Lesson 2:
The Artist Mindset
in the
Early Grades
Hazel M. Bautista, LPT
Instructor 1
•"Nemo dat quod non habet"
•(You cannot give what you do not have)
- Latin Maxim
•
➢Any practicing artist can tell you that art
first begins in the mind, with artistic skills
serving only to create what is already seen
in the imagination.
➢The skill of an artist can, thus, be seen in
how faithfully it can translate what he or
she imagines into a work of art.
➢If there was nothing held in the
imagination-no finished picture, painting,
drawing, or sculpture-even just fleetingly,
can the end product be truly considered
"art"?
• It is, thus, necessary to identify the
habits of the mind-the mindset-that art
educators should both possess and seek
to develop in their students in the early
grades through the teaching of art: the
values, philosophical positions, and the
focus needed for art to thrive in Philippine
education.
A. Inspired by Daily Experiences and
Encounters
Part of the "artistic sense" is a
sensitivity to beauty-not just in big and
grand spectacles and experiences, but
particularly in the everyday things we
see and experience as we go about our
lives. This is difficult to explain and
likewise teach for a number of
reasons:
1. Exposure
The ability to see beauty every day does
not appear out of thin air; rather, it often
takes someone else explaining to us how
something simple and commonplace can be
beautiful, and in terms that are appropriate
for our developmental stages.
Students will need to be exposed to
artwork that celebrates the commonplace
over the course of several occasions before
the lesson sticks.
2. Context
It is almost a cliché to say that beauty is
subjective; that is, what is beautiful depends on the
individual. It can also be said that beauty depends
on the context-we know it when we see or hear it,
but when something is framed within the right
context, it suddenly appears beautiful.
Conversely, when something is placed in the
wrong context, we do not perceive it as beautiful. The
trick, then, is finding the right context for what we
wish the learners to appreciate.
This is where careful and deliberate
manipulation of the learning environment
becomes important; a quiet studio lends
itself to appreciating still life
arrangements, for example, as learners
concentrate on reproducing simple
outlines with whatever the medium of the
day might be, or studying the way
different angles and intensities of light
cast shadows.
3. Age
Children are naturally drawn to the novel,
the unusual, and the exciting. Bigger, bolder,
faster, brighter, louder are a guaranteed formula to
gain the interest of children.
Action and movement excite them, whereas
the comparatively slow, methodical pace of
everyday life does not. Educators will need to tailor
the experiences they have planned for young
learners so that they both communicate the lesson
while holding the learners' interest.
➢ Man has been inspired by nature since the
dawn of the time of man, and the ability to
appreciate beauty in nature appears to be
innate.
➢ Mountains, lakes, animals, trees, flowers,
insects, and the like are all fair game for artists
of all ages.
➢ It should not be difficult to get young learners
to desire to commit scenes from nature-real or
imaginary-to paper, as it is an almost natural
thing to do, and relatively easy as well.
➢ Events have also been a great source of inspiration
for artists.
➢ If we consider ancient art-the kind found in the
prehistoric cave systems of Europe, the pyramids of
Egypt, bas-relief sculptures from Mesopotamia, and
so on, we find that most if not all of them depict
events-a successful hunt, the victory of the king over
his enemies, the death of an important political or
religious leader, or even the ancient incarnation of the
Olympic Games are all examples of events that have
been committed in one way or another to works of art.
➢ An easily overlooked opportunity to teach beauty in the
everyday context is in the simple act of coloring a picture.
➢ The picture can be chosen to be exciting, dynamic, full of
movement and action, or simple and quiet, with nothing
particularly exciting going on-whatever the teacher deems
appropriate for the class at that particular time.
➢ The actual lesson is in the process of coloring the quiet
concentration, the stirring up of the desire to color well
when exposed to examples the children consider "better,"
and so on.
➢ Within the context of coloring pictures, lessons on form,
light, shading, color harmony, and the like can be taught
organically (i.e., as the need arises) and with relative ease.
B. Constantly Curious
While curiosity is often cited as a characteristic of
scientists, it is also an essential part of being an artist,
albeit that while a scientist might be curious as to
what is in the design of a bird's wing that enables it to
fly, an artist might be curious as to how to make the
wing "look alive" even when rendered in a static,
unmoving work of art.
Where a scientist is curious regarding the how
and why of natural phenomena, an artist should be
curious regarding how to make beautiful things given
a set of limitations and parameters.
➢ Because there will always be limitations and boundaries
(e.g., lack of materials, lack of time, lack of conducive
environments, etc.), artists should also be constantly
looking for ways to integrate art into areas and
disciplines where art has not traditionally been part of.
➢ These areas and disciplines will have their own
boundaries and limitations, which for the artists can
provide the impetus for artistic innovations not possible
anywhere else.
➢ A good example of this can be found in Singapore's Mass
Rapid Transit (MRT) stations, where artwork has been
integrated into the walls of the commuter walkways,
adding pops of color and interest into what would
otherwise be a functional but drab commute.
Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit
(MRT)
C. Open-minded
Related to curiosity is "open-mindedness,"
which is the willingness to be exposed to new
ideas and to consider them on their own merits.
It is the quality of not being "locked down" by
a particular set of rules or principles for the sake
of tradition, but rather a willingness to wrestle
with ideas and ways of doing things that might be
very different from our own-all with the attitude of
learning new things to add to one's "toolbox" of
techniques and perspectives.
Some areas where an open mind is an
artistic asset are:
1. Lack of resources
2. The idea of perfection
3. Criticism
➢ The practice of art can be an expensive
endeavor----the best-quality materials
are never affordable even when
available, and so where certain
techniques and processes are not
feasible due to lack of the proper
materials, an open mind is needed to
perceive and embrace that which is
possible given what is available.
➢Open-mindedness is also an asset
when it comes to the idea of
"perfection" in art---a concept which
artists reject.
➢After all, what does perfection in art
mean? Fidelity to reality? Then what do
we make of cartoons, comics, and
animation?
➢The truth is that there is no such thing as
"perfect" in art without an objective standard,
and what most people hold as the standard
for evaluating art is their subjective ideas of
what is and is not beautiful.
➢Accepting that perfection in art is a fool's
errand and coming to terms with one's
strengths and weaknesses as an artist are
part and parcel of becoming a mature artist.
➢ Lastly, an open mind is necessary for an
artist to benefit from criticism.
➢ All criticisms, valid or otherwise, involve a
measure of pain for the one being criticized
we are proud of our work, after all, however
middling it might be- and it takes an open
mind to accept that there is always
something to learn, always something that
can be improved upon, even when presented
to us by unpleasant people in unpleasant
ways.
➢Criticism is an inevitable part
of being an artist, and being
able to take criticism well is
vital to an artist's mental,
emotional, and professional
well-being.
D. Art as Authentic Self-
Expression
Art can be defined as any expression of
the inner desire to create beauty.
Thus, the desire to create something
that is beautiful is the defining feature of the
artist---i.e., it is what makes an artist an
artist-and any work of art that an artist
produces is but an expression of that desire.
Since beauty is varied and multifaceted-
--a thunderstorm can be beautiful, just like a
more pastoral landscape-art can, thus, be
varied and multifaceted.
➢The point is that art is art because the
artist wishes to express something
however fleeting or nebulous that
something might be. This is what is
meant by art as authentic self-
expression.
E. Art as Self-Expression
Expanding this concept, we see that teaching art is not
limited to a simple technique-the how of art---but must also
include teaching it as a means for students to communicate
feelings, experiences, interests, and desires-the why of art.
We can see this idea at play in the tension between
"being true to oneself vis-a-vis "giving the people what they
want."
This translates to the classroom by teaching students
to use their art to express something that they feel, rather
than simply feeding off the works of others-the "authentic"
part of "authentic self-expression."
F. Valuing Authenticity
Wrapped up in the mind and heart of an artist is a
desire for affirmation- some outside validation that the work
we produce is, in fact, beautiful in the way the artist
intended it. That is, artists want to know that what they
wanted to express via their art has indeed been expressed.
This nuance can be easily lost to young learners, for
whom validation of their artwork can feel like personal
validation. As a result, there might be a strong desire to
simply imitate the work of others for the sake of the
validation it brings. This is not "authentic self-expression,"
rather it is a kind of "feeding off of the works of others.
➢ Do note however that it is in the nature of
learners to learn via imitation, which should
be encouraged up to a point-that is, once the
learners have a firm grasp of how to execute
a technique (via imitation), they should be
encouraged to move beyond imitating the
work of others toward creating original work
of their own.
➢ Because there will be a tendency for young learners to
value others' work over their own, moving them toward
originality involves opening their eyes to the value of their
own original work.
➢ This can be done by gently encouraging them to first
modify whatever it is they are imitating to suit their own
tastes or satisfy their curiosity: switching up the color
palette, for example, or moving an object in a composition
somewhere else.
➢ Students need to learn that this is already a valid creative
exercise in and of itself, and only when they are
comfortable with modifying existing work should they then
be encouraged to come up with completely original work of
their own.
G. Enjoyment in the Process
It would be very strange for an artist to not enjoy the
process of creating art-after all, this is one of the reasons
why he or she is an artist. An artist must enjoy the process,
plain and simple-or else pursue something other than art.
Let us be very clear with this: Everyone feels the desire
to create beauty, but only an artist perseveres when the
process of creating beauty becomes tedious, frustrating, and
repetitive for the sake of producing something beautiful.
This is why artists will endure long, lonely hours of
drawing a pattern by hand, for example, or create sketch
after sketch in repeated attempts to understand the visual
physiology of something before committing it to a more
permanent medium.
➢ As an art teacher, you will find learners with a
varying degree of patience and grit for the process of
creating art in your classroom: a few will be willing to
take the time to carefully and neatly fill in areas with
color, many will start well and then give up as the
minutes pass, and a few will hardly care for any art
exercise you give them.
➢ You might not be able to turn them into artists, but
the overall goal is to expose them to a wide variety of
artistic processes so that they might find one that
they enjoy, as they will be more likely to pursue it to
completion.
➢ Make no mistake: sooner or later, the artistic
process will become difficult. When it comes
to young learners, the goal should not be
attaining mastery of any artistic technique-
that will come with time.
➢ Instead, the goal is to teach them to love the
creation of beauty, however small it might
appear to us. After all, love makes the labor
light.
Reference:
A Course Module for Teaching Arts in
the Elementary Grades, Tizon [Link] 8-15
