I have spent a lot of my time arguing that the Art Classroom is the most important place to be, but on some occasions it helps to get out of confinement of the subject classroom and book some time in the computer suites. Technology plays such a huge role in art making now, you would have to be an idiot to ignore it. You need the internet to promote yourself, you need layout experience to organise business cards and catalogs, photo-books and promotion. Almost every image ever published has grazed its way through Photoshop, the software helps to clean up the image, to re-size, lighten or crop.
It is for this very reason that I think that all artists need some technical experience, and frankly, the more the merrier.
I had the opportunity to book some computer time for some S2 classes in Gleniffer. Below are some of the works and their links to Artpad where they were produced. Artpad allows the pupil to draw and replay images, it is a good stepping stone into basic computer drawing techniques using colour and opacity.
Click the blue links to replay each work on artpad.art.com.
Below Louise G has proven that ‘try, try again’ works. Unfortunately she had lost her classroom work and her computer had crashed several times. Louise kindly produced another image for me outside class time and I am grateful that she did. Although it’s not to her top ability, it shows promise and has been a very good experience for her to try.
Rachel W uses brush opacity to her advantage in this version of the Arc De Triomphe.
Replay Rachel W’s Arc over at artpad.
Beth W shows how a simple quick sketch can be made more interesting with a little dab of colour.
Jerome shows us how a very simple line drawing with a little touch of colour and wear can look dynamic and interesting.
Replay Jerome’s Rugby ball on artpad.
Heather provides us with this strange but detailed look at animal anatomy.
The Art Classroom 