Teaching the fundamentals of Drawing
(If you are a tutor or a parent involved in Classical Conversation’s Foundation’s Program, you’ll find this tutorial dovetails with Week 1’s “Simple Shapes OiLS” week, but anyone can use it to learn or teach blocking to students. I got into art teaching when my kids joined a homeschool co-op group that did a six-week […]
This morning, while looking through the usual news feed, I found the announcement that Christo Jabacheff, more commonly known by his first name of Christo, had passed away. He was 84. I first heard of Christo in Art History class. I deliberately avoided taking modern art classes because I believed there wasn’t much art in […]
As a Christian, this Holy Week is going to be memorable, especially since I cannot celebrate it with my family this year–blood or spiritual. It feels strange to remain at home, experiencing a community service through my television and the livestream, and I find I miss my church more than I ever realized I would. […]
So the coronavirus has struck the world and is leaving its mark. I don’t know where everyone is who reads this, but suffice it to say, we’re all feeling the difference. Art and music are actually fairly intertwined…a number of artists played instruments. Paul Klee was well-known for playing his violin before painting every day. […]
Yeah…the art world doesn’t add “The Great” to artists. But if they did, Van Gogh would be one of those “greats.” I LOVE Van Gogh. Not just because his paintings are beautiful and vibrant, but because he struggled through life. He wasn’t kissed by the angel of art on the day of his birth, he […]
Quick Announcement: If you are here for the Classical Conversations and the packets I create for tutoring, please be aware…I may not be a Foundations Tutor next year. It’s been an amazing five years, but I may be moving on to more Challenging things. If that happens, (and it might not,) I will not be […]
UPDATE: 1/27 at 9:30 PM. I added the promised Tutor Notes for Monet. They are at the bottom. I’m Prejudiced. There. I said it. I LOVE Claude Monet’s work. I have this utterly crystallized memory of the first time I saw a Monet in person. I was in New York City just four months after […]
I love writings these packets up at times: introducing people to artists and art. But sometimes, I have blind spots. Degas = ballerinas. no biggie. At least for me. But some people don’t like ballet. Or ballerinas. Like some of my friends who have classes dominated by boys. Now, I want to say that dancers […]
Note: if you are here looking for the Edgar Degas Packets, they are at the bottom. I saw an art meme the other day, which tried to give a quick-and-easy way to identify certain artists. My favorite had to be this one: So…when it came to identifying Degas, what do you think this list said? […]
I have to admire Gainsborough: he figured out a way to paint what he wanted. In a world where those who could afford a painting HAD the property they could see through the window…why would they purchase a landscape? And yet, Gainsborough LOVED to paint landscapes, so… Why not do both? And the Gainsborough landscape […]