Listen. Look and Listen.
The recent work coming out of my color drawing students is phenomenal. They are thinking around my assignments, participating with the materials, and generally making leaps and bounds into understanding the physical properties of pastel and colored pencil (among other things).
Here are just a few of their amazing works this semester.
My work as an educator is central to just about everything in my life. I’m constantly thinking about my students, working with them, trying to make my classes better, refining various projects, and generally just trying to be present in the process of their learning. I try to hold back on over-explaining myself to them – one of my biggest problems is giving the “answer” while still explaining the premise.
In any case, it’s always good for me to look back over the academic year and see what students have made. Of course, as a Teaching professor, keeping a record of my students’ work is also key to my career. Mostly, though, I find that looking through the “best” of what they make tells me a lot about what I’m presenting to them. Sure, art is subjective in a number of ways. But it is also one of the oldest and most explored arenas in all of human history. As such it is a realm of much wisdom and meaning. How my students interpret and remix the ideas I give to them – whether those concepts are philosophical or technical – is an indicator of not only how well I have explained myself, but also how much has passed through me from those who came before.
Here are some of the works my students have made over the last year. I’ll post them roughly in the order they would appear in class… basic projects, moving into more refinement and invention.
(Note: I’m including the major of the student in question, so that you can see that most of my best students are, in fact, not Art Majors. They come from all over the academic spectrum. Art has something important to give to anyone in any course of study, and that’s a reality that used to be promoted in the academy…)
Michael Flinchpaugh (Architecture). Perspective and Accumulation Study. Graphite on paper, 18 by 18 inches. 2016.
Brittany Burnett (Architecture). Interior Space Project 1 (Art Building). Graphite on paper, 18 by 18 inches. 2017.
Shannon Henderson (Journalism). Interior Space Project 1 (Art Building). Graphite on paper, 18 by 18 inches. 2017.
Kearra Johnson (Art), Interior Space Project 2 (Jesse Hall). Graphite on paper, 24 by 18 inches. 2016.
Shannon Henderson (Journalism). Interior Space Project 2 (Jesse Hall). Graphite on paper, 24 by 18 inches. 2017.
Megan Feezer (Health Science). Interior Space Project 2 (Jesse Hall). Graphite on paper, 18 by 24 inches. 2017.
Xinyi Hu (Religious Studies). Interior Space Project 2 (Jesse Hall). Graphite on paper, 24 by 18 inches. 2017.
Michael Flinchpaugh (Architecture). Interior Space Project 2 (Jesse Hall). Graphite on paper, 24 by 18 inches. 2016.
Shannon Kling (Art). Detail of Apollo, Gallery of Greek and Roman Casts – Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri. 18 by 18 inches, 2016. Now on display at the Museum.
Emmalee Wilkins (English). Detail of Apollo, Gallery of Greek and Roman Casts – Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri. 24 by 18 inches, 2016. Now on display at the Museum.
Kearra Johnson (Art), Self Portrait at Mizzou. Graphite on paper, 18 by 24 inches. 2016.
Alex Knudsen (Communications). Self Portrait With Aliens. Graphite on paper, 18 by 18 inches. 2016.
Mia Scaturro (Art) working on a self portrait in black and white colored pencils on gray paper, 2016.
A chunk of “unicorn turd (oil pastel scrapings molded together)” collected by Color Drawing (Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced) student Sterling Labarbera (Art), 2016-2017.
Blessing Ikoro (Psychology). Grid Study 1. Chalk pastel on paper, 18 by 22 inches, 2017.
Madalynn Olmsted (Art). Grid Study 2. Colored pencil on paper, 16 by 16 inches, 2017.
Alexandra Sapaugh (Art). Complex Colored Pencil Study. Colored pencil on paper, 18 by 24 inches, 2017.
Alexandra Rowles (Health Sciences). Complex Oil Pastel Study. Oil pastel on paper, 16 by 20 inches, 2017.
Alexandra Sapaugh (Art). Complex Oil Pastel Study. Oil pastel on paper, 17 by 17 inches, 2017.
Bridget McFerren (Art, Art History, Multicultural Studies). Lunch (Wings). Oil pastel on paper, 24 by 18 inches. 2016.
Noor Khreis (Art). Reflection Self Portrait (In a sheet of bent metal). Chalk pastel on paper, 18 by 24 inches. 2017.
Blessing Ikoro (Psychology). Reflection Self Portrait (In an ice bucket). Chalk pastel on paper, 24 by 18 inches, 2017.
Madalynn Olmsted (Art). Reflection Self Portrait (In a pair of tongs). Oil pastel on paper, 15 by 24 inches, 2017.
Bridget McFerren (Art, Art History, Multicultural Studies). Reflection Self Portrait (In a chrome sphere). Oi pastel on paper, 15 by 15 inches, 2016.
Madalynn Olmsted (Art). Complex Lighting Arrangement 1. Chalk pastel and collage on paper, 18 by 24 inches, 2017.
Alexandra Sapaugh (Art). Lighting Arrangement 1. Chalk pastel on paper, 18 by 18 inches, 2017.
Alexandra Rowles (Health Sciences). Lighting Arrangement 1. Oil pastel on paper, 18 by 24 inches, 2017.
Amazing work – I can’t wait to see what they do next!
I am super excited for this semester – I’m really changing things up in Color Drawing and we started off by reinvigorating a group project from last semester. We integrate the past and boost into the future.
This group drawing is based on Normal Rockwell’s amazing Civil Rights painting, Golden Rule (Do Unto Others) piece of 1961. Click here to see more about the piece.
Here’s to an AMAZING 2017 of creativity and aspiration.
Andrew Vincent was one of my favorite students. He has a quiet presence, a quirky sense of humor, and the uniqueness that comes from arriving in middle America from somewhere else. In his case, it was South Africa. His father, a scientist and professor at Mizzou, brought his family to the US in time for Andrew to start 3rd grade. In many ways he retains a beneficial sort of otherness in spite of having lived much of his life here in Missouri.
Andrew made some amazing work for me in my Color Drawing classes, work that I have shown to several semesters of students. Here are a few of his pieces:
Andrew Vincent, Spilled Milk, Oil Pastel on Paper, 15 by 30 inches. Drawn from an image created in Autodesk 3Ds Max. 2011.
Andrew Vincent, Study After Vermeer’s The Milkmaid. Oil pastel on paper. 30 by 22 inches. 2011.
Andrew Vincent, Grid Study #1, Chalk Pastel on paper. 24 by 18 inches. 2011.
Also a gifted digital artist, Andrew has worked with Autodesk’s 3Ds Max for a while. Here is a render he created for a recent project:
Andrew Vincent, Naivety. Autodesk 3Ds Max. 1920 x 1080 PPI. Output dimensions variable. 2013.
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Andrew has taken the opportunity to move to Auburn, AL to work at the Jule Collins Smith Museum as a preparator. He’s aiming to enroll at Auburn sometime in the near future. The guy is on his way to an awesome future. I’m thankful I got to know him in my classes and in the time after he graduated… and I’m certainly looking forward to witnessing what he gets up to in his ongoing education and career. Here’s a portrait I created of him when he visited my office/studio before he left town:
VINCENT, digital drawing created in ArtRage and Sketchbook Pro on an iPad. 2048 x 1536 PPI. Output dimensions variable, 2014.
I’ve always enjoyed my conversations with Andrew, and they have always been far-ranging. We have discussed, faith, meaning, culture, humor, analog and digital drawing/painting tools and concepts, and so much more. I have the feeling we’ll have the chance for more conversation and mutual encouragement going forward.
One of the best parts of my job as an educator is getting to see my students go on to become colleagues and truly function as fellow artists. Keep going forward, Vincent!
One of the most significant relationships of my adult life has been with a former student and current colleague, Marcus Miers. Right now he’s finishing up his MFA at The University of Wisconsin at Madison, but he undertook his BFA at The University of Missouri. Marcus was among the most interesting, confusing, and outstanding students I’ve had at Mizzou. He is, so far, the only student I’ve had as an undergraduate who came back to work in the classroom with me as an assistant in the very classes in which he distinguished himself.
The semester where he worked with me as an assistant to my Color Drawing courses remains a highlight of my teaching experience. As fun as that was, however, his participation in Color Drawing as a student was more transformative to me. He consistently challenged the premise of each project. He pushed me to go beyond my standard explanations. He devoted significant time and intellectual effort to grasp as much as possible in the classroom.
At one point during his second tour of duty in Color Drawing (this time in Intermediate Color Drawing), Marcus turned away from the assignment I gave. We had been working from the model for weeks, and his work was large, energetic, and chromatically intense. Yet one day, out of the blue, he simply set up his easel outside the parachute I’d hung as a barrier to block general views of the model. I had learned to trust him, though I found it somewhat cheeky of him to ignore just about every aspect of the project I’d just assigned. I sat back and watched as the beginnings of what would – eventually – become the foundation of his MFA work began to gestate right before me.
Forgoing the figure, Marcus turned instead to direct perceptual effects. He would not turn back. Light and color, intensely dense and saturated, were the basis of his rigorous investigations. The work (here’s an example) became smaller and, oddly, more spectral. It hovered over the counter-intuitive field of non-focus that forms the basis of all representation. He was seeing through depiction toward an intensity of hue and luminosity that is basically felt rather than taught. It makes perfect sense that he would soon become passionate about Josef Albers (and in particular Albers’ notion of halation). I learned more through witnessing that single aesthetic and educational maneuver than I had in my previous years of teaching combined.
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Mar Cus (High Waters and Duct Tape)
Charcoal and Pastel on Paper, 30 by 20 inches. 2014.
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Below I’m posting three contemplations on Marcus that I made prior to the portrait above. They were created after a photo I took of Marcus at the Milwaukee Art Museum last year.
The Sublimity of the Duct Tape Painter (Portrait of Marcus Miers with Tears)
Dimensions variable, 2014. Created in Sketchbook Pro and Artrage with alterations in Afterlight. April, 2014.
The Apotheosis of Mar Cus (Portrait of Marcus Miers with a Rocket)
Dimensions variable, 2014. Created in Sketchbook Pro and Artrage with alterations in Afterlight. April, 2014.
The Artist is Absent (Marcus Missing From the Milwaukee Art Museum)
Digital painting, Dimensions variable. Created in Sketchbook Pro and Artrage with alterations in Afterlight. April, 2014.
I am so thankful that Marcus has participated in my life over the years. We have shown work together (more than once). We have traveled together. Next year I will curate an exhibition of his work at Imago Gallery and Cultural Center in Columbia, MO. Knowing Marcus (and his brother Sam) has been so rewarding, so educational, so important. I’m just grateful to get to celebrate him and share the images above with everyone.
On top of it all, it’s his birthday today. So happy birthday, sir. Thank you for your friendship and encouragement.
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To close, here’s a little throwback:
Marcus working on one of the last figure drawings he made in Color Drawing. October, 2010.
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I started this blog five years and two days ago, and one of the things I’ve enjoyed most about it is sharing the work of my students. I never try to over-sell it. Most of my students are not Art majors. Many of them have had very little art-making experience before they take my classes. Yet they always make transformational movements, always end up showing themselves things they never imagined doing. I want to share a few of my Spring 2014 students’ works and words below. They were inspirational to me this semester. All images and words shared with permission.
Tayler Newcomer, Undeclared Major. Self Portrait Study, 14 by 11 inches, Graphite.
Tayler Newcomer, Undeclared Major. Self Portrait Study, 18 by 24 inches, Graphite.
Emily Crane, Graphic Design Major, Softball. Master Copy after LeRoy Neiman, 24 by 18 inches, Pastel.
Emily Crane, Graphic Design Major, Softball. Self Portrait Off Third Base, from a M, 24 by 18 inches, Pastel.![image[1]](https://eikonktizo.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/image1.jpeg)
Blessing Ikoro, Psychology Major. Self Portrait Study, 14 by 11 inches, Colored Pencil.![image[2]](https://eikonktizo.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/image2.jpeg)
Blessing Ikoro, Psychology Major. Study of Busts of Caesar and Apollo, 24 by 18 inches, Charcoal.
Amanda Bradley, Art Major. Master Copy after Dutch Master, 24 by 18 inches, Colored Pencil.
Shayna Painter, Business Administration Major. Master Copy after Kupka, 18 by 18 inches, Colored Pencil.We’re halfway through another great semester of Color Drawing. Below are just a few examples of some of the standout work from this year. Click for higher res!
Danielle Wallace, Chalk pastel of reflections.
Emily Brewer, Oil pastel study of colored and fluid filled glass.
Emily Brewer, Oil pastel large arrangement of reflective and glass objects.
Jessica Bremehr, Colored pencil study of a lamp.
Jessica Bremehr, Oil pastel large arrangement of reflective and glass objects.
Jessica Bremehr, Chalk Pastel study of reflective surface.
Ginny Algier, Oil pastel large arrangement of reflective and glass objects.
Kevin Moreland, Chalk Pastel self portrait in a reflective surface.
Julie Bennett, Oil pastel large arrangement of reflective and glass objects.
Click HERE to see more of my posts on my Color Drawing class glory!
Glory in Color Drawing 2
Marcus, the Assistant, casts chroma
Null’s large drawing in anamorphic distortion
The array of shadows in Color Drawing 1
And another view…
The box, electric.
Did I mention that I love teaching Color Drawing? Epic, every semester. Stay tuned for good shots of current students’ works.
Beginning Color Drawing, first week exercises…
This group seems really dedicated and interested… here’s hoping for some epic work this semester!
Every semester I have to make more posts about how awesome my Color Drawing classes are.
Above: Marissa Valentino’s amazing Colored Pencil drawing of a head from our group project.
Students assembling one of our large group drawings.
Hannah and Vincent hard at work on a final figure work for the course.
Emily Armstrong’s 44 by 30 inch figure drawing in progress on the easel. You can see our parachute stage setup there behind. We love that parachute!
Above and below: A selection of drawings from the second half of the semester we pulled out for a group crit – some in progress, others complete. Overall a great effort by my students this year!
India Watts working on her Matisse master study.
The final group project installed in one of the stairwells at the University of Missouri.
eikonktizo 
