Online vs. Onsite Art Education

The other day, someone asked me how the online program at the Academy of Art University compares to the onsite program. Tuition is the same but the cost will likely be cheaper if you do it online. This is primarily due to the fact that you won’t have to deal with the high cost of living in the San Francisco Bay Area. The AAU online program also benefits the working professional who doesn’t live close to a good art school, have health challenges or live in a part of the world where art education isn’t possible. The online program allows these individuals to get a degree while still maintaining their employment and their place of residence. Furthermore, online classes are more flexible making it easier work around a busy schedule. 

Having taught classes in both the online and onsite programs, I’ve noticed some challenges students face along with the mentioned benefits. Although online tools are getting more sophisticated, interactions with the teacher and other classmates are not only less personal but also make it more difficult for the student to develop lasting professional relationships with their peers and instructors. Additionally, there is a difficult barrier to climb when demonstrating technique. Evaluating a painting online is not much different than onsite but it is difficult to demonstrate the tactile nature of paint and address technical issues that each student faces (color temperature, impasto, glazes, etc.).  This is because the teacher doesn't have the ability to watch the student paint or see their process.  Furthermore, a technique that could be shown in five minutes using the student’s brushes and paint takes much more time to describe in words and/or audio alone. The other disadvantage is that you don’t have a formal class time. Just like effective exercise habits, (you tend to exercise more if you have a set time and a jogging buddy) a formal class structure will push you to develop your skills and voice as an artist.  Having a live class helps motivate you to do things that perhaps you wouldn’t do alone. Online classes are still working to develop better methods in order to stimulate the same dynamic.

The self-motivated student who already has a working knowledge of materials and techniques should be fine in an online environment. However, a student that doesn’t have much experience will struggle figuring some of the assignments and instruction. My personal recommendation is if you live close to a decent art school I would attend onsite instead of online but if you don’t have that luxury then online is perhaps the next best thing.

Artist Materials and Techniques

Each semester at the Academy of Art University we have a class where we talk about materials.  It is a fun topic at times but it can also be exhausting as well as a big time and money waster. That is because there are so many choices out there and it can often be confusing on what to buy. In an effort to help save you time and money I will periodically review some products that I recommend. For convenience, I have begun to list some books and products on my blog sidebar.

Last week I tried a set of Fastmatte colors made by Gamblin. The Fastmatte colors primary advantage is the quick dry time. This is especially nice in the winter where paintings can take weeks to dry. They are a touch stiffer and stickier than regular oils but have a nice body and potency. (One thing to note is that they have a slight odor due to the alkyd resin additive, so use adequate ventilation.) These paints work well for initial paint layers, especially if you want to start dry brushing and scumbling an hour or so after you begin. If you like a bit longer dry time, I have found that just using the FastMatte Titanium White with regular oils helps to speed up and even out the dry-time of the entire painting, allowing you to “oil up” in subsequent painting sessions without worrying whether some of the areas in the painting are dry or not. I also recommend trying the Windsor and Newton Fast Drying White to see which one works best for you.

Edgar Payne: The Scenic Journey

Edgar Payne: The Scenic Journey will be opening February 11, 2012 at the Crocker Museum in Sacramento. There will be a PBS documentary and book published along with the show. I've been looking forward to this one for awhile.


 

Watch Edgar Payne: The Scenic Journey on PBS.  See more from KBDI.

Beauty and Belief

 

A friend recently asked me how my beliefs influence my art. Articulating subtle impulses and emotions is a difficult thing to do.  However, in an effort to bring a bit more clarity to what I personally consider an important topic, I will attempt to express some of my thoughts on the subject.

            The question isn’t new.  Great artists of the past such as Corot and Inness had a deep connection to nature and saw their art as a spiritual pursuit. George Inness said: "The true end of Art is not to imitate a fixed material condition, but to represent a living motion,” and added "the intelligence to be conveyed by it is not of an outer fact, but of an inner life."  In the painters mind these Swedenborgian beliefs of “inner life” and “living motion” are given a higher priority than ocular observations and other temporal aspects of nature. These beliefs had a profound influence in both Inness’s choice of subject and manner of painting. Although our beliefs don’t completely match up, I do believe that there is a spirit in all living things and it is this spirit that animates and gives life, meaning and significance to the forms, textures, colors in the natural world. However I don’t stop there, the inner light and significance of these form is coupled by the equally significant what I call the “outer light” given by our sun. The additional focus on outer light adds for me an extra layer of meaning and study in my work and inspires me to see beauty in even the most mundane things. In this sense I’m not trying to see beyond the temporal world toward a more transcendent beauty but instead seeing the spiritual and temporal as a marriage where both play an equal and important role in my work.

Corot expressed similar feelings when he stated: “Beauty in art is truth bathed in an impression received from nature. I am struck upon seeing a certain place. While I strive for conscientious imitation, I yet never for an instant lose the emotion that has taken hold of me.”  The balance between the “conscientious imitation” and “emotion” is where I feel significance and beauty lie. 

Some wonder why, at the beginning of the 20^th century, serious art was no longer made to be beautiful and in many ways beauty in art was to be eventually despised and rendered insignificant. Perhaps it was due simply to a loss of belief.

I understand in a post-modern world where secularism is king, my belief in God, spirit, and beauty could be seen as heresy or at best naïve. However, if we wish to advance as a society and turn the tide of pollution and ugliness that exist today, perhaps we need belief and beauty as never before.

Central Valley Painting

Valley Floor 30" x 40"

A couple months ago I flew over the Central Valley near Sacramento to capture views of the agricultural fields.  Up until that point I did all my field paintings from a mountain or hill vantage point. Most of those pieces were done from Salinas, Utah, Idaho, and Colorado. The central valley in California doesn't have many nearby hills that have views of the valley so I needed to find a pilot to get me there.  In painting this subject I wanted to capture both the light and color I saw from life but I also wanted to blend modern and traditional elements in the painting. Combining an abstract design quality with a dimensional sense of space is what I was after in this particular piece. This painting is the first large piece that I've done on this subject.

Oh Be Joyful Gallery in Crested Butte, CO

Water Music 24" x 30"

I intended to do a larger waterfall painting after spending three weeks in Colorado a year ago but never got around to it. It was quite a hike to get to this particular set of falls and I have wanted to do a larger piece ever since. I spent another three weeks in Colorado this year gathering more reference and finally made the time to work on this studio piece. In this particular spot the rock formations were dark, rough and jagged and I loved the juxtaposition to the white cascades and sumptuous foliage. The painting will be available at the Oh Be Joyful Gallery Holiday Show in December. 

Photographing Artwork

Photographing artwork is tough especially if your work has a painterly quality and subtle color relationships. I'm always looking for ways to improve the digital image quality and recently, the folks at Oh be Joyful Gallery in Colorado did a nice job photographing my work. It is difficult for me to know from one computer screen to another and before I go and buy a new lens and polarizing lights let me know if you like the look as much as I do.  Thanks!

"Overlooking the Town" 9" x 12"

"Long Term Parking" 9" x 12" (Sold)

"Sacred Stones" 8" x 10"

"Nestled Cabin" 9" x 12" (Sold)

"Rainy Nights" 8" x 10"

"Judd Falls" 12" x 9"

"Between Rain Storms"  9" x 12"