Eeeh, how am I supposed to take critique in this situation?

[Chris Bennett]

You are getting some excellent advise here.
I can only add that:
The productions of a master are the selections made from the freedom to choose.
The productions of the novice are inevitabilites imposed by the paucity of the means at the novice's disposal.

Your teacher is there to enrich your means. Depending on the teacher they will give you everything from jewels to junk. Take it all......and then decide.

[eclectic rhapsody]

Elwell,

Good advice,

Though I haven't written off the class, which is why I'm still trying to figure out how to work with it, and still want to gather something of value from it.

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I'm really rather baffled as to why people think I feel so many different ways about this situation, while consistently excluding the way that I do feel about it. It's also rather strange how people keep arguing certain positions that I agree with, in a way that suggests that I don't, or stated that I didn't. Yes, yes, Arshes, sometimes the issue isn't the teacher, yes- which is why I'm trying to change the way that I'm approaching the class. Excluding the OP, this is probably the third or second time that I've had to state this to you. You keep posting and posting, but you don't actually don't >seem< to care about anything that I'm saying, and too much of what you're saying, and some of what other people are saying, is based on inaccurate inferences. You can ask me what I mean, and you can ask me how I feel, but I don't see how it's productive to decide these things for me. :/

[RyerOrdStar]

Because saying something is not the same as acting like you mean it. Yes you say you want to understand her, but it seems clear from your actions and the tone of your posts that what you really wanted was for us to pat your back or figure out a way for you to circumvent what she was telling you.

[eclectic rhapsody]

Well it's not.

Tone is probably the result of the emotional aspect of this- the situation is frustrating, as stated in the op, and I have a lot riding on the class as stated in the OP- I consider the situation dire; I want to resolve it.

The tone is probably also the result of me speaking bluntly.

The tone is also probably the result of the people reading it- the lack of vocal and visual cues make internet messages easier to misinterpret. It's never a good idea to just assume that you know what a person means when that thing you think they mean is not what they're saying. I think it's common courtesy to at least ask, you know?

I said before I don't want back pats, and I don't. In no way is online consolation ever going to resolve this conflict. Please, don't think I want them. I really truly don't.

[Arshes Nei]

If this thread is any indication what you and your teacher have to go through....

[vineris]

I don't think I'm as trusting of them as you seem to be. How are you able to take it at their word?

I don't just take teachers at their word, I think things out for myself.

I guess there's two things here:

- Your teacher is not 100% rational. But neither is anyone else you're going to encounter. This is why you must think critically about everything, otherwise you start believing that Nike shoes do actually make you prettier and cure foot cancer. Obviously your teacher has some bias, figure out what it is and route around it. Don't try too hard to argue with someone like this, it only makes them defensive about their position -- you want to be non-confrontational while getting information out of them.

- It doesn't cost you anything to try things out. I just go into a class without expectations. Most of the art teachers I've had haven't taught me much, I've learned by experimentation. I've made a wire model of my head, stuck cardboard together, and once I spent a week duplicating a rock texture in acrylic on hardboard. Some of those things were unpleasant, some weren't, some turned into a thing I would stick on my wall. But you know what? They ALL beat sitting in the computer lab at three in the morning yelling at SQL. I haven't lost one thing by screwing around in art class.

So I guess my advice is: be smart, ride yourself hard, and if all else fails take computer programming. You'll either get a job or a very deep appreciation for the artistic process in all its forms.

[clarithium]

I've made a wire model of my head, stuck cardboard together, and once I spent a week duplicating a rock texture in acrylic on hardboard. Some of those things were unpleasant, some weren't, some turned into a thing I would stick on my wall. But you know what? They ALL beat sitting in the computer lab at three in the morning yelling at SQL. I haven't lost one thing by screwing around in art class.

So I guess my advice is: be smart, ride yourself hard, and if all else fails take computer programming. You'll either get a job or a very deep appreciation for the artistic process in all its forms.

Dear god this is what I'm doing now D: If I could go back in time, I'd have gone to an art school.

The only thing I can offer is agreement with the post I quoted. You're in an art school, make the most of it.

[eclectic rhapsody]

Vineris,

Good points. I'm afraid I don't know what SLQ is, however.

Arshes,

You seem to have decided that I'm not worth speaking to intelligently and given that, I don't see why you still seem to think it's worth your time to speak to me at all.

[Angroc]

I kinda got lost in the thread, and I don't if anyone else have said this but:

In the world of art, it's much harder to get a definite answer to a problem. That is both the awesome aspect and the downside of art.

So in that sense, you will always end up with different teachers with different ideas and opinions about art. How unbiased a teacher can be will also vary. Some will want you to draw exactly like them, and others will make an effort to stay as unbiased as possible. Therefore, my philosophy is to stay positive, listen to their ideas, and try out their advice. Maybe you'll come to like it?

One reason why practice and quick sketching for example is so important is that you feel safe to experiment. For instance, recently I was painting a landscape, and as normal I just use my brights. But then I thought why not start slashing in the paint a bit with my palette knife? I ended up kinda liking the results.

The best way (imo) to improve and develop as an artist is to try out new things. Never feel too safe with your current techniques. As time go you will collect an arsenal of techniques you can employ for different situation. What if you end up discovering a technique or a certain colour combination?

You're a student, man. Take that oppurtinty you have and experiment before you have to start pleasing art directors. You seem to have a teacher that WANTS you to experiment. Get crazy!

[Flake]

They ALL beat sitting in the computer lab at three in the morning yelling at SQL.

I dunno, I reckon if you're serious about your subject the only real difference is what you're swearing at..

In my case, lately it's coloured vegetable oil smeared on a rough bedsheet, when it won't go where it's supposed to..
It's exactly the same feeling I used to get years ago when wanting to punch a rendertree in the face..

Edit: It's a kinda still vaguely happy , mumbley, sort of swearing I suppose, like if Bob Ross joined Pantera or something..


Eclectic : SQL = programming, usually for databases..

[BirdBirdBirdX3]

Here's what you do. Go to class early with two buckets of paint and 12 blank canvas under your arm. As the classroom is about to begin, randomly place the canvas around the studio. Confront the teacher and make a scene by yelling, "NOBODY UNDERSTANDS ME!" Then go Jackson Pollock on her ass with the two buckets of paint, splashing it around the classroom as you go.

Not only would you have 12 new wonderful abstract paintings but accomplish many of the goals asked of you.

-Canvas used
-More risk taking
-No wimpy color wash here, full color saturation all the way
-Best of all after this she won't pester you with anymore art feedback probably.

...but seriously if she's cramping your style and causing you and her grief, it's best to move on. If you post some of the class work, we can better gauge the advice your teacher has been giving you.

[QueenGwenevere]

I dunno, I reckon if you're serious about your subject the only real difference is what you're swearing at...

Probably. I think I swear at paint and code pretty equally.

Although, paint does tend to be less frustrating than code. At least when it goes wrong you usually KNOW what went wrong. As in "whoops, AGH WHY DID I JUST DO THAT!? !#$@**!!!!"

With code you get baffling, cryptic, totally inexplicable frustration. As in "Why won't it work, dammit!? WHYYYYYY!?? !$#@***!!!!!"

[Flake]

Y'know I realise it's a bit of a side issue at this point but canvas v paper, I'm assuming you dislike the springy feel of (stretched) canvas?

You could mount it to board, then you get to paint on a hard surface and it's still "paint on canvas" which seems to be the preferred medium for this course..(assuming we're sticking it out and going for a pass grade then running to the hills..)

Also, don't take this as some sort of attack because it's just an observation but going from your sketchbook, you really DO paint in a washy, barely there, watercoloury sort of way, she's right about that...
This isn't bad but it's only using about 10% of what oils can do.

It wouldn't hurt you to turn up on Monday, slap some paint on and attack the thing with a palette knife or something.

[vineris]

I dunno, I reckon if you're serious about your subject the only real difference is what you're swearing at..

While this is true, I think if I had to compile a painting before I could see whether it looked good I would quietly go mad.

Good points. I'm afraid I don't know what SLQ is, however.

It's a thing you shout at in the computer lab when you have a database assignment due the next day. That's about all you need to know, really. Replace it with any of a dozen programming languages and/or a small plague of cockroaches and the sentiment still stands.

[Flake]

While this is true, I think if I had to compile a painting before I could see whether it looked good I would quietly go mad.

You should get into 3D, this is basically how it works. (worked)

[geekery]
One of the major innovations Softimage introduced was a feature where you could just drag a tiny preview window over the scene and it would let you see if you'd screwed up that particular area before you commited to "5 hours per frame render button"..
This is kinda why multipass rendering was invented. If someone forgets to check the "Please render bounce light" box, you at least have local colour, shadows, reflections, whatever and we can paste them together later.

Traditionally, it was exactly what you described and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth, sometimes after days of rendering.[/geekery]

[eclectic rhapsody]

It wouldn't hurt you to turn up on Monday, slap some paint on and attack the thing with a palette knife or something.

That's pretty much what I did today. Paint directly from the tube onto the canvas....

But I'm actually finding that I may be repeating myself with that tactic. Like, sort of like going from one extreme to another. The only new thing that I feel like I've added was the spackling.

I think, that part of the trouble that I'm having with coming up with new things to do is that I think of all painting as being more or less the same.

But, it doesn't seem possible for that to be true.

[Flake]

Maybe try somewhere in between,
Start with your usual washy painting, then when it's slightly dried work over that with progressively thicker paint, finishing up with slightly impasto highlights.

This kind of approach is not as obsessive as say, full monochrome underpainting then 10 layers of glazes, and it's not full on "slap the paint on from the tube" either

It's a pretty solid approach that's been used by a lot of artists over the years.

[eclectic rhapsody]

That seems like the next logical plan.

Looking at it now, I also see that the paintings are also sort of uniform in the application of the paint. I've been operating at extremes, but haven't really been mixing the two extremes with one another. Mleh. D;