Sahra,
Being an art/drawing educator must be really difficult at times and I 
don't envy the art tutor's job.  I am not a drawing academic but I have 
found that attempting to link any theory and practice is often 
nonsensical.  When it does link, it tends to occur without any conscious 
recognition that it has or afterward if a tutor provides their 
constructive feedback.  The drawing may not turn out to be a masterpiece 
but it's important that an individual can move on to the next 
composition with relative ease.  I can assure you, that does not always 
happen.  Sometimes, I have started to draw a subject and then found 
myself annoyed that it isn't turning out as I'd wished and either it's 
scrapped or just put down to experience.

People learn at any stage of life, no matter what the subject matter 
is.  Julia Morrisoe's points about what to do with the skill and how 
does it further goals are really valid questions.

You are welcome to view some of my past conceptual and exploratory 
drawings at http://thetrilbydrawingroom.typepad.co.uk which is being 
updated as and when I get the time.

Good luck in your drawing research.
Waqas.

Sahra Kunz wrote:
> hello:
> Thank you for your replies:
>
> My academic background training was as a painter, and I found (and still find) that the initial stages of teaching drawing should focus more on the rational aspects, such as learning to observe reality, and place yourself objectively in front of it.This was never the case when I was at university, the focus lay on expression and artistic qualities.
> My theoretical work is heavily based on John Willats, and also computer vision experts such as David Marr, Irving Biederman, and others.
> I hope to find a common rationale (art and science) in order to improve my teaching skills, and perhaps even explain certain common representational errors this way.
> I have found that explaining the underlying visual processes to students is often helpful when trying to explain things like perspective (they often refuse to believe it, even when observing it directly).
> Has anyone else tried this approach?
> Thank you
> Sahra 
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: The UK drawing research network mailing list on behalf of Ronette Pickering
> Sent: Thu 5/31/2007 12:32 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Teaching Drawing to Adults
>  
> Hello Sahra
>
> I have been teaching figure drawing to community groups since 1993 and 
> continue to do so now that I am retired from teaching in full time art 
> programmes. My students choose to come  to the class because they are 
> interested and they come with a range of experience from complete beginners 
> to those who have been attending my classes for years and who may or may not 
> be involved in their own art practice.  The students range in age from 17 to 
> 80 years of age and include both men and women.  I use both male and female 
> models, some of whom are also artists.
>
> These students come to the class for a variety of reasons. They want a 
> challenge, they want to learn to draw, they want extra drawing practice, 
> they want to improve their ability to see, they want to use drawing 
> particularly in their practice,  they want to find new ways to interpret the 
> figure, they want to get out of the house, they want to think of things 
> other than the needs of their family, they want to have time for themselves 
> where they can be completely absorbed, they may be teachers who want to be 
> told what to do and not think at all for a change ...
>
> So I need to be able to cater for the needs of each of them within a three 
> hours class.  I do this by choosing drawing activities that are challenging 
> for all students whether they have drawn before or not. I have used books by 
> Robert Kaupelis - Experimental Drawing, where there are numerous useful 
> drawing exercises (eg drawing blindfolded); Kimon Nicolaides - The Natural 
> Way to Draw (eg flash drawings); Daniel Mendelowitz - A Guide to Drawing; 
> Nathan Goldstein - The Art of Responsive Drawing, and Figure Drawing- 
> Structural Anatomy and Expressive Design of the Human Form ...  and many 
> more, as well as devising my own exercises.
>
> I also constantly revisit basic drawing approaches, teach the basics but 
> suggest to experienced students more challenging ways to achieve them.
>
> With new students, I find once I have convinced them that they everyone can 
> draw, themselves included, they are off. So it is important , at the start, 
> to provide drawing exercises where success is almost guaranteed in terms of 
> producing a pretty good rendition of what is before them, which is what most 
> beginners want to do.
>
> It is important to be positive but also to give constructive criticism. 
> What do you think works really well in your drawing? How would you do this 
> if you could have another go at it? What would you change? A feedback 
> session where everyone talks about their work is where students learn a 
> great deal and although it is optional everyone seems to want to show their 
> work and get feedback on it from the rest of the class.
>
> Once people can fulfill their own aspirations they are happy to be 
> expressive and experimental and widen their view of what drawing can be. It 
> helps to show drawings of all sorts that stretch the preconceptions as well 
> as good master drawings of the more conventional kind.
>
> Hope this may be useful.
>
> Ronette Pickering
> Nelson NZ
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Jan White" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2007 8:01 AM
> Subject: Re: Teaching Drawing to Adults
>
>
> Morning Sahra,
> I teach freehand drawing to senior year architecture students, some of
> whom, strangely, have few drawing skills. I have also taught extensive
> adult drawing classes. I agree with David that the most important
> barrier to learning to draw is fear. I always point out that if one has
> eye-hand co-ordination, one CAN learn to draw. Betty Edwards has some
> good exercises which I have also used for beginner adults: drawing a
> complicated line drawing upside down and so on. They are always amazed
> to find that, yes, they can do it, and very well at that. Good luck with
> your project - let me know how it goes and let me know also if I can
> have a copy of your thesis when you get to bind it. My other passion is
> 'what drawers and artists/ writers 'saying'? Many of us will be very
> interested in the findings of your research project so keep us posted,
> my email is: [log in to unmask]
> Best wishes,
> Jan White
> www.geocities.com/jmwh8981/index
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: The UK drawing research network mailing list
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sahra Kunz
> Sent: Thursday, 31 May 2007 2:01 a.m.
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Teaching Drawing to Adults
>
> Hello:
>
> I am a doctorate student/university drawing teacher in Oporto
> (Portugal),
> and I am Writing my Doctoral Dissertation on the problems young adults
> face
> when trying to learn how to draw realistically (without previous
> experience). I have an extensive bibliography on the same subject,
> related
> to children and their development in this subject (Matthews, Willats,
> etc.).
> So far, it has been very difficult to locate similar research, but
> related
> specifically to older subjects.
>
> I would appreciate any help immensely.
> Thank You
> Sahra Kunz
>
>
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