Back to reality

As of today, my "home residency" is over! I've had the last 7 weeks with minimal disturbance – only one class a week, just a few scattered writing assignments -- to work peacefully in my studio, stocked with enough art supplies so that I can work in any desired size, color or media.

But today it's back to reality. This week, at the Danforth Museum School, I'm teaching a five-day drawing class, and next week a five-day fashion illustration course, both for teens. Fun assignments, granted, but not the "do whatever you like" schedule of painting in seclusion that I've enjoyed since mid-May. It'll be a change of pace, for sure!

I also have a week each of teaching watercolor, advanced drawing and self-portraits over the summer, before the fall semester begins on September 4 (colleges don't wait for Labor Day!).

Above is an example I made to show my students of the project we're going to do today. We're going to make pencil drawings of complex natural objects, and then outline them in black marker. This will teach the students the importance of careful observation and the approach of working from simplest to most complex. It will also give them practice in hand-eye coordination and the use of various dry media, and hopefully bring a sense of accomplishment when they’re done, because it’s a lot harder than it looks!