Art Teacher Talk
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Perspective is a funny thing. We can choose to see life from any angle. A situation can be seen as a total disaster or as an opportunity for growth. People are no different. Students roam the hallways with all kinds of labels – they may as well be pinned to their shirts. “This student works […]
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Learning to draw with Negative Space is key to a strong foundational skill set for young artists.The Art Element Space – Negative Space – is so important when it comes to observational life drawing. We use Negative Space to see, discern and render objects. This space gives us the ability to assess relationships between objects […]
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How to gets art kids motivated, interested, creating, and confident, can be a REAL challenge. The apathy on the art room battlefront is palpable. This has to be (in my humble opinion) the biggest challenge for any art teacher at any grade level. We fight constantly against the forces of evil – CELLPHONES, class interruptions, chatting, tiktok, […]
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Two Important Steps for Success. In the beginning of my Art Teacher journey, teaching colored pencil techniques to beginners meant passing out some cool images of holiday ornaments and posting a two week deadline and waiting for the magic to happen. Oh, it happened alright…but it wasn’t magic. It was 3 kids out of 30 […]
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Life Drawing is our End Game. As I mentioned in the last blog post, I teach Drawing on a scaffolded approach. Line first, then Shape, then Value, then Color and so on…we add drawing “tools” to our artist toolbox one skill at a time. This is a foolproof Drawing scaffold for students at the middle […]
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The Importance of Relevant Art PD Art Workshops that provide relevant training for educators are an absolute must. Especially in the post-pandemic era. More than ever before, people are being placed in teaching positions that they are not equipped for – and not just Art Teachers. It’s happening across the board. These teachers need support […]
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Teaching Colored Pencils on a scaffold builds confidence that leads to engaged and driven students. That may sound simple or it may sound impossible, but it definitely works. And not for just middle and high school artists. I use this approach when I teach adults. Small steps. Big victories. Investment. Success. I’m starting to see […]
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The Value of Using a Grid & The “Shoe Frenzy” I love to teach Drawing. Especially pencil drawing. All those gorgeous values, transitions and edges moving around in the composition at the same time. It’s pure art magic. It’s also the quickest way to grab your art students’ attention and keep it for the rest […]
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A simple soft serve ice cream drawing as a catalyst for student behavior- it sounds so simple. I’m here to tell you that it’s not only simple, it’s possible. Skills build confidence, which leads to investment and buy-in, and this leads to positive behaviors all throughout your middle or high school art classroom. Today we’re […]
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I see a lot of teachers on the shared platforms discussing the drastically reduced work ethic among students. I hear people asking what to do about this and I hear people pleading for answers to the question, “Why don’t the kids care?” I’m here to tell you that they do care. They want to do […]
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