one came. Oh how excited I get to circle more classes. I did this for three years before I actually enrolled in introduction to painting and introduction to drawing. The were community classes, so there was no pressure to succeed in making a tree look like a tree. After all Bob Ross could make a tree with a 2" brush! Surely the analytical side of my brain could find a rule that would allow me to do this in one of these classes.
Here is how it recently started. I decided I wanted to learn how to paint like the most impressive painter I knew, Bob Ross. You know who he is... PBS's "The Joy of Painting." I've been trying for 25 years to paint happy trees to no avail. I even set my DVR to record all episodes of Bob's epic lessons. Somehow I just didn't get it, so it became time to get professional help.
When we moved to our town, the local community college would send me catalogs. I'd circle the non-credited classes I wanted to take and then I'd leave the catalog in the basket until the next one came. Oh how excited I get to circle more classes. I did this for three years before I actually enrolled in introduction to painting and introduction to drawing. The were community classes, so there was no pressure to succeed in making a tree look like a tree. After all Bob Ross could make a tree with a 2" brush! Surely the analytical side of my brain could find a rule that would allow me to do this in one of these classes.
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