Inspiration, Steps, Objectives!

Inspiration:

I wish I was an intuitive painter, but after 40+ years of teaching art, I find that I still love
the planning steps! The planning began as a student teaching exercise and continued as my favorite method of working. So much so, that when I retired, I left behind five 5-drawer filing cabinets, filled with lesson plans. My replacement appreciated it; I hope. During my teaching years, I loved looking through art books and magazines for project ideas. This was years before the internet was even an idea! I’d see a painting and say, “That’s cool! How did they do that? So it began: first the inspiration, perhaps some art history research, then developing the plan. Now I love researching on the internet and being inspired by posts on Pinterest!

Steps:

In my lesson plans, I included the inspiration image and a few sentences as motivation. Then, I always broke the process down into numbered steps, including materials, techniques, and objectives. My goal was to give each student a handout of my lesson plan. The entire lesson needed to be clear, so that it could be sent home to an absent student without further explanation. They could see an example, follow the steps, and were clear on the objectives. This is still a useful process for me to follow, especially when it comes to identifying my center of interest and goals.

Objectives:

We all want a great outcome but is that important? The fun is in the doing. When we are clear on our objectives we can enjoy the process. Equipped with the why and how, it is time to have fun experimenting. Take risks, be bold, push the envelope and grow as an artist. Effort counts as we artists attempt to find our own authentic voice. There are no mistakes, only learning opportunities. It's only paper or canvas after all!