Check out the variety of smiles on these student's faces.
Photo by Ingrid Galloway Candle Lady | Spa Therapist | Relationship Coach
We are psycho-physical creatures. Our mind and body are in a constant dance, mediated by chemicals and electrical impulses.
We are also social creatures, which is why I assess all new students and only those who have a positive attitude are invited back.
In the induction process I ask each student to list the physical education they have had. As well as being fundamental to the technique of painting, your use of the body has an immediate impact on your emotions and your clarity of thought.
That's why I often ask students to sit up straight!
Personally, I start each day by smiling into the mirror. As well as getting you in a good mood, it exercises the facial muscles and keeps you looking younger (I look pretty good for a 96 year old...).
At this point in a lecture on his book 12 Rules for Life, an Antidote for Chaos, Jordan Peterson talks about the relationship between posture and happiness, which was wired into our nervous system 350 million years ago.
See you soon, sitting up straight and painting with a smile!
Are you ready to challenge yourself?
Are you excited about exploring your artistic aptitudes?
My Gallery Quality Painting regular clients know this is "big-picture art education".
We cover everything from exactly how to hold a brush, to
Piaget's theory of cognitive development, and a whole lot more drawing on my half-century experience as a professional performer, author, artist and composer.
An idea
Just one way to hold a brush
So, this is not art for the complacent or the smug. You will be challenged. You will surprise yourself!
I will show you:
- How creative you already are (a lot).
- How much you already know about style.
It takes about four hours for me to prove that to you.
And in the process you will plan and execute a great painting. From scratch. No tracing. No drawing on the canvas. Actually painting in a small and focussed group, discussing the one subject.
This is how the masters learned. Give it a go!
Carpe Diem!
Latin: Carpe = hand, diem = day, so "sieze the day!"
Weekends and Wednesdays, where are we going?
As experience grows in the student body at Inglis Academy we will venture farther and farther across the rich and rewarding landscape of Western Art! The downside of that (there's always a price to pay) is that there will be far less sessions of Starry Night!
For those who in the future are going to miss out... sorry, that's life. I am a one man operator and there are no current plans to scale up (or dilute) the quality of this coaching. Act now, or carpe diem!
This is pretty unique in the world of Art teaching, and some of you really appreciate how lucky you are to be along for the ride, as I was graciously reminded by a very capable professional illustrator in a recent session.
At the moment, most weeks at IA look like figure A, mostly new students. Although last weekend we had a class with mostly intermediates, like figure B.
Class / experience breakdown
My plan is that by the end of 2018 we will be at the figure B ratio every week.
At the moment there are about 50 paintings in the syllabus, so come on Wednesday people, here is your chance to have a go at one of the less-scheduled paintings! Chances are you have already painted Starry Night? If you are interested in painting on Wednesdays This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with 4 choices from the syllabus. When I get 3 people interested I'll schedule a class.
Next week I'll talk about some of the directions the course will be taking.
I often mention Piaget when we are toning the canvas. I ask you to play with the material, as you played with the dummy in your first few months of life. Most people can't remember that, but it's worth trying to recreate that sense of play, wonder and kineaesthetic exploration.
In the induction process I also ask you about your movement training... and tell you that I don't care how long ago it was, nor how young you were when you did it!
Jean Piaget's work helped establish how important movement and touch are to the developing brain. Here is a simplified map of Piaget's stages of infant development. We travel through some of these stages again each time we paint.
I use various strategies to enhance and amplify these stages when appropriate.
Here's more detail, if you want it:
| Stage |
Age |
Description |
| 1: Simple reflexes |
Birth-6 weeks |
Coordination of sensation and action through reflexive behaviors.
Three primary reflexes:
- sucking of objects in the mouth
- following moving or interesting objects with the eyes
- closing of the hand when an object makes contact with the palm (palmar grasp)
|
| 2: First habits & primary circular reactions |
6 weeks-4 months |
Coordination of sensation and two types of schema: habits (reflex) and primary circular reactions (reproduction of an event that initially occurred by chance).
Passive reactions, caused by classical or operant conditioning, can begin. |
| 3: Secondary circular reactions |
4–8 months |
Development of habits.
Infants become more object-oriented, moving beyond self-preoccupation.
The differentiation between means and ends also occurs. This is perhaps one of the most important stages of a child's growth as it signifies the dawn of logic. |
| 4: Coordination of secondary circular reactions stages |
8–12 months |
Coordination of vision and touch—hand-eye coordination; coordination of schemas and intentionality.
This stage is associated primarily with the development of logic and the coordination between means and ends. This is an extremely important stage of development, holding what Piaget calls the "first proper intelligence". Also, this stage marks the beginning of goal orientation, the deliberate planning of steps to meet an objective. |
| 5: Tertiary circular reactions, novelty, and curiosity |
12–18 months |
Infants become intrigued by the many properties of objects and by the many things they can make happen to objects; they experiment with new behavior.
This stage is associated primarily with the discovery of new means to meet goals. Piaget describes the child at this juncture as the "young scientist", conducting pseudo-experiments to discover new methods of meeting challenges. |
| 6: Internalization of schemas |
18–24 months |
The ability to use primitive symbols and form enduring mental representations.
This stage is associated primarily with the beginnings of insight, or true creativity. This marks the passage into the preoperational stage. |
This table is a simplified version of the one at Piaget's theory of cognitive development at Wikipedia.
Original interpretations of Van Gogh's Starry Night.
The Problem
You've finished a new painting and are full of enthusiasm.
You should be. You have just created a new thing, from your own imagination you have expressed your taste and style, there is a whole lot of 'you' on that canvas. Naturally you want to share your creation with friends and family, so you post a picture on WeChat or Facebook.
The first comment you get is from a dear friend "... but don't you do originals?".
Ouch. That hurt!
Your friend means well, but still their comment really dampens your enthusiasm.
So, you spend a few minutes, or hours, or days, working out a helpful response, to try and explain what you intended in this painting. This is an energy sapping exercise.
The Solution
No, you don't do that! Don't waste your precious time and energy on dealing with this.
Your enthusiasm is a very precious commodity. Professional creative people know this. The spark of creative energy is a delicate creature, it has to be nurtured and protected from the wind.
So, what you do is: cut & paste a standard reply that you prepared earlier.
Here is a list of helpful responses to get you started. Edit, improve, and use as needed!
- Everything I do is "original", baby!
- Look again... I _am_ an original!
- Thanks, actually there is a whole lot of my style in this painting!
- Check out the original, compare it to my interpretation. See the differences? That's my style right there!
Van Gogh's original and my interpretation.
- Check out my use of line - there's a whole lot of me in there!
- Check out my use of texture - there's a whole lot of me in there!
- Check out my use of colour - there's a whole lot of me in there!
- Check out my use of tone - there's a whole lot of me in there!
- Yes, I'm developing my style very quickly by painting interpretations of the masters. What a great way to learn!
- I'm learning so much, so quickly from studying Monet, Van Gogh and Cezanne! Why not join me for a lesson and paint your own!
- Thanks, oh we all do original work at Inglis Academy! Check out these student paintings.
Original interpretations of Monet.
A student's interpretation of Monet's Waterlilies, 1916.
