Hi, my name is Trevon and I'm an art major (that sounds very support groupy, but I like it). Whenever you tell someone you're an artist somewhere down the line they inevitably ask you to draw some cool creature from their imagination, or paint a picture of their dog. I have had many such requests and each time I have had to respond the same way. "I'm not that kind of artist."
I started off my art schooling as a photo major (so when someone asks me to take pictures for them I still give the customary answer, but I follow it up by saying I can do it. As long as they don't expect to much from me). I switched over to printmaking a few years back because it was a major that really suited what I want to be doing as an artist. And it was much less about precision of process, like it seemed photography was. A lot of people don't know what printmaking is (I sure didn't, up until I was in my first day of into). I won't get into it here since this is just supposed to be an introduction, but I hear we have to comment on each other's blogs so if someone is curious I'm up for giving a little more info in the comments.
I got drawn into teaching for two reasons. The first isn't very good. I needed a way to make money and be an artist. I don't really see myself making it as a full time artist so I decided I'd be a high school teacher (that's one you don't hear very often, "I became a teacher for the money"). The second reason is better. I decided I'd be a teacher because I think I will really enjoy it. And the more I've gotten into it, the more I think I can really offer something to students in the way of expressing their personal creativity in their own way. So, I guess that's really three reasons.
A lot of the time I think art education is seen as the act of helping someone become "that kind of artist." Art classes are seen as places you go to learn how to draw realistic looking pictures, and become the next Da Vinci. Well I've had a few art classes that have helped me draw more realistic looking pictures, and I am actually really thankful for the skills I learned there, but those aren't the classes that made me really decide I wanted to peruse art. And they're definitely not the classes that made me realize that I could actually be an artist. The best art classes are the ones that let you be creative, and teach you that sometimes there aren't boundaries, and you really can do whatever you want. Those are the experiences that made me want to be an art teacher.
Now to the literacy part. Since, you know, that is what the class is about. I think literacy plays a big roll in art education. I would define literacy as an individuals ability to take in information and process it in a meaningful way. Then be able to use the processed information to gain understanding or insight that they did not have before. If you have a high level of reading literacy you can read a book, understand what was being said, and derive meaning from the messages presented. If you are mechanically literate you can take apart a working thing, look at it's components, and derive some idea about how and why it works. In art education we learn a lot about visual literacy (that's the actual term, those others I made up. Although I figure there's actual terms for them, too). Visual literacy, among a lot of other things (just like all the different kinds of literacy), is your ability to look at something and derive way more information from what you see then just what your eyes are telling you. For example, what is it's use, how was it made, does it have a deeper meaning, what is that deeper meaning, what lead me to come to that conclusion, and why the heck am I thinking so much about this. Unlike the ability to render something will, I feel visual literacy doesn't take any kind of innate talent, and is something that can be taught. It is something that can be built up and expanded upon.
Well I think that covers my bases. As you can tell I like to talk, (and I like to use parenthesis) so I'm going to hold off on the "anything else you want to say" part. Feel free to ask questions in the comments, I think that's the point of this whole thing. See y'all in class.
Hi Trevon,
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of printmaking, but after your blog, I see how some of the Caldecott books use that technique:
http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecotthonors/2004caldecottmedalhonors
I'm sure after your daughter is born, you will have a lot more of these children's books hanging around the house, and some of their artwork is incredible.
On another news, I like how you define visual literacy to see beyond what's in the image. Gunther Kress is a famous theorist who has argued that "the logic of the screen has replaced the logic of the page" in today's digital age. With this shift in mediums, he argues that being able to communicate via spatial layout and images is just as important as being able to communicate through words.
Thanks for your first posting, and I look forward to reading more as the semester progresses.
I would actually like to know more about printmaking. I've heard you mention it in a couple of our classes, but still don't really know what it is. I get what you are saying when you say you are in teaching for the money. I'm not going to move to one of the big theatre cities, so teaching is really the only way I can make money and still do what I love. Of course there are also other reasons I want to teach, but this plays a big part in it. I really like how you define literacy as "an individuals ability to take in information and process it in a meaningful way." I completely agree! To me literacy goes beyond the ability to read and write and to the ability to apply it or like you said to process it in a meaningful way. I look forward to learning more about you as the semester goes on (and don't worry I really like to talk too). :-)
ReplyDeleteTo sum up all of printmaking in one definition (which is hard because there are tons of ways to do it), basically printmaking is using some kind of matrix with an image on it, applying ink or other pigments, then using that matrix to "print" and image. Often you can do this over and over again with the same image. A very watered down example that everyone is family with is just a rubber stamp. In some ways that is printmaking. Basically in printmaking you are making your own rubber stamp... or wood stamp, or stamp etched into copper with acid, or etc., etc. I do a lot of different types of printmaking but the main one I do is called mono type. This is done by painting ink onto plexi glass and then running it through the press to transfer it to paper. I do this in lots of layers and add other techniques to create unique, non representational, prints. Well, hope that information is illuminating :)
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