Who to Study With?

[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.

[Chris Saper]

Pat and Kim,

I do teach a weekly class, but I am also conducting two one-week workshops, four students per class. To download the brochure from my website, you just have to click on the Acrobat pdf icon.

Information is also posted here:
http://forum.portraitartist.com/showthread.php?t=4525

[Sharon Knettell]

Who to study with?

Hmm..., it would seem in my often not too humble opinion, what your point of view in terms of art is and what it is you want to achieve.

Do you want to make art or use your concept of it as the quickest route to an imagined commercial success.

Do we want instant applause for the easy and from the easily charmed or do we want to go deeper and perhaps take risks and risk having your work disregarded.

Do what we want to add to the enormous pile of human effort, something of value or another trifle.

There are those teachers who demand a lot and those who are comforting and ready back patters.

Who indeed to pick.