Translation to Teaching

One of the most important things I learned this week was to focus on play and “playing with purpose” both in my creative process and my teaching. Both the sketchbook and printmaking class had an element of mystery. The enthusiasm, flexibility, and transparency of the teacher(s) created an attitude that everything is possible, and reminded me how exciting it is to remain curious and constantly explore the creative process. I hope to take this attitude back into my classroom. The exercises that enforced this playful and exploratory way of drawing were the “mystery object drawings” (touch drawings) and the memory drawings. Both pushed me out of my comfort zone with drawing. For the mystery object we had to touch an unknown object and translate that sensation into a drawing. Usually when I draw I aim for realism and get frustrated if I can't reproduced the correct proportion, texture, or angle of the object. By not looking at the object we were drawing I could not get stuck in my desire and expectation for realism. I loved how Lauren walked us through the memory drawing by asking us to mentally recall a family portrait and our favorite dress. I typically rely so heavily on observational drawing, I feel like I can’t draw it if I can’t see it. In these exercises I learned to mentally picture the image or object and focus on that while I was drawing. With the dress drawing we closed our eyes for much of the process so the end result was an abstract and wonderful surprise. We could then work back into the image making choices and changes, but I really like the initial image because it seemed so "free" and "unrestrained." I think I will use both these exercises to give my students a new connection to drawing. It made me less fearless and forced me not to “over think” my work. Many of my students get nervous about drawing so I hope by adapting these methods to my printmaking classroom I can introduce my students to a new approach to drawing that is focused on playing and being open in the creative process. I plan also to try the blindfolded partner drawing and one-minute sculpture figure drawings. In the past I have avoided my student’s fears of drawing by allowing them to trace images, but I realize now how freeing drawing can be and how it can be a truly unique tool for expressing the self.