Art is for Artists

I wanted to show you some projects that I've done in my art class as well as talk about my art class.

I really enjoy art and I really like learning about all the different kinds of creativity and practicing it. But it is a big drain on my time.

Personal mark assignment. You can't really see the detailing on the wing,
but it's there. I would take the picture again but I seem to have "misplaced"
the piece. 

I want credit for that drain. Some kind of affirmation that the effort to improve and learn by direction from a class, has been noted.

My art class is lovely, and 2-D design is very interesting. But, my teacher doesn't check a lot of our work, and is inconsistent about it. She will also give guidelines but then change them if a student doesn't follow them. There's nothing wrong with giving some guidelines. Everyone needs to know how to utilize creativity with some boarders as well as with no boards, or with complete boarders. Creativity isn't just about breaking rules, it's about doing something dynamic within rules. She will tell us "draw 20 sketches before the final piece" or "do 60 sketches before the final piece" and then never asks us to flip open our sketch book. She doesn't even look to see if we made the effort. Sometimes she'll tell us to bring something in and then doesn't mention it again, other times she will ask as a foot note at the end of class.

The horror vacui piece. My sister thought it "wasn't very scary," lol. It's not
as 'done' as I want it to be, but it was 'done enough' to present to the teacher.
I plan to work on it more this weekend, more charcoal, more Korean.

I find myself wondering, am I not really an artist? Is this the kind of environment that artists thrive in, and that they create? Do I create this kind of environment for my own students? Is it beneficial or detrimental?

The teacher is a lovely woman, with really great things to say, and I trust the school that she is able to critique art and suggest reasonable improvements, and I love the content, but I'd really like some consistency. In addition, I'm more likely to stop putting effort into the "extra" stuff if she never checks it. Maybe an indicator of my character, but I could be studying, or blogging, if she's not going to check my effort. I'd rather a poor grade than no grade, honestly.

The three line assignment. My piece on the left was chosen by the class as
one of the best. ^_^ Won't hear me complain.