Who to Study With?

[Joan Breckwoldt]

Hi Pat,

Maybe he would be open to you bringing a model and maybe some of the other students would want to split the fee for the model. Perhaps others would want to learn to paint from a live model too. That might be something to discuss with him. Of course, he might have some reason why he doesn't want a live model around??? Let me know how it goes tonight.

Either way though, you could still probably learn a whole lot from him. Does he mainly paint from photographs? I would ask him how he expects you to learn to the best of your ability without learning to paint from a live model. It would be interesting to hear what he has to say about that, especially since he is such a succussfull portrait artist.

You could also consider taking the classes from him AND spending a few hours a week painting your neice and her friends if that's something that might work for you.

Good luck, I'll be curious to hear how this turns out,

Joan

[Patricia Joyce]

Just to let you know how last night went, meeting this portrait artist who takes students individually.

His paintings are beautiful, very realistic. His house is full of oils and pastels. However the newest painting hanging in the house is almost 15 years old. But it is a beautiful portrait which I immediately recognized as one I had seen at a show several years ago. It really stuck in my mind and I was so suprised to be standing in front of a piece I remembered falling in love with. He could have sold me then and there, but then his students started to arrive . . .

His studio is a family room-turn classroom with good easels and good lighting. About ten easels were set up and I was there until his students came, an interesting range of ages from gradeschool to middle age. A couple of them had some very nice pastel portraits going which were commissions. Some of the other students' work was pretty weak. One girl was drawing from a magazine pic of Julia Roberts - yuck!

He showed interest in my drawings and asked if I was getting commissions, what was I charging, etc. He told me what he felt I could charge. Well, this is not exactly what I care about right now. I want to grow as an artist more than I want to earn money (though I would never turn down a chance to make a buck here or there!!) He waxed on about how successful his students are at making a living off their art. I asked why he does not have a live model in his class anymore (he had told me he used to, years ago) and he said it was because everyone was interested in working on their own commissions with their reference photographs. He said he does not just teach you how to paint realistic portraits but he helps you start your own business.

I saw that several students had terrible reference photos - studio photography, magazine pics, flash photos! That's when I figured this was not the guy for me!

I would rather save my $30/week until I have enough to take a class with Marvin!!

And so it goes . . .

[Timothy Mensching]

...

[Mike McCarty]

Patricia,

Earlier I was going to say - If you see his paintings and say to yourself "gee I wish I could paint like that," then this guy might have something to teach you.

It may be that this fellow is doing all he can to make a living. This may mean that he take on the occasional dunderhead. It could be that in spite of all that you saw, you could extract good and useful things from this man.

[Chris Saper]

At the risk of being self-serving, I think you should study with me.

The workshop I'm teaching this fall, "For Love or Money: Portraiture and the Pursuit of Excellence", addresses painting skills, business skills, and focuses on a combination of working from the live model, and photos. That means getting your own your photo resources under control.

There are advantages in studying locally with a strong teacher, and there are advantages to taking focused workshop study - which I don't think should be done more than twice a year. It takes a long time at the easel to decide what will work for you, and what won't.

You can download a brochure here: http://chrissaper.com/events.htm
I have one opening left in November.

[Kimberly Dow]

Patricia - I think you did the right thing (just my 2-cents).

Chris - your workshop runs a month or so every Monday? So this is not something someone could go to who lives far away. This sounds like one I would be interested in, but it would have to be condensed into a week....keep me posted if something like that comes along.

[Marvin Mattelson]

Patricia, I think you made a good decision too. Who you study with ultimately depends on what your goals are. If you want to learn the technique of oil paintings and copy photos there are many people who would qualify as good teachers. If you want to learn to be a successful business person and self promoter you can also follow the lead of many.

If you want to learn how to interpret and recreate the illusion of three dimensionality on a flat surface you need to be taught to paint and draw from life. This is an all encompassing lifetime study which rewards those who succeed with incredible satisfaction each step along the way.

If you want to learn oil painting then go to someone who teaches that specifically.

You can certainly judge a teacher by the quality of the work of the students but seeing some students of lesser talent doesn't necessarily mean anything. More importantly you should judge the kind of progress that each of the students makes and continues to make even after they finish their study.

Because someone is a good artist doesn't mean they are necessarily a good teacher. In fact, this can sometimes be a liability. Many good artists create great paintings in spite of their approach based on intuition and natural talent. Those two things can't be taught. The best athletes don't usually make the best coaches. If you do find someone who is both you are in a very unique situation. Both teaching and the ability to perform are rare indeed.

Also be wary of teachers whose students' work lookvery much like their own. They are not teaching painting but merely technique. The test of a great teacher is that the students they teach develop as individuals and not clones.

Good luck.