Lesson VI: Selecting a Subject

Posted: July 6th, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Lesson VI | 72 Comments »

G’day, students. We’re 6 weeks into the course and I’m happy to announce the details for our first fieldtrip… so get your permission slips signed and join me and director/principal Shem Andre Byron for an evening of adventure at San Diego’s Comic-Con!

There, we will debut a new lesson from “The Tutor” and answer questions about the class. The lecture will be followed by a live shadow-casted screening of REPO! The Genetic Opera, and copies of The Molting Comic will be available in the theatre. So, what are you waiting for? Pack your lunchboxes, top off your thermoses, and order your tickets today! Click on the poster below for details. Note: you do not need a ticket to Comic-Con to attend this event; it’s a separate location and independent box office.

Now, please direct your attention to this week’s tutorial: Lesson VI: Selecting a Subject:

Close your Velcro binders and zip up your backpacks, students… we’ve just completed another lesson! This week’s homework assignment is to interject a personal element into your still life from Lesson 5. This may seem simple, but it is perhaps the most challenging assignment yet…

In this class, I can teach you technical aspects of creating artwork, but I cannot provide you with an artistic “voice”.  This task is entirely yours.

You will notice that what separates great artists from plebeians is not merely technique, but visual style and motif. For Salvador Dalí, it was a moustache. For Al Hirschfeld, it was “Nina”. For Albert DeSalvo, it was nylon stockings. And for that Zdunich fellow, it’s those imperishable 6-legged pests.

What will your voice be? What can you include in your still life that is specific to you? Many of you are already demonstrating distinctive “voices” within your homework, and your still life should be no different.

This task may seem daunting, but do not fret, dearest students; we don’t need to get everything correct on our first try. Our artwork will mature with us, and so will our “voices”. All that matters is that we consider our personality as we progress so that we are not merely mimicking, but creating.

The “something special” that you add to your still life can be very simple, like a specific color or symbol, or it can be exceptionally complicated, like red pigtails, a handgun, and ruby red slippers.

I look forward to seeing your “voices” develop, students. For details on how to submit your assignment, visit the “Homework” link above.  See you next week!