Favorite/Best Art instructor you've ever taken a class with and what you took away.
 

Don't know how many people have had formal art instruction, but there must be an art instructor that you wanted to take a class with or had the pleasure of taking a class with.

I'll get the ball rolling with the mention of my instructor John Clapp. He teaches Intro to Illustration at San Jose State University and I highly recommend him. After taking a class with him, I looked back on the prereq classes and felt like I could have circumvented it all by just taking his class.

He does an exercise every semester where he has students do a charcoal pencil self portrait the first week of class, and then a full blown reverse drawing the last couple weeks of class. The difference in 15 weeks is amazing. He posts up the before and after drawings in the display case the following semester and commonly hear people walking by commenting, "That drawing is pretty bad, but that other one's pretty good!" They just happen to be referring to the same person's before and after drawings.

He gave us a few mantras to remember as we continued through our education:
"Contrast is the meaning of life."
"Shadows are your friend."
"The answer to everything is squint."

He taught us what to look for in our drawings and ways to think about them. "Shapes, tones, edges."

"Correct it when you see it." This came in the middle of a foreshortening exercise when he told me to measure two distances. After which, I erased half of my drawing.

"You'll always just suck less." This was in reference to the fact that most artists can always find something to improve on any drawing they're working on and their own abilities and that you're your own harshest critic. It helps me keep a little humility when my head gets too big. I liked the saying so much, I found a sticker for him that said, "Sucks less!" :D

He also gave me the best piece of advice, which I have yet to truly take to heart, "If you drew as much as you played games, you'd be the best artist in the world." Alas, I love my gaming a little too much to give it up. ;) But being on this forum keeps me from getting rusty.

My friends and I have so much deference for him that we call him "The Great JC" behind his back.

He has an Intermediate Illustration class that teaches color theory and perspective, but I never got a chance to take that class. Doh!

He does children's books in his down time and I'm proud to say that I've been to a book signing for each one of his books..

Anyhow, that's my favorite art instructor. Next?

I've never had an art instructor, or even taken an informal class. But reading on how beneficial this guy was to you and to your artwork, you make it a very tempting thing to do.

I'll edit this later cause I don't have time to talk, but I just wanted to be sure to subscribe to the thread before I forgot. It's a pretty cool discussion.
-T

I would give anything to have concept design classes by Feng Zhu he is top notch

He does have a few DVDs released through the Gnomon Workshop. Not the same as the real thing, but better than nothing, eh?

And yeah, his work is top notch. :thumbsup:

This is easy. My formal art instruction started and ended in one semester in highschool.

Mr. Akana taught me that you have the best chance of getting paint out of your clothes if you wait until you get home to start trying to wash out the stain. You'll only do a half-assed job with the materials readily available in a classroom, and will most likely end up setting the color, not removing it.

Oh, and he also taught me about one-point and two-point perspective. Use vanishign points,and your work looks more real.

Yup. That's it. Maybe that's why I draw cartoons instead of paint masterpieces.

i only took 3 yrs of classes at a junior college & it's been quite awhile...
*scratches head & thinks*

- yes, squint! this how you best see constrast. (forget about getting wrinkles, cuz they'll be headin' your way regardless.)

- don't fall in love with your work, step back to look at the whole picture.
(this applies to so much more than artwork, too btw. in fact i tell this to my husband all the time when he's out trimming shrubbery in our yard. step back! then you can SEE that you're trimming the shrubs all lopsided.)

- buy the best paint brush & materials that you can afford.
(this also applies to much more in life than just artwork. sure, if the cheapest brush is all that you can afford, then yeah! that's better than no brush at all. buy it & paint! but the old adage "you get what you pay for" is valid with paint brushes & so much more. quality products tend to function better & last longer.)


hrmm... i guess it's been too long since my last class... if i recall more of my profs' wisdoms, i'll try to post them here. i know i walked away with much more than that - it's just been too long since i've even thought about their words.

Yeah, I found it interesting that many of the things that my art instructor told me also applied to things outside of artwork.

Don't fall in love with your work. Excellent one. :D

Mr. R: Art is subjective. No one will ever be a perfect artist as perfection is impossible and a judgement. So, no one in this class will ever get a 100.
Mr. D: (well, actually there were 2 Mr. D's who told me the same thing) You have it in you-you know how to do this. Do it.
Mr. P: No one should have been able to teach themselves this, it's an impossible program. Get your ass to school.

My Advanced Drawing professor this semester Mr. Pinkham was an excellent professor. He gave me the freedom I needed for my creativity but also pushed and challenged me. I ended up doing one of my biggest and some of my best work in his class. :D

Was in Art College for a year.. Never had the pleasure of working with an inspiring instructor, but I have some bad instructor stories..

I was working on something for work and I remembered something else my instructor told me, "Shadows define forms, highlights define texture." Another great tip. :D