You may already know that I am a short way through a very long art degree course.
I have mixed feelings about the course so far. On the one hand there is no question that I have learned so much about technique and perspective, but on the other I can't help but question the modern way of teaching which seems to focus more on imagination than skill.
Having completed my first year, as instructed I mounted all of my work and put it into a portfolio, before sending it off to the University for assessment.
Before sending it, I took it to show my new tutor, just to get his opinion on whether it was displayed correctly.
I was rather baffled, because he flicked through the portfolio, barely commenting any of the work I am most proud of such as my Fish on a Plate, Still Life with Shells, my portrait of Codi... the list goes on. All of this was the work of which I was the most happy with and of which a lot of work had gone in to.
So - there he was, flicking past them, barely raising an eyebrow, before coming across this one and saying...
'Ah! Now I really like this!'
© Sandra Busby. Mixed Media.
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Can someone explain please???
This was initially an A3 sketch that went wrong. My son came in to the bathroom and honest as kids are, he said - 'Mum, that is rubbish!'
I was amused by his honesty (though maybe I should teach him a little more tact!) and I told him that since he had not long had a shower, it would probably look more like the bathroom if I simply threw a bucket of water over the paper!
It was this flippant remark that gave me an idea; Rather than wasting the paper, I decided to use the awful sketch to play around with some paint and to have a little fun and experiment - and what you see above is the result.
I called it 'View from Behind the Shower Screen' and I decided to put it in my Portfolio, just to show some more 'experimental' work. But - I never expected it to be seen by my tutor as one of my best pieces!
Maybe I am missing something - I mean, it seems that if I put half the amount of work in to my paintings, ignore the rules of perspective, and try to paint something as poorly as possible, that this could well be what helps me to achieve a Degree - and quite honestly it would take me a third of the time too!
For those of you that haven't already seen these, here is just a small selection of the paintings/drawings he didn't look at for more than a second...
© Sandra Busby
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© Sandra Busby
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© Sandra Busby
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Am I wrong to think that these are better than the one he really liked?
Don't get me wrong, I love to experiment - Take my recently posted abstract for example; This was not for my course but more as a fun thing to paint, just for me - but now I think I should actually use it as part of my course!
It seems that these days, imagination is far more important than technical skill.
In fact, it seems that by sawing a cow in half, or painting a portrait of a dead human being, it is this 'shock' factor that gets an artist noticed! Hats off to them for their vivid imagination, but that's just not a place I could ever go.
Maybe my own drawings are simply too predictable.
In fact - I have made a decision - I am going to make my next required still life far more imaginative! There, I have said it - So watch this space!
I am awaiting my results for the first year of the course as we speak. They should arrive in the next couple of weeks. Fingers crossed that I have passed regardless - and though I now know what they are looking for, I am determined to develop my own style and not be too influenced by what someone says I 'should' be doing!