What happens in an art class?

[Elixias]

Well, basically... art is not a compulsory subject in Singapore (or anywhere else in the world, but...), and we hardly did any proper art at all. So, it really puzzles me (rather curious I may add),

What goes on in an art class?

At the moment, I can only imagine a classroom, with a model/table of still life in the center of the class, people working busily behind the canvas, and the instructor going around to give his/her advice. Perhaps the instructor sees that you have problem shading, so he/she takes your charcoal and demonstrates how to do cross hatching.

Something like that? Are there art theories? They teach you about negative spaces and the angles of perception, they bore you with anatomy names and show you plastic models of human parts.

Perhaps the only way to know is to take art college, but well, not all of us have the privilege to. =o  

[Errol McGillivray]

You can get the same thing from art groups that have someone teaching/leading.

Art school is kind of like as you say. It depends on the class you're taking.

We have a lot of information on theory in the tutorials section.  

[theannacracker]

Depends on the class.
Sometimes it's lecture style, sometimes we're working on our large pads of paper and the model is in the middle, sometimes we're behind a computer...light table. It really depends on what type of art you are studing in the class. Life drawing differs from 3D animation or graphic design, or painting.  

[SunWuKung]

my art class or well "drawing" classes were much like you say.. but it depends on the class AND the person teaching.. Some teachers if they think you need help will over help and completely take over your composition (to which I HATE mad )

In my college there are SEVERAL different kinds of art type classes. As for drawing however there are a few different kinds. you have Drawing I wich focuses more on shape, view points , vantage points, and more on line and less on value. You may or may not hit in on the figure in this class, it depends on the teacher... Drawing II you might do more view point stuff, vantage points and work on value a bit deeper, and will work on the figure a bit. In Figure drawing you focus exclusively on the human figure and study light points and shadow points. Figure Drawing will teach you more about human anatomy (sometimes more than needed XD ) and will prolly end up having a model every other class or so.. I think in my figure drawing class after like a month we went to trying to get models in like every class male model on first class of the weak female modle on second class of the week ( I had figure drawing twice a week)..  

[Elixias]

Sounds almost like I've imagined biggrin

And I was joking to a friend the other day,

"They probably wake up 7am in the morning, draws till 9am, go for a next class and draws till 11am, draw a bit some more till 12pm, lunch break till 1pm, draw till 3pm, 30 mins break and draws till 5pm."

>_>;

"Omg!"  

[Mrs.Orange]

hahah XD

in my case, they don't explain as much theory as they teach techniques; they give general advice about taking directions and proportions before you start, and after that the teacher checks everyone's work just as you said, helping if you need help with anything.

this semester we're drawing human models and it's pretty much the same, in the end it actually depends on you getting it right... the teacher just pushes you to do it sweatdrop

at least that happens in drawing classes :O art school isn't all about that, besides practical subjects there are also some that are purely theoretical, in which they tell you about art's history, or maybe explain ways to understand art from different points of view...  

[Targis]

I guess it depends on the subject.

If it is class on Anatomy, then yes, we would learn every muscle in the body, followed by a session drawing a live nude.

If it is a class on teaching skills of a difficult computer program, such as Maya, then we would go through a step-by-step lecture that lasts around three hours.  

[akanekun]

Elixias

Sounds almost like I've imagined biggrin

And I was joking to a friend the other day,

"They probably wake up 7am in the morning, draws till 9am, go for a next class and draws till 11am, draw a bit some more till 12pm, lunch break till 1pm, draw till 3pm, 30 mins break and draws till 5pm."

>_>;

"Omg!"

More like draw from 8am to 1pm with 10 minute breaks in between model sets then another class from 2pm to 7pm. XD

From my experience, figure drawing classes start you with warmup gesture drawings for 30mins, then the teacher does a demo that lasts about 45min and you draw for the rest of the session trying to apply what was learned in the demo. Anatomy, negative shapes, etc. all get covered within the demo because it's easier to see it from a real life reference than imagining it.

Design classes follow a critique for 2 hours (more or less depending on the instructor and what the assignment was) or something then lecture 2 hours (sometimes reversed) - typically you do the work at home because it would be a waste of the instructor's time if you're not prepared with work to crit. Also has demos.

Lecture classes (theory) tend to be way shorter at the school I went to, about 3 hours max. Digital classes tend to fall under this category as well, probably a combination of crit/lecture like the design classes.

And I don't think I've ever seen still life drawing or whatever in any of these classes.  

[seichinoyami]

The art class that I was in only had color theory and griding techniques that later on progressed to watercolor and acrylic paints. There wasn't anything about anatomy but it was a fun art class.  

[The One and Only Kal]

Well, your description about fits my art class. Except that we have newsprint pads. Some folks sit on the horses, or with chairs. Others stand next to easels. We basically form a horseshoe shape around the model, who is on the model stand (she or he might be costumed, but is usually nude.) Everybody works in charcoal in my class (though I did have to use graphite in a different class) and the first part is usually ten minutes of sharpening pencils with a razor blade, or the compressed charcoal on sandpaper. Sometimes we spend the whole period (the model stands for twenty minutes or twenty-five minutes, then takes five minute breaks) drawing one pose. Other times, the model will pose for five minutes or ten minutes. This is a highschool life-drawing class, however. The only lectures I've had have been in Art History classes.

To respond to the other part of your post, my teacher once told me that if he were to make a school, most of the teachers wouldn't even have bachelors. A lot of skilled artists don't go to art college, but take classes here and there or go to workshops. Fine artists who foot the bill to go to Florence Academy tend to be a little on the nutty side. I was accepted to all the art schools I applied to, but it's waaay too much debt for me to consider, especially with the economy.  

[Katniss_Blair]

Art classes vary in style based upon level. In Drawing 1 we started each class with a lecture and slides. Usually the slides were of former student's work in order to give us an idea of what we would be doing. We then would work on still lifes-beginning the semester with cubes and geometric shapes and working up towards objects (lamps and bottles) and then eventually to organic objects (fruit and vegetables). We learned how to use of sighting sticks and worked with perspective. We would draw and the professor would go around and would give advice and help if we were struggling or they saw something heading the wrong way. Life drawing was similar but we worked with the figure instead and we also had to learn the bones and muscles. The more advanced classes gave more freedom of expression. We were expected to develop concepts for our art and could do what we want. The professor's are there to help with material choice, concept development, and any technical troubles you may be having. They aren't going to babysit you and guide each step of your art, they are there to help and critique.  

[Eina-chan]

Our art sessions were quite different,
maybe because we don't have a different room for art.
So, we sit in regular desks and we work together on whatever art we are told to do.

We had to have half a picture of Mona Lisa and on the other half, you draw a modern day girl. We worked quietly and talked together, discussing, giving advice, helping each other out while we were sitting in our groups of friends. (:  

[Brent Da Supreme Overlord]

well many things go on in an art class, you mainly study how to capture your viewer and how to use elements within a drawing to make it better than it really is. Detail is the last part and one of the less important parts of an image. You learn all kinds of fundamentals and they are extremely important. You learn things like:

Positive and Negative space
Massing Darks and Lights
Color theory
Perspective
Shape Dynamics
composition

stuff like that, and believe me you really don't know how much these things matter until you understand them xD