Learning to Draw | Steph Lewis Blog

This entry is not just because I am an Art teacher, so I’m not trying to be some kind of a ringer and freak out about this issue. But, I do really see some serious problems with children lacking quality education. I’m not just talking about being able to finger paint when you’re a kid. I mean, really teaching people how to draw what they see, to be able to use a variety of materials, to be able to interpret visual languate, to effectively criticize the quality of visual things, to see how Art relates to history & society, etc.
I’m taking this class on Flash Animation. The teacher told us to create a simple animated garden using some of the techniques we had learned. The adults around me started complaining that they didn’t know how to draw a flower…and couldn’t they just get one off the internet instead of having to draw it? The teacher told them not to worry, that it didn’t have to be perfect, then demonstrated a simple daisy shape using the circle tool. Still there was complaining! I was amazed not only at the lack of ability to draw such a simple shape, but was more so amazed at the fear of having to draw something free hand. Even though the assignment said that the drawing didn’t have to be perfect and could be very simple.
Eventually I had a crowd of people around me looking at my flower telling me what an amazing artist I am. It was kind of funny to me because I had very quickly created flowers and filled them in with the paintbucket tool using a gradient fill. This, apparently, was a really big deal and made me some kind of genius.
Why is it that we place so little value on this kind of thing, especially when the upcoming generations are increasingly visual? Is it good that we’re teaching people to rip this images off from the internet, rather than learning how to overcome obstacles and create original work?
I even had one lady offer to pay me five bucks if I’d just draw her one quick flower. I declined the money and showed her step-by-step how to make one herself. Her flower turned out fine.
I think there is a very good possiblity that people fear a blank canvas even more than public speaking.

4 thoughts on “Learning to Draw”

That’s a good way to look at this issue. A lot of people think art education isn’t necessary, but somehow public speaking and writing skills are more essential to be a whole person. The schools I attended growing up didn’t put a lot of focus on art and I’m rather wishing that was different… now I’m taking art classes in my spare time because the little I was exposed to in college was enough to let me know what I was missing.
Its all important, and just because you can’t make money quite so easily from artistic skills, it doesn’t mean having that knowledge isn’t making you a more rounded, whole person.

Well, this is why a well rounded education is so important. People fear the unknown, so they don’t do stuff. Most of my crummy writers panic and don’t know how to do it, and people cheat because they don’t know that writing ISN’T all that big a deal. I’ve given A’s to people that started out in my class terrible writers, etc.
Knowing more, and being able to do more, builds a lot of confidence and capability in people. It makes me wish there had been some kind of mechanics class at my HS. I only have the bits gleaned from my Dad and the honest mechanics I’ve bumped into.

I think your comments also point out a generation gap that has arisen between those who grew up with computers and those who didn’t. Its surprising how many professors and graduate students in my Computer Science department have real trouble making computers work well. They just haven’t been brought up using computers and still aren’t comfortable using them. I’d venture a guess that most people could draw a rudimentary flower given a pencil and paper but have them do it on a computer and they are clueless.
(It may also have to do something with most people over a certain age learned to use a certain unstable operating system (or worse DOS) rather than the paragon of ease that is the Macintosh.

Yeah, I wish I had taken the Small Engines course they offered at my High School. I also wish that Josh had taken it and a cooking class! The kids at my school have the option of taking Metal Shop where they learn how to create all kinds of neato things out of metal (they pour into molds, weld, etc.). I think that’s also sweet. I wish that schools would really use the Jr. High time to make students dabble in everyhing. Then, in High School give them a bit more choice of where they’d like to focus in a bit. I think developing a wider base of knowledge in Jr. High is more valuable than aquiring depth in the core subjects. But, then again, I’m crazy because it’s really only about scoring high on SAT’s and getting into a good college, right? And the SAT’s don’t test knowledge in any elective area.
Our school just finished their STAR/CAT testing last week. I was talking to the metal teacher and asked if he thought there should be a metal shop section of the test. He said that it should require students to take a coat hanger and bend it into a shape based on a pre-made pattern. I thought something like that may seem a bit ridiculous, but it does make sense if we want well-rounded people in this country.

schdav on May 3, 2004 at 7:21 am said:

That’s a good way to look at this issue. A lot of people think art education isn’t necessary, but somehow public speaking and writing skills are more essential to be a whole person. The schools I attended growing up didn’t put a lot of focus on art and I’m rather wishing that was different… now I’m taking art classes in my spare time because the little I was exposed to in college was enough to let me know what I was missing.
Its all important, and just because you can’t make money quite so easily from artistic skills, it doesn’t mean having that knowledge isn’t making you a more rounded, whole person.
Neal on May 3, 2004 at 11:57 am said:

Well, this is why a well rounded education is so important. People fear the unknown, so they don’t do stuff. Most of my crummy writers panic and don’t know how to do it, and people cheat because they don’t know that writing ISN’T all that big a deal. I’ve given A’s to people that started out in my class terrible writers, etc.
Knowing more, and being able to do more, builds a lot of confidence and capability in people. It makes me wish there had been some kind of mechanics class at my HS. I only have the bits gleaned from my Dad and the honest mechanics I’ve bumped into.
Andy Fast on May 3, 2004 at 4:00 pm said:

I think your comments also point out a generation gap that has arisen between those who grew up with computers and those who didn’t. Its surprising how many professors and graduate students in my Computer Science department have real trouble making computers work well. They just haven’t been brought up using computers and still aren’t comfortable using them. I’d venture a guess that most people could draw a rudimentary flower given a pencil and paper but have them do it on a computer and they are clueless.
(It may also have to do something with most people over a certain age learned to use a certain unstable operating system (or worse DOS) rather than the paragon of ease that is the Macintosh.
Steph on May 3, 2004 at 11:01 pm said:

Yeah, I wish I had taken the Small Engines course they offered at my High School. I also wish that Josh had taken it and a cooking class! The kids at my school have the option of taking Metal Shop where they learn how to create all kinds of neato things out of metal (they pour into molds, weld, etc.). I think that’s also sweet. I wish that schools would really use the Jr. High time to make students dabble in everyhing. Then, in High School give them a bit more choice of where they’d like to focus in a bit. I think developing a wider base of knowledge in Jr. High is more valuable than aquiring depth in the core subjects. But, then again, I’m crazy because it’s really only about scoring high on SAT’s and getting into a good college, right? And the SAT’s don’t test knowledge in any elective area.
Our school just finished their STAR/CAT testing last week. I was talking to the metal teacher and asked if he thought there should be a metal shop section of the test. He said that it should require students to take a coat hanger and bend it into a shape based on a pre-made pattern. I thought something like that may seem a bit ridiculous, but it does make sense if we want well-rounded people in this country.