top UK artists lament decline of drawing classes

[WFMartin]

You may or may not have known that Rob Howard is deceased. He and I were the same exact age, give or take a day, or two. I really miss the Cennini Forum. He had some really excellent artists contributing to that site, and we all learned a great deal, i believe.

 

[musket]

I'm aware that Rob is no longer with us. I entirely agree about the Cennini Forum. I'm not even an oil painter in the 2D sense. I still learned a lot there. And yes, there were quite a few painters there who were serious business. I may already have mentioned that Rob once inquired about the price of one of my pieces. Too much for him, but nevertheless I consider it an extremely high compliment that he asked at all.

 

[stlukesguild]

I have found that I've had to constantly show my older works to people (meaning other artists with this same viewpoint) in order to prove that my latter works had some kind of value or worth. Truthfully, it's hurtful and tiring.

I wouldn't take it too hard. There are still those who feel that they can only be certain of the artistic seriousness of Picasso due to his early teen work:

There are many who have little ability in discerning the merits of old master paintings (beyond technical facility) just as much as there are those who can't appreciate a good... or even a great work of Modern Art.

 

[stlukesguild]

I too think it is a shame that some academies are failing to teach students the basics of drawings, or the fundamentals of art, but I have also seen many schools go through "phases" of pendulum swings, where they get too conceptual or even lazy about teaching that stuff, and churn out artists that get stuck not knowing much about drawing. They'll know a lot about art theory and contemporary methods only, which does them no real good--unless that was what they were solely after, in which case, money well spent?

I also think it's up to these students to do their homework. Find out which schools are stronger in teaching the classical, traditional methods, and which ones might lean towards being overly contemporary. Some have a great balance of both. It can depend on who the chair of the department is.

To a degree, I agree. Of course how many students do that much research into the college they plan to attend? Many fail to really even research the loans they are getting themselves into. I have long had a problem with colleges making the assumption that their role is to promote the latest art theories. As one of my art school professors pointed out, by the time you see the train it's already going past.

I remember CalArts going through a lot of phases over the years. They used to be one of the greatest schools in the nation, then they hardly taught any skills during the 70s and 80s, now they have gone back to being better about it. They have better teachers I guess that are less obsessed with design and concept.

Eric Fischl was a Cal Arts grad. He admitted that he was taught next to nothing about drawing in the traditional sense. His early figure paintings show his lack of a basic grasp of form and space:

He really made it by becoming the "bad boy" cause célèbres of 1980s art. Over time he put forth the effort to teach himself how to draw and paint far better:

I've read of other artists having the same experience. Jim Dine admitted to feeling guilty about his success when all he was doing was rolling around in paint (Happenings were his thing) while there were so many artists he greatly admired who could paint him under the table... yet were wholly ignored. He eventually took a sabbatical to simply focus on drawing.

 

[Artyczar]

That's interesting, because the main artist that I know the CalArts info from (in regards to the 1980s), dropped out of the program during those times. He went on to be a very talented figurative artist. He was a mentor of mine (of sorts), and his mentor was Helnwein. They were both hyper realists and both their work was rather controversial, but in very different ways. Of course Helnwein was/is successful and my friend was more infamous for something else, which he's never been able to shake, but they were both equally talented as artists.

I took an orientation tour of the campus when I was 17, hoping I would be able to go there one day. I went with another friend of mine, and when we were done with the tour, I thought to myself: I'll never be able to afford this place. I won't have the opportunity to go here. My friend (of the same family economic background) said: I don't care what it takes, I'm going to graduate from this place. And she did. She was in the animation department and wound up winning a student academy award for her thesis film. If I was living at home, maybe I could have qualified for a few loans and went there too, or somewhere (one of the many other schools I was looking into), but things turn out the way they do, and such is life.

I hear what you're saying about students not researching their schools, but I did, and my friends did. I didn't think of someone not looking into a school before they started getting their loans in place, especially because parents have a lot to do with that stuff and I'd think the parents would want to invest their time in knowing about the programs they are helping their kids with. Don't they usually co-sign these loans? If the parents are in too high of an income bracket, don't they pay for their kids to go to these schools with their savings? I'm not saying kids don't pay at all. I believe my animation friend got some loans and a scholarship, but that did not cover it all by any means and she worked many hours while she went to school, and full time during the summers. Any of that would warrant some research that one is going to the right school.