Recently I had the pleasure of teaching a series of painting classes, held at the Art Center Manatee in Bradenton Florida. Like countless art classes around the word, there was an instructor, some easels and a variety of students with a wide range of experience and ability.

 

Unlike a lot of those classes, I felt it was important to get started right away with the paint, so in my class we jumped right in, painting first and asking questions later.

 

Initially there were two separate classes, Oil Painting With Expression and Expressive Painting From Photographs. After a while, these two became combined into one. At one end of the large studio, I set up a still life and at the other, people were painting from Photos.

 

This arrangement worked very well. The still life people could work from photos if they wished and the photo people could try their hand at painting from life. There was a free flow between the two and everyone benefitted from seeing what the others were doing.

 

It also reflected a conviction I hold that a painter should do both, work from life and from either photos or imagination. Even painters who are working in abstraction benefit from painting from life some of the time.

 

During these revolving class sessions, I taught the basics of working with paint, how to scale up a sketch or photo to a larger canvas and the basics of perspective, color, tone, composition and style. I kept encouraging them to observe, to really see what they were looking at, whether a still life or a photo.

 

I also gave demonstrations showing how I begin a painting. continuing to work on my canvas in between walking around, helping people with their paintings.

 

I quickly discovered that they each had a very different way of learning. Some wanted me to show them what I was talking about with a brush on their canvas, others didn't want me to touch their piece at all. My job became trying to look through their eyes and understanding their needs.

 

My goal from the beginning was to help them become better artists.

 

These students were a revelation for me. They were from so many different backgrounds, all unified by being in my class and in wanting to paint better. I found them all interesting, as they told me their stories. I learned from each why they were pursuing painting and what it meant to them. In some cases, it was very moving.

 

To some, it was a life-long dream to make art. I heard how some put aside their desire to paint in order to raise kids or have a career. A few were young and aspiring to be professional artists. Others saw painting as a thing to do in retirement, something fun and challenging. To a few, it was a lifeline.

 

I understand that last one very well. Art has been my lifeline from time to time, saving me from depression and from myself. Whenever I turned to art, life reconstructed itself into the proper order and then, into joy.

 

I believe that when we put our minds to painting, dance, music, or any of the arts, we are making the world a better place. And, in the process, we are making ourselves better, too.

 

Watching my students working away at their easels, I felt a kinship with them, as if we were all fellows in a big experiment to see if life can be made better through art. As I watched their paintings improve, I was profoundly moved and honored to be their instructor, even for a short while.

 

 

 

The paintings shown were all done in my classes as demonstrations. They are all 16 x 12 inches, oil on canvas