I think that the best way to exercise one’s drawing skills is always the quick live sketch of anything available around. More sketches one does, better skills one has. I enjoy a lot to draw people in a move. It is not an easy task, but it develops a sense of perception of forms in space. Also, one of the greatest and highly entertaining drawing practices to me are to draw live nudes. My favor poses are the short once like, for example, 10 to 15 minutes. During that time, I like to sketch as fast as possible the posing figure and completed the sketch with watercolors brush touches.

This post is going to present a collection of sketches, which I intend to execute during the entire year 2013. The gallery is going to grow successively. Every month I am going to add a new selection of drawings. This gallery is going to contain the selection of sketches I am going to do this year.

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The project, I was pursuing, had an objective to confirm my theory that the traditional curriculum of teaching drawing skills can be adopted to digital tablets. In my opinion, the traditional methods used to instruct sketching can help students to acquire faster control over digital devices such as Wacom tablets as well as others, like the iPad. Also, the project demonstrates how the traditional techniques of teaching can integrate with the immense technological progress of our current modern reality. Furthermore, the use of digital pads for the initial sketching will provide a great advantage to all students studying architecture and design, as well as to Art Education curricula at every level. The adoption of digital technology in teaching drawing will also benefit the environment.

In order to collect the data needed for my study I have required the participation of one staff member at the Concordia University of Design Department, with whom I have met three times for the span of over two hours each. For the purpose of this project, it was essential to choose a person who had at least a slight knowledge of drawing. However, the most important was, to find a participant who had never practiced drawing on a digital device before. 

I prepared for this occasion a series of exercises that I usually use in my drawing classes (see fig.1). I constructed the workshops according to my personal philosophy of teaching these important skills, and which in part represent the academic approach based on conservative study and the realistic depiction of objects. First, I introduced the participant to the basics of Wacom tablet technology and then he started to draw the prepared samples for this occasion.

Figure 1

The project experience permitted the collection of a significant amount of data. The pictures and video recordings document the majority of the practiced exercises. During the workshops, I studied the participant’s reactions and comments in reference to the different stages of the data collection. The practical part of the project concluded with a small interview, during which the participant responded to four questions with regard to his experiences with digital tablets. Once I had finished collecting the data in the form of observation notes, visual materials from the practice, and the final interview, I started to process all the information. The equipment used for the purpose of this pilot project consisted of one Macintosh Power Book G4 laptop, two Wacom tablets (one small 4”x5”, one large 9”x11.5”), and iPad. 

The first meeting with the participant took place the February 21st, 2012, in the Concordia University Design Department studio situated on the eighth floor. The workshop started at 1 PM and lasted until 4 PM, three hours in total. Taking into consideration the time lost for preparation the session lasted a little over two hours.

At first, I explained to the participant how the Wacom tablet works and showed him a few exercises to make him more comfortable before beginning the planned workshop. The Wacom tablets I have been using for the purpose of this project did not represent the new generation of tablets available now. Technically speaking, the older tablets have the same specifications; they differ only in the exterior design and some other features, which are useful when one needs to work fast. Practicing drawing skills on the older version of the Wacom tablet demands an artist to look at the computer screen while drawing with his hand on the tablet. This technique demands the artist to develop a coordination gesture, which would mean that the participant would divide their time between the screen and the tablet. It is the same principal used when drawing a life model in the studio on paper. The artist must look at the model and at the same time he has to draw on the paper. The artist divides his attention between what he looks at and what he transfers onto the paper in front of him. It is why in order to facilitate this cognitive process I have applied at the beginning an exercise which permits the student to grasp the space he has available either on the paper as well as on the digital tablet (see fig. 1). In both cases, either the paper or the digital tablet, this exercise helps to determine the working surface within which the drawing composition is possible. 

The larger model (9”x11”) of Wacom tablet was used as part of the next step. First I asked the participant to mark the four corners on the Wacom tablet by making three points on each external side of the tablet, then I asked him to draw small circles around them and connect all of them by horizontal, vertical, and transversal lines. A fast gesture movement of the hand does all connections. The next step was to fill all the triangular spaces created previously by the connections made between the points, with vertical and horizontal lines respecting the same distance between them. The last part of the exercise was to retrace all the previously executed connections by a quick gesture movement. At the beginning, the participant experienced problems to draw the lines fast with one gesture. However, after a few attempts the participant started to have better coordination of his hand movements. He experienced more difficulties when drawing vertical lines than the horizontal one’s. He also complained that drawing on the large Wacom tablet makes the distances between the points longer. It is why he had problems to control his movements with precision. In addition to this complaint he had a problem from the beginning to see the cursor on the white surface of the computer screen. I have changed the large Wacom tablet for the smaller one (4”x5”), and the white screen surface to draw on for the light grey background to make the cursor more visible. The adjustments helped the participant to become more efficient in practicing the set exercises. When he drew on the smaller Wacom tablet surface, the lines were easier to control. To conduct these exercises, I used two programs, Photoshop CS5 software, and Illustrator CS5 software. In Photoshop CS5, we did not experience any problems when drawing on the tablet. However, when using Illustrator CS5, the lines appeared a fraction of a second too late. This was distracting for the participant. The problem was due to a lack of sufficient memory in my laptop. When we changed the laptop for his, the problems disappeared. I asked the participant to practice these exercises the next day. He agreed to do so.

The second meeting with the participant took place the February 23, 2012, in the participant’s office situated on the eight floor of the Concordia University Design Department. We met at 2 PM and practiced the exercises until almost 5 PM. We practiced with the same set of exercises as during the first meeting. I wanted to see if the participant had made progress since the time we met the day before. The participant felt more confident this time, and it was evident that he had prepared himself for the meeting. I presented to the participant another set of exercises, this time to practice coordination between the artist’s mind and the artist’s hand. This part of the training went remarkably well, and the participant did not experience any significant problems in the execution of the given instructions. The next step was to continue the two sets of exercises, but at this time on the iPad tablet. Theoretically, my predictions were that it would be much easier to draw the exercises on the iPad than on the Wacom tablet. Surprisingly, it was not true. Almost each time the participant touched the iPad’s’s screen accidentally; the drawing app closed and opened a different app. To the participant it was a frustrating experience. However, when he started to draw the exercises with his finger instead of doing it with the digital pencil, he did better and had more control over his gestures. I was curious if he would experience the same problems when drawing objects from life. I asked him to draw a few elements without any restrictions. The outcomes in all cases were quite satisfactory (see fig.2). Except one thing, all his drawings were leaning to one side. It is why it is necessary at first to practice the coordination and perception exercises for better control of the tablet’s space. The last forty minutes we started to practice the second set of 

Figure 2

exercises (see fig. 3), which explains “how to” draw figurative elements. The preparatory exercises I have designed use similar patterns to those found in drawing teaching in the fine arts. We returned back to the Wacom tablet in order to pursue the earlier established plan of exercises. The participant found the Wacom tablet to be more suitable for the purpose of the workshop than the iPad. Also, it appeared evident to me that he became more comfortable drawing on the Wacom tablet, than he was before.

Figure 3

The third and final encounter with the participant took place the February 29, 2012, in the participant’s computer workshop situated on the eight floor of the Concordia University Design Department. We met at 1 PM and practiced the exercises until almost 3 PM. At the beginning, I asked the participant to repeat all that we had completed so far. He was still struggling with the first exercise, which was to practice the coordination and perception of the space available for drawing. However, he was much more comfortable when practicing the second set of exercises, which helps the student to practice his coordination gestures and “how to” percept various shapes in nature applying various geometric forms to workout drawing skills on the digital tablet (see fig. 4). The next step was to practice the quick sketching of different objects like a tape measure, an office clock, a coffee mug, and a computer mouse.

Figure 4

This part of the workshop was much more appreciated than drawing just the space perception and coordination exercises. Even as the participant enjoyed the freedom to draw on the tablet various sets of geometrical objects, his imperfection to coordinate the gestural movements were visible. It was not a surprise to me. These exercises need to be practiced for a long period time, and in perfect discipline, in order to procure the desired perfection. In the second part of the third meeting, I asked the participant to draw from life a person’s face, following the visual instructions given in the second set. For the purpose of this pilot project, I decided to pose as a model for this part of exercises. The results were highly promising, when taking into consideration that the participant had newer drawn before on the digital surface of the Wacom tablet (see fig.5).

Figure 5

The last part of the session was the interview. The set of five questions, regarding the entire experience of applying the traditional methods of drawing teaching to the digital tablets, and the given responses concluded the pilot project data collection. Here, is a short resume of the participant’s responses to the questions asked. The summary reflects the responses taped on the video. The questions were:

1. 1. How did you feel about drawing these exercises on the tablet? 

According to the participant’s response, he found drawing on the Wacom tablet an interesting experience. He looked at it as a different tool for drawing practice, which opens a lot of new possibilities. He appreciates its practicality in comparison to drawing on paper, especially the variety of handy tools available, and even if he had a problem to control them, he recognizes in the digital tablet the potential it has to offer. One needs just to practice it a lot. 

1. 2. Would you prefer to draw these exercises on paper? 

The participant stated that he would obviously prefer to draw these exercises on paper. The digital tablet is to him a different medium and perception, which he has problems controlling. Drawing on the Wacom tablet, gave him an impression of being on a different land, which he needs to explore and learn about it, before feeling comfortable. 

1. 3. Which part of the test was the most difficult to practice?

The most difficult exercise to practice on the digital tablet was the first one (see fig. 1) regarding the perception of the tablet’s space, which involved being in control of horizontal, vertical, and transversal lines. According to the participant’s statement, to draw the horizontal and vertical lines is not as easy as it looks. This exercise is even more complicated when one must follow the same spacing of the drawn lines, and also when the lines have to be retraced back exactly the same way. The participant states that in the free hand drawing he does not have to be in total control, and he has the freedom to draw as he wishes what he sees. It is why, to him, all the sketches he did from different objects were not as complicated as those done with the lines. He concluded that the first series of exercises were challenging and frustrating because he had a problem to control what he was asked to do.

1. 4. Did you find these exercises coherent and helpful in understanding the tablet?

 The participant has advocated that the importance of exercises for the perception of the tablet space depends on the drawing someone wants to do. He has found the exercises helpful in a sense that they permit to better understand the transition from the small surface of the tablet to the larger one, this of the computer’s screen. According to his statement, the first set of exercises can help to those drawing more technical objects like, for example, a computer mouse, a clock, or and any other object. However, to those who want to draw and express themselves freely, he described them as not necessary.

1. 5. Would you be in favor of practicing academic drawing in digital studios, but incorporating the traditional academic setting of using real models?

To this question the participant responded with considerable interest and stated that it could open new areas of artistic explorations and understanding of the drawing process. It would be also particularly challenging in many ways for the artists. The fact that one can draw on a small digital tablet an artwork of any size and style suggests a multitude of creative possibilities. He concluded his statement with the desire to be one of the first students to register for such a class.

After careful study of all the gathered data, including conclusions from the direct observation of the participant’s progress, the pilot project, permits to believe that the application of the traditional methods of teaching drawing on digital tablets might be possible. This set of exercises could help those who have an ambition to perfect their drawing skills on digital tablets. Such an assumption still needs to be proven when conducting real research with a larger group of persons, who would be willing to participate and practice the proposed sets of exercises in order to confirm my theory. Taking into consideration researche conducted earlier by Carol Faber (2009), Meneely, Jason M.S. and Sheila Danko (2007), which I have discussed already in the pilot project proposal, the technology of digital tablets has a bright future ahead. The Wacom tablet, as a new medium, most educators ignore, and it is probably why its use in large scale is missing from art education curriculum. Many art teachers see it as an unnecessary violation of their standard subjects of art teaching. In addition to this, the cost of each tablet is still considerably high. However, the most noteworthy fact that this technology, has already been on the market for over twenty years, and is just now slowly founding its place in art education in particular in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

The project permitted me to see which exercises from the traditional method of teaching can be adapted to the digital devices. The first series of instructions concerning the perception of the tablet’s space was the most difficult for the participant, but in my opinion the most necessary to practice for anyone willing to be comfortable when either drawing, or sketching on it. Exercises of “how to” draw various geometrical forms, including the human features, are necessary only for those students who do not posses the necessary drawing skills already. For those who know how to draw, only the first (see fig. 1) and the second (see fig. 4) part of the exercises are useful to practice their control of space, which is available to them by practicing sketching and drawing on the digital tablet. These exercises help a lot to achieve better coordination skills and space perception, not only for the digital tablets users, but also for artists practicing drawing in the traditional way on paper. Another intriguing finding was that to the participant the smaller tablet served was much better for the exercises than the larger one. Also, practicing the exercises and drawing on the iPad was quite challenging and not as comfortable as I though it could be. When drawing with the digital pen, every time the participant touched the iPad screen with his finger or any part of his hand, the document disappeared, and another app opened. This was intensely frustrating to the participant. However, when he tried to draw on the tablet with his finger, everything went remarkably well. These findings came to me as a surprise. The pilot project permitted me to see which part of the proposed exercises need to be adjusted in order to better serve the student. The first set of exercises (see fig. 1) need to be practiced in two parts. First, should be the marks of a space on the tablet sides, then circled, and then connected by the horizontal, vertical, and transversal lines. The operation of filling and retracing the triangular spaces, created after the division with lines, should be introduced to the student after he has already well worked out the first part. It will work much better, then asking the student to do everything at the same time. This conclusion came from my observation of the participant’s practice. He did not concentrate at all on the first part but was more attentive during the second than the first. It is why the exercises from the first part are executed carelessly. However, the filling of triangular spaces in the second part and the retracing them back is much better executed in most of his drawings than in the second part. My original research project, from the course ARTE 680 Foundations for Inquiry, was to investigate if traditional ways of teaching drawing skills could be exercised in an art studio environment using electronic devices like the Wacom tablet and the iPad. The research question was the same as for this project: How Do We Preserve the Teaching of Drawing in the Digital Age? The original research project, I proposed in theory, contained a hope to one day have the possibility to conduct it in praxis. The project allowed me to taste the theory in practice. The final results of the studies proved in one part my theory, and in another made me to realize that some of my assumptions need to be reviewed, and adjusted, in order to be more effective for the student’s benefit. Furthermore, the project gave me the taste of real research and inspired me to test my theory with a larger group of participants in the near future.

Bibliography

Faber, Carol H. (2009). Digital Drawing Tablet to Traditional Drawing on Paper: A Teaching Studio Comparison. Retrieved from

http://www.iasdr2009.org/ap/Papers/Orally%20Presented%20Papers/Design%20Tool/Digital%20Drawing%20Tablet%20To%20Traditional%20Drawing%20On%20Paper%20-%20A%20Teaching%20Studio%20Comparison.pdf

Meneely, Jason M.S. and Sheila Danko (2007). Motive, Mind, and Media: Digital Sketching in the Creative Culture of Design. Journal of Interior Design, 32(3), 69-90. Retrieved from
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1939-1668.2007.tb00541.x/abstract

Art School Confidential: Satirical Reflection on the Studio Art Education Methods in America.

Art School Confidential was at first a four-page black-and-white alternative comic created by Daniel Clowes. It originally appeared in issue number seven of Clowes’s comic book Eightball (November, 1991) and was later reprinted in the book collections Orgy Bound and Twentieth Century Eightball. A color edition of the comic was included in the published version of the screenplay for the film. Daniel Clowes also wrote the movie scenario, which was based partially on his earlier published comic story and had the same title. An interesting fact about the scenario is that Clowes created the four-page comic only because the printer’s deadline forced him to do so. He had left four pages of free space in his comic magazine Eightball, which he needed to fill up and send for print the next day. Clowes decided to draw on those four pages a critical review of his own experiences when he was studying art and design in the Pratt Institute in New York (BFA, 1984). The four pages of content were quite strong and critical not only of the school but also of the new artistic tendencies. Clowes even drew a copy of his diploma from the Pratt Institute in one of the comic scenes as a symbolic reflection of its inutility. Clowes and Zwigoff had previously worked together on another movie titled the Ghost Town (2001), for which Clowes also wrote the scenario, and where he touched lightly on a few aspects of art school practice.

The movie Art School Confidential reflects critically on the contemporary system of art education in America. The films seemingly corny narrative is in fact a lexicon of symbolic references to various contemporary art issues, which are exposed to the public through a group of different personages put in context of their actions. The Director, Terry Zwigoff, chose to approach art teaching in American art schools with a sarcastic eye and great wit. Zwigoff through a set of different characters refers symbolically to various aspects of contemporary art teaching practice. Furthermore, Zwigoff in his movie elaborates critically on the possibility of becoming an artist in the institutionalized jungle of questionable art theories and the philistinism of the Contemporary art market promoting, as Tom Wolf stated in his book The Painted World (1997): “…the triumph of mediocrity.” In the movie Jerome, the artist, needs to subject himself to the institutional aesthetic patterns in order to “succeed,” which the movie symbolically shows through his story and his character. It is yet another reference to the way artistic glory is usually created, which is to shock the spectator. It is exactly what Jerome does unconsciously, but he learns fast that as long as he will stay in prison he will make a fortune, he will be famous, and finally he will gain Audrey’s heart. 

My choice of the movie was mostly motivated by its originality and an exceptional effort to expose the art school environment to the public in a critical funny humoristic way. This kind of movie is very rare and I personally do not know of any other, which might be compared with Art School Confidential and how the movie perfectly reflects the realities of American art teaching. Zwigoff recreated the contemporary art school atmosphere with an excellent wit and satire. Zwigoff’s film does not resemble any of Hollywood’s many creations, which most of the time promotes the teacher’s image as a hero. In this brilliant movie the real hero is Jerome, the talented utopic romantic student who has a dream to become a famous artist.

In reference to our readings and movies for the class discussions, the story in the movie Art School Confidential is told from the student’s perspective, which at the same time is also Clowes’s. In the Frederic Weiseman’s movies, High School (1968) and High School Two (1994), the visual and textual narrative is suggested to us through the director’s editing. Laurent Cantet’s film titled Entre les murs (2008) follows yet another pattern of arranged editing. The books of Deborah Meier The Power of Their Ideas (2002), Sylvia Ashton-Warner Teacher (1986), and Frank McCourt’s Teacher Man (2005) present various educational methods and approaches each of the authors has experienced as a teacher. In the movie Art School Confidential the art studio teachers, Professor Sandiford and Professor Okamura, are the examples of the “art educators” who are teaching not for the pleasure of teaching but for the necessity to be able to survive as artists. The only positive teacher character in this movie is the pure academic example of brilliant and witty Art History Professor played by Angelica Huston. In reference to Bulman’s article the movie promotes expressive individualism as something appropriate to the art school territory. It is very well expressed in the interview, which successful Strathmore Graduate Marvin Bushmiller had with students, during which he stressed the importance to transfer the artist’s personal achievement into a bank account as the way to artistic freedom.  

The movie titled Art School Confidential (2006) tells the story of suburban boy, Jerome, who already as a child dreamed of becoming a famous artist. Jerome chose Pablo Picasso as his idol, because of Pablo’s multiple creativity and famous vitality. Jerome’s fixation on the subject of his dreams brings him finally to the Strathmore Institute where he hopes to get the necessary instructions in order to realize his desires of becoming an artist and gain the fame and success. Instead, Jerome is facing constant critiques from his peers and his instructor, professor Sandiford. His hopes that his talent for realistic drawing and painting will be recognized and appreciated, deceives him. He arrived at the institute armed with the ability to draw and paint realistically but nobody cares about his artistic perfection. Jerome is confused with the new aesthetics promoted by the school and tries to find his place in this entirely uncomfortable environment. He falls in love with a model named Audrey, whose picture he saw on the flyer’s page advertising the Strathmore Institute Art Department, and whose father is a known Pop Art artist. Jerome considers her as his main subject of artistic inspiration and is searching for the means to impress her, but unfortunately his efforts have no impact on her. She looks at Jerome’s depiction of her with minimal interest. Things get even more complicated for Jerome with the arrival in his class of a new student, Jonah, who is in fact an undercover agent and his presence in class is motivated only by the ongoing investigation and police hunt for the mysterious strangler who is operating on Strathmore campus territory. Jonah presents to the class his artwork, which is a simplistic representation of a car on an empty yellow space, which fascinates everyone except Jerome. Professor Sandiford and rest of the class are stunned by the childish perception of the car and to Jonah’s total surprise perceive it as an aesthetic novelty. Furthermore, Audrey is also fascinated by Jonah’s artwork and becomes his girlfriend, not knowing that Jonah is actually a married man. Jonah’s case is very symbolic in many ways, but the most interesting is the fact that after so many good comments about his paintings he actually begins to believe that his artwork is of great value and decides to take his art student role seriously almost forgetting the reason for which he came to the art school. Jerome is trying to paint in a similar way with a hope that his efforts will be recognized. Instead he is even more ridiculed by professor Sandiford and the class. Meanwhile Jerome’s friend and the spiritual guide on campus, Brado, introduces him to one of Strathmore graduates Jimmy, an alcoholic artist, who is actually the strangler hunted by police. Jimmy is using his victims’ skin, blood, and various personal objects for the composition of his paintings, which on one occasion he showed to Jerome. The enormous desire to win back Audrey’s heart and proof of his creative superiority over Jonah, he decides to commit a forgery and asks Jimmy to sell him his artwork. Jimmy refused, but Jerome takes advantage of Jimmy’s momentary indifference and takes all his paintings leaving by accident his not completely extinguish cigarette, which falls on the floor causing the entire building to burn completely. Jerome unconscious of his responsibility for Jimmy’s death uses his artwork as his own on the final school’s exhibit. However, the reaction to his new artwork is not what he expected it to be. It brings only the attention of the police to it. Jerome disappointed went to the roof of the school building with the intention to commit suicide where finally he is apprehended by police and arrested for being the Strathmore strangler. Jerome finally gets what he dreamt about, fame, money, and Audrey by pretending to be who he is not. 

The movie, besides the main plot, has few very important scenes with educational values. First is the interview with Strathmore Graduate Marvin Bushmiller with the school students. Bushmiller’s character represents Clowes’s personification. Through his mouth Clowes expresses his anger against the faculty staff and ridicules the school’s credibility in teaching art. The freedom he gained as a practicing artist has nothing to do with the education he got in the art school. According to Bushmiller alias Clowes: “In order to be a great artist you simply have to be a great artist, there is nothing to learn, so you all wasting your time, go home.” (Art School Confidential, 2006). Jimmy is the opposite character to the successful and arrogant Bushmiller. He is also a Strathmore Graduate but also a rebel who refuses to subject his creativity to the institutionalized system of rules found in galleries and museums. He educates Jerome about art by sharing with him his artistic philosophies, “The real artist lives only for the narcotic moment of creative bless.” and “You cannot do anything good unless you stop carrying about if you live or die.” Two other important scenes are the two class critiques. Clowes in his scenario makes references to various art theories and movements as for example: feminism, queer, conceptualism, and relational aesthetics by assigning to each of them different characters expressing the appropriate concerns of each group. Furthermore, the movie refers also to the very common practice of the over intellectualization of artistic performances and theories. In one scene, Jerome visits professor Sandiford in his house, and during their conversation his teacher announces to him proudly that he paints simple triangles for over twenty-five years. It is the intentional parody of the Modernist remains in the art education system of contemporary art practice. The movie exposes clearly one dilemma, can art be taught and if so what should we teach our students to help them to find their own way in this exhausting and difficult process of becoming successful artist? 

The movie titled Art School Confidential (2006) exposes the viewer to the abyss of contemporary studio art education practices, which is so rarely explored in cinema, especially today. The satirical regard on the system of contemporary art education is projected in the movie through a group of specific characters where each of them represents various issues connected to the process of learning “how to” in art. The movie portrays satirically the general misconception, which most talented novices have, about the way in which the art studio education system operates. It should be shown to anyone aspiring to become another “Picasso” of their times. The movie dramatic content reflects yet another portrait of a teacher’s responsibility in shaping the creative minds of students’ artistic sensibilities by imposing on them a set of rules and values concerning contemporary aesthetics. The movie explores also two different sources of knowledge, the one that he/she must obtain during their studies in the school environment and another from the outside world of real artistic practice. The question emerges which one is the most effective or destructive to the fragile and sensitive intellectuality of an aspiring young artist? The movie strictly comments about the character in regard to the contemporary system of studio art education practice and does not offer any clear solution to the way art should be taught in educational institutions, but it does make us think about the dark realities of the artistic market to which any aspiring young artist will be exposed after his/her graduation. Furthermore, the movie by its satirical content provokes more questions than it can answer. However, its humoristic regard on the process of learning in art schools could be a guiding reference to anyone dreaming of exploring the horizons of artistic endeavors. The movie inspires very interesting reflections. Why do so many young people want to become artists? It is understandable when looking at those with some technical predispositions and potential talent, but what about those who think that putting three different colors on canvas or a drop of red paint on a chair will make them great artists? Attending art school is kind of cool and it does not matter what one does it is still going to be considered by the contemporary system of art education as an artistic achievement. There is definitely a serious problem out there and as long as basically everyone and everything might be considered as art and artistic performance the question of what is art and what it is not will not be answered. Collingwood in his book titled, The Principles of Art (1958, p. 43) states: “Originality in art, meaning luck of resemblance to anything that has been done before, is sometimes nowadays regarded as an artistic merit.” In consequence anyone can be an artist, and it is what happens in art schools and what the movie Art School Confidential makes fun of. During my art school studies my professor told us that only one in sixty students would make it in the world of art. In the movie professor Sandiford extended this prediction to one from one hundred. James Elkins, in his book titled, Why Art Cannot Be Taught? (2001, p. 67), estimates that only “One of a thousand art students, maybe five will make a living off their art, and perhaps one will be known outside her city.” In reference to the visual and textual materials we have discussed in class Art School Confidential illustrates different stereotypes of contemporary art teaching. The movie questions the process of art teaching. Should art be taught? Can art be taught and if so how and what should be taught? This question has no easy answer if at all there is one. Many academics were and still are occupied with this seemingly simple question. James Elkins consecrated all of a book Why Art Cannot Be Taught? (2001) to investigate the issue of art teaching and concludes that the art as it was taught before cannot be taught today for very simple reasons, the contemporary realities are different, mediums are not the same, and in result there is not the need to teach the traditional ways of conceiving an art piece. In reference to the physical fact of teaching art I found interesting one phrase written in his book conclusion: “Teaching in an art department or an art school is the most interesting activity that I know, because it is the furthest from anything that makes sense-short of psychosis.” (p. 190) In addition to it Elkins cites the historian Paul Kristeller’s statement concerning art teaching: “art teachers are involved in the curious endeavor to teach the unteachable.” (p. 104 ) I think the Art School Confidential (2006) movie gave us a taste of it. Eisner, in his book titled The Arts and the Creation of Mind (2002, p. 46) writes, “How shall we think about teaching art? More than a few think art cannot be taught, only ‘caught.’ Others believe that even if it could be taught, it should not be. To try to teach art is to risk stifling students’ creativity, blocking their imagination, thwarting their personal expression. In the arts, students’ need support, materials with which to work, and then they need to be left alone to explore on their own.” In the movie Art School Confidential nobody is teaching anyone. What is the role of an instructor in the art school? According to Eisner (2002, p. 33) it is: “The role of the teacher is that of attendant, guide, inspirer, psychic midwife.” We do not see this kind of attitude in the movie, but in the course visual materials and readings of all the teachers are mostly responsible and devoted professionals. Furthermore, regarding to Eisner’s statement: “…To try to teach art is to risk stifling students’ creativity, blocking their imagination, thwarting their personal expression…” (p. 46). The most recent studies conducted by a group of researchers Huntsinger, C. S., Jose, P. E., Krieg, D. B., & Luo, Z. (2011) on the cultural differences in Chinese American and European American children’s drawing skills over time, the experiment was conducted with two groups of forty children each. The results confirm that Chinese American children overcame European American children in drawing skills due to instruction from an early age. Furthermore, their studies did not confirm the conviction circulating in the American educational system that the children without any drawing technical instructions benefit from a higher level of creativity. In order to take a generalized position more similar studies needs to be done, but one may predict the outcome of such studies already. 

Regarding the movies educational aspect in reference to the way how teachers are depicted in various materials we went through during the course there is one scene in the movie which shows professor Sandiford in a positive light. It is when Sandiford meets Jerome in his home. He encourages him to keep working and experiment as much as he can. It is the only positive gesture of the megalomaniac Sandiford as a teacher. It would be even better if he would encourage him to do what he does the best and be himself and eventually his artistic style will appear. In order to be a good artist one needs to see, read, think, and most of all draw and paint as much as possible. Many students lose a lot of time trying to be what they are not. In such cases the art teacher has a lot to do if he is the real teacher. Professor Okamura, the sculpture and ceramics teacher in the movie is a perfect example of the wrong reason to be an art teacher and it is underlined by his remark, “Another day, and another dollar.” It is a great statement, which confirms what Bushmiller said during his interview about the Strathmore faculty staff, “…the faculty is made up of old failures who teach only because they need the health insurance.” All the movies and literature discussed during the course we have seen and learnt about various educative ways of teaching. All the teachers represented different approaches, but all of them were somehow passionate about their teaching practice. In the movie Art School Confidential we do not see any passionate teachers. It is maybe because according to Clowes and Zwigoff the art schools do not have such educators and I think that this is the message, which the authors want to pass through the film story. This would be proof of Elkin’s point that art cannot be taught, not only because the times are different but in general meaning too, and Eisner’s (2002, p. 32) statement that “…the activity of self-expression cannot be taught.” In such a case the role of the art instructor is to facilitate the student’s artistic development by instructing them to various techniques of artistic creativity in order to help them to explore their talent accordingly to the methods they feel comfortable with. Assuming that this is our case, we would need to have in art schools real professionals who are passionate teachers with a desire to transfer the knowledge they have to the next generation of creative youth. Until then we can simply enjoy the movie.

Zwigoff, Terry (Director). (2006). Art School Confidential [Motion picture]. United Artistes.

The first screening of the movie took place during the Sundance Film Festival in January 23, 2006, but officially it was released in May 6, 2006.  

Main characters in the movie are: 

Max Minghella        – Jerome

Sophia Myles           – Audrey
John Malkovich       – Professor Sandiford

Jim Broadbent         – Jimmy

Joel David Moore    – Bardo

Anjelica Huston       – Art History Teacher

Matt Keeslar            – Jonah

Jack Ong                  – Professor Okamura

Ethan Suplee            – Vincent

Nick Swardson        – Matthew

Adam Scott              – Marvin Bushmiller

Scoot McNairy        – Army-Jacket 

Jeremy Guskin         – Eno

Monica Ramnath     – Flower

Isaac Laskin             – Kiss-Ass 

I had a chance to study art in two different systems of art education. The first was the Eastern one, which at that time was based mainly on strict academic values and rules of pure academic realism. The second was the Western one, which propagates the ideology of artistic freedom in theory and practice of art. In my opinion the ideal situation would be to combine both methods together to the great advantage of any aspiring art student. The movie reflects my own satirical perception of contemporary art studio practices, which I have tested on myself. It is interesting that the film had not too many good reviews. It may be because not many critics saw the symbolic references to art world issues in this movie. Reading some of the critic’s one has an impression that most critics took the story too literally while in reality the movie is filled with symbolic references just waiting to be discovered. According to the Metacritic website, which always choses thirty critics from major American publications, Roger Ebert, from the Chicago Sun-Times (2006), on a scale out of one hundred rated this movie as seventy-five points. Ebert is the only one who had a few wise words to say about this movie: “I am not suggesting the school’s faculty serves no purpose; indeed, as a teacher of film appreciation, I believe faculties in the arts are sainted. They must guide, advise, moderate, encourage, teach methods, provide a context, share secrets and declare an informed opinion on the worth of the work. They create a world within which such work is possible and valued. What they cannot do, I suspect, is teach a student how to be original and creative.” and “There is a moment in the film when the students are asked to create a self-portrait. Jerome’s work bears comparison with the Pre-Raphaelites. The student whose self-portrait is most highly praised has created an assemblage of lines and squiggles that “looks like a Cy Twombly,” someone says — in praise. I’m not saying a 19th century representational style is superior to Twombly, but I do believe that in a freshman class, the purpose of a self-portrait assignment is to draw something that looks like it might be you. Students have to learn to walk before they can crawl.” Thomson Desson, from The Washington Post gave it seventy points. Thomson also had a few interesting remarks: “Zwigoff and Clowes want to mock art academia’s familiar stereotypes.” and “Jerome (Max Minghella) is an idealistic student with dreams of making it in the art world. But he’s ground down into a cynic by the self-absorbed teachers, pretentious students and unctuous suck-ups he encounters in art school. More and more, the jaded wisdom of a burnt-out artiste (Jim Broadbent) — who issues drunken, graphic metaphors about what academia is really about — makes sense.” Ken Fox, from the TV Guide (2006), rated it fifty points. David Efelstein, from The New York Times (2006), rated the film only thirty points. In the total of thirty critics, only thirteen are positive, another thirteen are mixed, and four are negative. Most of the critics who wrote about Art School Confidential used mostly repetitive comments without trying to go deeper in meaning. It is an unfortunate fact and it looks like some critics write as much as some artists teach just to try to “survive.”

To conclude, the movie is a must to first year undergraduate art students and to anyone wishes to study art. Furthermore, it should be watched by art school faculty members, which could allow them to look critically at their own motives to teach. Furthermore, do they really teach and if so what and how do they teach? The movie is done as a comedy, but it could be looked at as a realistic drama, which unfortunately reflects perfectly the contemporary art world of today. In my understanding art is not about repetitive style but constant research of aesthetic dialogue, it is a spiritual visual journalism, a method of intellectual communication of ideas about the world surrounding us. So far, it was only Picasso who was a real researcher; he tried almost everything and succeeded all the time. Most artists’ skip the research process and keep doing the same things all their lives. It is probably for a simple reason, which is convenience. Why looking further when one thing works well. In the movie professor Sandiford paints triangles for twenty-five years. It is an interesting psychological case. In the movie it is symbolic, but I wonder how many Sundifords we have in the World of art today? It is my personal conclusion and it is based on my own experiences, which to some extend resembles Jerome’s with one exception, which is: I will never use somebody else’s artwork to exhibit as mine. 

Bibligraphy

Bulman, Robert C. (2005). Hollywood Goes to High School. Cinema Schools and American Culture. New York: Worth Publishers.

Collingwood, R. G. (1938). The Principles of Art. Oxford, England: Oxford Univeristy Press.

Ebert, Roger (2006, May 12). Chicago Sun-Times. Retreived from

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060511/REVIEWS/60508003

Eisner, Fred W. Elliot (2002). The Arts and the Creation of Minds. New Haven, USA: Yale

      University Press.

Elkins, James (2001). Why Art Cannot Be Taught. Illinois, USA: University of Illinois Press.

Huntsinger, C. S., Jose, P. E., Krieg, D. B., & Luo, Z. (2011). Cultural differences in Chinese American and European American children’s drawing skills over time. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 26(1), 134-134-145. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/822506546?accountid=10246;
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2010.04.002

Metacritic (2006). Retreived from

http://www.metacritic.com/movie/art-school-confidential/critic-reviews

Thomson, Desson (2006, May 12). Washington Post. Retrieved from

http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/movies/art-school-confidential,1106286.html

Wolfe, Tom (1978). Le Mot peint. Paris, France: Gallimard.

Zwigoff, Terry (Director). (2006). Art School Confidential [Motion picture]. United Artistes.

I. Introduction.
How does satirical art foster knowledge and visual literacy and why should it be taught?
I would like to respond to this question by creating a series of satirical artworks through intrinsic content which I would propagate knowledge about “how to” and “why to,” by implementing critical thoughts on comprehensive humorous ways as an educational endeavor. It will be a journey through which I will be able to teach and at the same time learn about how I perceive and extrapolate knowledge through the lenses of satirical visual commentary. The question I pose, and to which I intend to respond, have a solid base concerning many years of my experience as a practicing artist and caricaturist. My satirical artworks have been published in many different newspapers, journals, magazines, books, catalogues, and advertising publications in many countries. I would like to share the experience I have collected from many years by teaching, which could benefit students who are interested in the art of satirical drawing, and caricature as an educational tool.
Since my early childhood I have been surrounded by satirical art and caricatures, which I had a chance to explore in a massive collection of various reviews, albums, catalogues, and books, which were stored in my uncle’s studio and served him as references for his paintings. I was lucky enough to have easy access to such a great “encyclopedia” of all kinds of satirical art. The satirical imagery stimulated my learning about the world I was about to experience. This constant exposure to visual material created in my mind a desire to become an artist who would be able, as my uncle was, to express his feelings and observations through the visual language of satire and humor. Furthermore, during many of my professional activities such as: caricature animations, participation in many international festivals of caricature and press drawing, I have seen mostly the happy and smiling faces of the many people who were participating in these events with great excitement. It is why I think that satirical art could play an important role in education curricula by teaching students to create an intellectually resourceful and challenging art, which would explore their sense of critical thinking and humoristic regard on a variety of important issues to which our contemporary society is exposed on a daily basis. My professional experiences taught me that many times satirical art is misunderstood because the viewer lacks knowledge about the represented subject. The art of caricature teaches visual literacy like no other form of art does. It needs to be explained here I am discussing satirical art and caricature according to my standards, that narrative can be formed through the means of metaphorical imagery and without any captions present, which could play a role of a leading (meta) narrative. In consequence, my concept of caricature and satirical art excludes any form of drawing where the editorial role is to serve rather as an illustration to the published text instead of standing on its own visual narrative. The combination of text and drawing degrades significantly the artist’s visual story and exposes the limits of his creativity and attaches a label of commerciality to his work. The caricaturist practices a form of visual journalism and his language of communication with the public represents his ability to express his comments through the cognitive symbolism of the creatively composed imagery. In such a way the caricaturist provokes the viewer to active thinking, educative curiosity, and affords the deciphering and reflecting critically on the visual narrative as a form of invitation to an intellectual conversation with the viewer. An image, of which the only purpose is to illustrate the text, belongs to a different category of humoristic expression, which is the illustrated comics and cartooning gags, where all is explained and in consequence the deductive and reasoning faculty of the viewer is limited or non-existent. In such cases the narrative of the image is imposed on the viewer rather than proposed to him/her for cognitive deduction and visual contemplation. It is why most of the important international competitions of caricature and satirical art do not accept drawings with captions from the participants. It is an unfortunate fact that in general the understanding of the art of caricature and satirical drawings and all these important nuances are ignored, and that all forms of humoristic creativity are collected under the one umbrella of caricature and cartooning. So far, to my knowledge, no one has tried to distinguish between these various forms of satirical art. Meanwhile, it is important to do so in order to bring about respect and recognition to this form of artistic creativity, and at the same time to eradicate the generalized stigma of commerciality and lowbrow art that is attached to this form of art by the “fine art” world. The word caricature has a generalized meaning and is a representation of a kind of deformation of reality, not only portraiture, but also other realities represented metaphorically in a satirical way. The caricaturist creates his/her artwork in the same process of cognitive reflection and an aesthetic sensation as any other artist does. The only difference is that he involves a deeper deductive voice and sense of elaborated observation permitting the viewer to see how much the surrounding reality is changed. The criteria of the art of caricature and satire, which I have already described in the text above, belongs theoretically to the category of fine arts as a form of artistic expression. It is an unfortunate fact that most of the theoretical ruminations on the subject of commerciality do not take into consideration the fact that there is no art, which is in one-way or another not commercial. The artist is always expecting either to be paid for his creation or to be supported to practice it by various promoters and organizations, what basically results in the same. At the end of the process in research for artistic sustainability the financial aspect dominating the role is always present and necessary for the art to survive.
The art of caricature and satirical expression has an important advantage over other artistic forms of expression. It is generating knowledge as a form of social pedagogy and it is an important reason for why it needs be taught.
II. Procedure.
Satirical drawing and caricature are omnipresent futures in today’s contemporary reality. The distorted faces of politicians, actors, musicians, sportsmen, and the various characters and situations that make the news serve as a great source of creative inspiration for artists who “speak” and “tell” their stories through the burlesque character of their imagery. The humoristic perception of reality is contained in an imagery that provokes joy and anger. It all depends from which angle the images are looked at. These particular forms of visual communication, of content or discontent, have accompanied societies since the very beginning of humanity.
The satirical perception surrounding our realities has been always present, in one way or another, and documented in various artistic creative forms throughout the ages of our human existence. To support such an argument one needs to look closely at the artifacts, which we have inherited from our ancestors. We can start reviewing this heritage from as early as 30.000 years BC (the oldest artifacts so far) which includes objects such as the statue of the Venus of Willendorf, the caricatured engravings of faces from the caves at Le Marche; the satirical situations depicted on the cave rocks at Lascaux in France, Egyptian wall paintings and engravings, Greek satirical sculptures and pottery paintings, Pompeian caricature graffiti, medieval sculptures on Gothic cathedrals, Renaissance caricatures and satirical paintings, followed by Baroque, Rococo, and all other artistic styles, which basically evolved and nourished creatively one another to the present day. The significant amount of artworks left to us by each epoch could be theorized through the means of the epistemological approach to it and as such can be adopted for educational purposes in the exploration of the art of caricature and satirical perception of the past as well as the present. Reflecting on the amount of visual materials, which are available to us for studies, it seems that the human race has always had the faculty and desire to express their satirical commentary through the means of humoristic exaggerations in regard to their respective realities.
The contemporary art world reduced the art of caricature to a lower category of artistic practice, mostly due to the label of commerciality, which is attached to this extraordinary form of art by a hierarchical attitude within contemporary artistic circles. In such cases the artists who express themselves through the means of satirical artworks “can only say what they have to say, the trouble is not with their work but those who, having eyes see not, and having ears, hear not” (Dewey, 2005, p.108-109). Meanwhile, it is an art form, which is the perfect tool for communication among the arts, and arts based research practices. Satirical art is a tool, which promotes visual literacy by provoking the spectator to think and understand what is presented to them in the form of a visual dialogue. The process of drawing caricature or composing satirical paintings generates all the necessary aspects of arts based research actions such as reflection, interrogation, conversation, deliberation, and debates (Barone & Eisner, 2012, p. 59).
The creation of satirical art consists of an intelligent distortion of reality, which allows the artist to explore the subject through the means of symbolic and elaborated narratives connected to various figurative forms juxtaposed in a comprehensive unity via the process of cognitive observation. Satirical art demands from an artist to possess a wide spectrum of general knowledge, and the ability to know how it can be implemented in the creative process in order to communicate the desired intrinsic narrative. Satirical art is an “art” which “thinks” (Critchley, 2009) and provokes others to think too. “It is the image of thought that guides the creation of concept” (Deleuze, 1995, p. 148), and as such can and should be explored in arts based research practice.

III. Abbreviated Review of Literature.
Arnheim, Rudolf (1974). Art and Visual Perception-a Psychology of the Creative Eye. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.
Rudolf Arnheim (1974), in his book, reflects on various issues regarding visual perception and creativity. The author elaborates in his text on various psychological aspects regarding image creation and is trying to explain how an image is conceived and how its content is affecting the viewer’s perception of it. Arnheim theorizes about cognitive concepts of visual imagery by leading the reader through the genealogy of understanding various narrative aspects of an artist’s pictorial mind. He reflects also on the art of caricature as a particular creative endeavor.
Baridon, Laurent, & Guédron, Martial (2009). L’art et l’histoire de la caricature. Paris, France: Éditions Citadelles & Mazenod.
Baridon and Guédron in their publication present an elaborately conducted historical research on the art of caricature. This monumental and indispensable book leads the reader through a massive bank of information about the development of caricature through the history of humanity. The authors concentrate their efforts mostly on French artists and mention only the most well known caricaturists from England, Italy, Spain, and other countries. However, it is an important and very well researched source of information about the origins of caricature and satirical art.
Champfleury- Fleury-Husson, Jules François Felix (1865). Histoire de la caricature antique. Paris, France: Dentu, E. Éditeur-Librarie de la Société des gens de lettres, Palais Royale, Galerie d’Orléans.
Champfleury was one of the first to write an extended and well-researched history on caricature and satirical art. This position of Champfleury is the first of four volumes written by the author on the subject of antic caricature. It is an important source of information about the early, mostly sculptural, satirical art of Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Furthermore, Champfleury has collected many different descriptions and theories regarding the art of caricature from various scholars, writers, artists, historians, and philosophers. The other three volumes in this series explore the history of caricature and satirical art during the medieval, renaissance, and baroque periods. The last book covers the history of satirical art development during the first half of the nineteenth century.
Deregowski, J. B. (1984). Distortion in Art-The Eye and the Mind. New York, USA: Routledge Kegan & Paul.
Deregowski in his book explores various forms of “deformations” existing in art in general, including the art of caricature. The author elaborates on the ambiguities found in distorted imagery and their psychological effects on a viewer. The author proposes to the reader a literary voyage through the human minds ability to perceive visually and elaborates on the various artifacts and their pictorial alterations, which can be found by studying the history of art. According to Deregowski, each distorted image emanates with its own philosophy of historic narrative waiting for the viewer’s deductive exploration. Through the deformation of reality each image attracts our cognitive attention towards it.
Gombrich, E. H. & Kris, Ernst (1938). The Principles of Caricature. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 17, 319-42.
Gombrich and Kris, in their essay, review the history of satirical art and caricature in relation to the various epochs of western art development. The article is a section within a much more elaborated historical study on the subject of caricature, which the authors conducted for the purpose to publish their conclusions in a form of a book. Unfortunately, according to the information available, the project was never commercialized. However, the text, which is available, brings an interesting light on the way the art of caricature was practiced through the centuries of artistic development in western society. The authors, review earlier information collected by Champfleury (1865) and Wright (1875) on the subject of caricature and its first appearance as early as in antiquity.
Gombrich, E. H. (1982). The Image and the Eye: Further Studies in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation. New York, USA: Cornell/Phaidon Books. Cornell University Press.
Gombrich explores in his book a variety of concepts and writings about the art of painting and portraiture, including his thoughts on the art of caricature and satirical creativity. The author reflects on the different viewpoints of the visual perceptions, which are available to the viewer’s contemplative mind, through the pictorial representations of the artists’ illusory creative realities. Gombrich proposes to the reader well researched content, which is the perfect tool for the exploration and reflection on the multiple faces of the psychology of artistic creativity through the history of pictorial art.
Klausen, Jytte (2009). The Cartoons That Shook the World. New Haven, USA: Yale University Press.
Klausen investigates in her book the controversy surrounding the Danish cartoons on the twelve caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. These caricatures were published by a local journal, and in resulted in provoking an incontrollable set of events contrasting two opposite socio-cultural entities. The Danish case shows how important it is to foster knowledge and visual literacy in order to avoid similar conflicts in the future. The book’s content shows how it is important to propagate pictorial liberty through an appropriate education about the visual democracy of the free artistic expression, a freedom that is omnipresent and particular to western culture.
Parton, James (1877). Caricature and Other Comic Art in All Times and Many Lands. New York, USA: Harper & Brothers Publishers.
Parton, in his book, collected multiple data about the art of caricature and satirical production from various cultural regions of the world. Regardless of his intentions, most of the books content focuses mostly on French and English historical developments of satirical art and caricature. It is an interesting collection of different facts, which were earlier researched by Champfleury. However, Parton represents his own perceptive analysis of satirical art and caricature.
Porter, Robert (2009). Chapter 2: Painting. In Deleuze and Guattari: Aesthetics and Politics. Cardiff, England: University of Wales Press.
Porter, in his relatively new book, reflects on Deleuze’s philosophical elaborations concerning the question of what is artistic creativity, what is an idea and how it is developing, especially in the domain of painting. To Deleuze the art of painting provokes in the mind of the viewer a set of visual sensations. The Deleuzeian concept of sensation can be easily adapted to the art of caricature and satirical drawing and painting. These forms of creative activity share the same visual dilemma, which is the psychological impact related to the effects provoked by distorted realities. The Deleuzeian philosophical reflections will play an important inspirational and theoretical role during my Visual Arts-Based Research Project.
Wright, Thomas (1875). A History of Caricature and Grotesque in Literature and Art. London, England: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly.
Wright’s book represents an English version of Champfeury’s research on the subject of caricature. Wright reflects on satirical art and caricature through the wide spectrum of historical and cultural events. He offers his own historical vision of the development of satirical art and caricature and the book contains a lot of illustrations.
These abbreviated reviews of the literature represent just a fragment of my theoretical resources, which will be used to support my research project.
IV. Conclusions.
Satirical art and the art of caricature play an important role as the social barometer of healthy socio-political and cultural coexistence. It is a sign of a strong society where freedom is not restrained by any dogmatic influences or political demagogies. Furthermore, the art of caricature is an excellent tool to encourage the growth of imagination and promote its creative development through the process of satirical drawing practice. “Humor may encourage a process of education wherein the receiver is given a chance to adjust the distorted image…” “We should therefore look more closely into the humorous parts of the caricature” (Saeverot, 2011, p. 92). To teach how to use satirical art in education opens yet another entry in the process of helping students to learn how to read the visual content and how it could be logically applied to various issues, regarding contemporary society, which could be approached pedagogically by fostering the culture of humor. Through the means of humor we can approach any delicate and controversial issue if we know “how to.” Teaching through visual satire is also educating about the socio-political and culture of “savoir vivre,” which in our case could be rephrased as “savoir penser” and “savoir rire.” Satirical art cultivates open-minded responsible individuals who are conscious of the complexity of various social issues. The art of caricature and satire propagates not only creative knowledge but also democratic literacy. It teaches people to laugh intelligently and to distance themselves from low quality jokes. The issue of quality exists as much in satirical art as in any other artistic creative expression. It is why I think that teaching the art of caricature and satirical art is an intelligent pedagogical approach that will benefit everyone. Furthermore, satirical art and caricature has the ability to explore new horizons of knowledge in Art Education research practice.
V. Bibliography
Arnheim, Rudolf (1974). Art and Visual Perception-a Psychology of the Creative Eye. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.
Baridon, Laurent, and Martial Guédron (2006). L’art et l’histoire de la Caricature. Paris,
France: Éditions Citadelles & Mazenod.
Barone, Tom, & Eisner, Elliot W. (2012). Arts Based Research. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Boundas, Constantin, V. (Ed.), (1993). Part IV, Chapter 22: Painting and Sensation. In The Deleuze Reader. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Champfleury, Jules (1867). Histoire de la caricature Antique. Paris, France: Libraire de la Société des gens de lettres.
Champfleury, Jules (1876). Histoire de la caricature au Moyen Age et sous Renaissance. Paris, France: Libraire de la Société des gens de lettres.
Critchley, Simon (2009). Scenes from a Marriage: Have Art and Theory Drifted Apart?
Retrieved from:
http://www.friezefoundation.org/talks/detail/scenes_from_a_marriage_have_art_and_theory_drifted_apart/
Deleuze, Gilles (1995). Chapter: Life as a Work of Art. In Negotiations, 1972¬–1990. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Deleuze, Gilles & Guattari, Félix (1987). A Thousand Plateaus-Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Deregowski, J. B. (1984). Distortion in Art-The Eye and the Mind. New York, USA: Routledge Kegan & Paul.
Desbarats, Peter, and Terry Mosher (1979). The Hecklers. Toronto, Canada: The
Canadian Publishers McClelland and Stewart Limited.
Dewey, John (2005). Art as Experience. New York, NY: Perigee.
Duccini, Hélène (2001, March). La Caricature-deux siècles de dérision salutaire. Historia, 651(3), 46-78.
Ferrance, Eileen (2000). Action Research. Providence, RI: Brown University.
Gombrich, E. H. & Kris, Ernst (1938). The Principles of Caricature. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 17(38), 319-342.
Gombrich, E. H. (1960). Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation. New York, USA: Pantheon Books Inc.
Gombrich, E. H. (1982). The Image and the Eye-Further Studies in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation. New York, USA: Cornell/Phaidon Books. Cornell University Press.
Horn, Maurice (Ed.), (1980). The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons. New York, NY: Chelsea House Publishers.
Klausen, Jytte (2009). The Cartoons that Shook the World. New Haven, USA :Yale University Press.
McNiff, Shaun (2008). Chapter 3. Art-Based Research. In Knowles, Gary J. & Ardra L. Cole (Eds.), Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research (p. 29). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
McNiff, Jean (2002). Action Research for Professional Development-Concise Advise for New Action Researchers. (3rd ed.). Retrieved from: http://www.jeanmcniff.com/ar-booklet.asp
Parton, James (1877). Caricature and Other Comic Art in All Times and Many Lands. New York, USA: Harper & Brothers Publishers.
Porter, Robert (2009). Chapter 2: Painting. In Deleuze and Guattari: Aesthetics and Politics. Cardiff, England: University of Wales Press.
Saeverot, Herner (2011). Rhetorical Caricature: An Educational Reading of Nabokov’s Treatment of Freud. Phenomenology & Practice, 5(1), 84-99. Retrieved from
http://www.phandpr.org/index.php/pandp/article/view/80
Streicher, Lawrence, H. (1965). David Low and the Sociology of Caricature. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 8(1), 1-23. Retrieved from http://0www.jstor.org.mercury.concordia.ca/stable/177533
Sullivan, Graeme (2010). Art Practice as Research-Inquiry in Visual Arts. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Wright, Thomas (1875). A History of Caricature and Grotesque in Literature and Art. London, England: Chatto and Windus.

Click here to see Caricatures

This collection contains drawings from the series of quickly made sketches of a various subjects. I always have with me a sketchbook, and when possible I sketch what I see around. I use to draw the sanguine and watercolors. On occasion, I use other mediums too. The sketching pads are the traces of time I was able to catch in a visual form during my various displacements and activities. The notebooks pages register the data of my reflections and meditations through the art of drawing. It is a form of a spiritual journey. It is the best way for an artist to relax, because through the act of drawing one is entering a different space, a space of creative thought. When I draw, I concentrate all my senses on what I see. It is an intellectual research for a data from which I compose what I look at. The final artworks represent my personal perception of the reality surrounding me.

Marshall (2007), in her article, “Image as Insight: Visual Images in Practice-Based Research,” cites Gardner’s discourse on spatial intelligence, which perfectly illustrates the various segments of the drawing creation process:
Gardner (1983) states:
Spatial intelligence entails a number of loosely related capacities: the ability to recognize instances of the same element; the ability to transform or recognize a transformation of one element into another; the capacity to conjure up mental imagery and then to transform that imagery; the capacity to produce a graphic likeness of spatial information; and the like. (p. 176).

Graeme Sullivan (2010), in his most recent book “Art Practice as Research: Inquiry in Visual Arts,” contextualized the process of Visual Arts Practice as a field of academic research. Sullivan, in the triangular diagram he created, shows the interdependent actions, which take place during the Visual Arts Practice, and which reflects also the cognitive character of drawing creation. He depicted a profile of four essential activities, which constantly interact within each other’s territories of collected data in order to complete the visual outcome of the conducted research. The Visual Arts Practice (Creating) interacts with Interpretive Discourse (Reflecting), Empiricist Inquiry (Designing), and Critical Process (Critiquing) in order to summarize the entire operation of artwork construction. The specified elements do not reflect the linear accumulation of knowledge, but they interact within themselves without an order. What I mean by this is that the triangular sections do not always interact with the centrally situated triangle signifying the process of Creating. They also interact between themselves. The outcome of all these cognitive interdependent interactions results in the conclusive artifact, which in this case is the sketching. “In pursuing these kinds of quests artists cast their minds to issues, ideas, and experiences that reveal imaginative insights, yet the process resists capture by the freeze-frame of clinical analysis” (Sullivan, 2010, p. 152). The experiment of sketching in direct with “scientific” consciousness permits the realization that “knowledge is gained through the speculation, accumulation, analysis, and confirmation of facts, and the utility of empirical approaches,” which “remains the cornerstone of scientific inquiry” (Sullivan, 2010, p. 36).

Click here to see the album Live Studies 2012

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The Deleuzeian rhizome theory states that the knowledge about the world is acquired freely and independently through a process of multiple non-hierarchical structures of representation and interpretation, without any particular beginning or end point. It means that an idea should not have a “tap root” but “rhizome roots,” which offers a multitude of “in” and “out” possibilities. The Deluzeian concept confronts the arborescent model of thought based on chronological linear and vertical links of ideas and percepts. Deleuze explains in a very concise manner the difference between the dominant western thought idea of “the tree” and his rhizome concept by stating: “the tree imposes the verb ‘to be,’ but the fabric of rhizome is the conjunction ‘and…and…and…’” (Deleuze, 1987, p. 25). The flexibility of his concept gives to the artist an unlimited space for creative explorations. It is an idea, which in a very particular way responds to the artists’ needs and their creative venues in innovative research. The rhizome concept permits the artist an unlimited creative liberty, and as such reflects perfectly the contemporary diversity of artistic endeavors. Rhizome theory has revolutionized the way an idea might be conceived and propagated into a variety of different concepts and sensations without being restricted to any particular rules, which could restrain such liberty. However, the most salient characteristic is that the satirical art and caricature can have its own place of artistic expression in Visual Arts Practice Research inspired by Deleuzeian philosophical thought.

The concept: Camera Bianca: Relational Me was born as a composite of various inspirations of which the leading force was the Marcel Duchamp’s final farewell artwork titled Étant donnés (1946-1966). Duchamp was working on this composition for twenty years in secret of his Greenwich Village studio in New York. In many ways this particular piece of art was permanently installed in Philadelphia Art Museum in nineteenth sixty-nine after the artist’s death following his precise instructions. Another set of inspirations came from the artists participating in this year 54^th Venetian Biennale of Art, especially the exhibitions at the Palazzo Pisani and the Azerbaijan Pavilion. In the Palazzo Pisani the artist Tamara Kvesitadze (Georgia) presented three-dimensional pieces, which interacted within the palazzos space by using the movement sensors. In the Azerbaijan Pavilion the artist Aidan Salakhova created dimensionality trough the application of three-dimensional static forms in her reflective compositions. The cogitative observation of these artworks provoked in myself the question: how will the incorporation of one color drawing and sculpted elements interact together in a reversed optical space? Furthermore, I wandered how to build a structure, which would initiate the one on one encounter in order to generate aesthetic experience that generates curiosity and creates a perceptive puzzle to provoke the spectator’s receptive senses to react aesthetically. I was interested in creating a close separated environment for the visual perception of realities through the composite symbolism of various elements, which I have integrated into the final composition. The final artwork illustrates to certain degree the multilingual introductory text contained in the flyer from the Palazzo Pisani exhibition of the Georgian artist Tamara Kvesitadze written by Slager (2011):

Deluze elucidates how art idiosyncratically generates a form of thought and knowledge that is able to contribute to an understanding of the human condition  –  a form of thought and knowledge that is very different from the discursive modalities philosophy deploys. Because of that dynamic of being different, the visual production of ideas can never be comprised in static systems of signification or well-defined frameworks of interpretation (p. 4).

The question in my artistic endeavor was: how to reflect the process of the visual cognitive interaction between the artist’s composite of creative forms, which are suggested to the spectator as an aesthetic language of communication? The application of reversed binocular optics as a filter distorting the realistic perception of the proposed surfaces permits the spectator to experience the artwork’s intrinsic content, while sharing takes place in the closed intimate space. The pyramidal white box separate the chosen creative space from the external world allowing to the spectator to participate in the process of reception of the aesthetic impulses, which provokes the spectator’s aesthetic responses. At the same time the separation of the artwork’s interior space from external distraction and interference of various structural and physical forms, permits the viewer to focus on the process of assessing and explore better the encoded symbolism of the artistic composition, which is suggested to him/her.

The title of my artwork Camera Bianca: Relational Me symbolically consists of two parts, which are united together by the concept of visual perception of three dimensionality of the gallery space. In this particular artwork I am interested in creation of dimensionality of objects through various optical means. The first part of the title, Camera Bianca, reflects as a form the creative womb, which separates the imaginary creative world of artistic fantasy in opposition to the Camera Obscura principles to reflect reality. The Camera Obscura mirrors the reality and the imaginary liberty is not possible. The Camera Bianca is not about recreation of reality, but about its creative encoded deformation. The proposal to the spectator is to explore the creative composition through reversed optics using binoculars symbolizes how the viewer perceives the artwork. The artist’s imaginative world of suggested aesthetics to the receptive spectator is always distorted by the cognitive incompatibilities. The binoculars principal role is to approach the desired area or the objects of our interest in order to let us see closer and enjoy somehow the normally unreachable distanced zones without the necessity of displacement. It also distorts the real perception of things, but does not create dimensions. However, when used in reverse it creates an artificial sensation of three-dimensional space. In consequence any composition of line and form, when looked through the reversed binoculars, cause a kind of faulty visual dimensionality.

The second part of the title, Relational Me, is conceived using a coded symbolism of compositional elements, which reflects on my personal voyage through the process of my earthy existence. I chose for this purpose a fragment of my most reoccurring contrasted thoughts united by the territory of the canvas I assigned to them. The figurative forms are placed in a disruptive way in order to create the impression of fragmentary thoughts interacting with each other and through the visual content create narrative context to explore. I was looking for a way to enhance the dimensionality of my artwork through narrative, which was conceived on the raw linen of canvas. I found out that when using white on the linen natural surface a contrast was created between these two colors giving an impression of three-dimensional space. The application of the reversed binocular optics allowed an additional spectrum to the artwork’s narrative and provokes the spectator’s visual senses to perceive the enhanced dimensional aesthetics.

To conclude, I found this experience motivating for further explorations using the dimensionality of sculptural and flat surfaces, which could be enhanced with the use of various optic configurations and different contrasted materials. This kind of experimental practice engages the spectator in relational communication with the artist’s creative narratives projected and shared in the intimacy of a specified and enclosed space for the visual experience, which is intentionally deformed through the optical means in order to reflect the cognitive aspects of the process of seeing and perceiving. Following the Rancière’s ideas, which reflect on the question of dominance and subjection during the process of the viewer’s exposure to the creative activity of artistic expression, in the case of Camera Bianca: Relational Me the viewer and the artist balance harmoniously aspects concerning subjection.

The series of drawings Illustrated Voyages are composed from the sketches made during my 2011 voyage to Europe. The artwork reflects my interest in direct encounter with various places and situations during my travels. I like to explore the moments of visual ecstasy in their real time. What I mean by saying this is the fact of uncontrollable temptation to catch this beautiful feeling of visual enjoyment, which was procured to my senses by the visual perception of experienced realities. To me it is the best way to explore the places I had the chance to visit. The fact of doing fast sketching of the viewed people, situations, and places at the time of my actual presence there induces me with an inexplicable creative thrill. It is a kind of intellectual drug to which I am totally succumbed with all my senses. The fact of drawing in direct is a kind of training camp for my professional skills. This time I decided to use various supports such as linen and cotton canvases for the direct drawing exercises. In addition to sanguine, colored pencils, and watercolors I tried to implement various water base and permanent ink markers. The sketching on canvas with permanent ink markers is not an easy experience. I needed to concentrate totally on what I was doing in order to avoid the perceptional mistakes. It is an interesting exercise. In order to be successful one need to be in total control of the coordination of his mind with his hand. It is always a challenging experiment to any artist exploring the enigma of drawing in direct.

The main purpose of me sketching in direct is to study the innumerable variety of forms and color nuances in order to prepare a source of information which I will explore even further when working on large size canvas. These sketches are for me a kind of coded notebook for the future paintings.

Click here to see images in the Portfolio

Apocalipsis, is an experimental concept to exhibit various artworks, which are composed thematically together, in a form of visual disorder through which I intend to communicate to the viewer various facts concerning our contemporary realities through the pedagogy of metamorphic imagery. The socio-economic rush for fast growth absorbs entirely our socio-political structures by the constantly growing dependence on technological development, which transforms our social interactions into a different platform of the digital world. Through my artwork I am referring to various aspects of our existence and I am reflecting on it by showing how our life is affected by digital technology. The purpose of such a display is to expose the absurdity of our situation where nothing can be done to prevent the destruction of the world we know. There is no point of return because the overwhelmed economic forces slowly but consistently are taking over our freedom of choice by invading our personal independence with a variety of electronic tools, of which the main role is to replace the natural by the virtual. We are all effected by this development and many of us enjoy it. It is easy and seems so beautiful and “natural.” I do not aspire to change the world or promote revolutionary change, but through my creative imagery I am trying to say that we all should be concerned about it as we all are the authors of our contemporary realities. We are all participating in our own beautiful and comfortable destruction of our minds. We all write the book of our future on the endless pages of the utopian dreams with which digital technology nourishes us. It is what inspires my creative quest as an artist and educator.

I chose to conclude my display by my own interpretation of the Albrecht Dürer’s artwork, which illustrates The Revelation of St John’s number 4, The Four Riders of the Apocalypse. The painting summarizes my artistic intervention into the viewer’s cognitive space by exposing her/him to a provocative depiction of social interrelations, which are viewed by me as an apocalyptic process of learning about ourselves. My decision to disregard the aesthetic canons of artistic display and take the risk to experience an aesthetic disorder permitted me to cross the border of my creative limitations and open space for learning the freedom of artistic gesture. I sincerely believe that by doing so I provoked questions and disagreements, and if it did my artistic experience has been successfully completed.

I would like to conclude my statement with a quote from John Dewey’s book Art as Experience (2005), “Experience is the result, the sign, and the reward of that interaction of organism and environment which, when it is carried to the full, is a transformation of interaction into participation and communication.”

Click here to see the artwork.

“To write is perhaps … to select the whispering voices, to gather the tribes and secret idioms from which I extract something I call myself.” (Jarrett, 2007, p. 79)

To paint is perhaps … to select the whispering colors, to gather the silhouettes of thoughts and secret idioms from which I extract something I call myself.

Following the path of appropriated and partially modified quote from Deleuze and Guattari I am researching to … extract something I call myself. Influenced by my present studies at Concordia University I am tempted to exteriorize in visual form the creative process of my studying and researching for my own character of creative expression. Through the metaphoric visual language of color and line I explore and apprehend the process of my learning. To contextualize the flow of my thoughts and my imaginary visions I am inspired by the panoramic views of the city from the windows of Concordia University SGW building. When walking through the corridors and different floors one can feel the air filled with a mass of creative thoughts bouncing against each other and looking for an outlet to materialize their weightless bodies of unspecified shapes visible only to the artistic sensibility. All this amalgam of emotions influences the explorative energies of my perception of surrounding me cognitive reality of the university space. Gazing through the university windows I absorb the open space of structures, lines, and colors as creative nourishment for my artistic quest. The only thing separating me from this abyss of colorful energies is the materiality of the glass and the window framing. The parapet marks the border of my reach as it did in the Renaissance sacred paintings where the divine was separated from the mortal. However, in my case I am switching the sides and placing the divine in the university interior space as a cohesive representation of its intellectual force, which is guiding my creative impulses.

Taking in consideration the fact that the artist statement is a common practice considered by many as essential to any aspiring artist in his or hers artistic quest for recognition on the institutionalized artistic market. Furthermore, in general conception the artist statement proofs the artist’s cognitive maturity. However, this practice exists as a controversial act to some artists and I am one of them. Not everything needs to be explained. Making art is a creative process, which sometimes the artist himself cannot explain and pretending that we always know what we do might seem as a little exaggeration. I asked myself many times a question: why do I have to explain what I paint? The only reasonable answer I have to it is that some viewers feel more comfortable to know what the artist want to express through his artwork, especially when it is an “abstract” representation. In general what happens during the artist’s creative process is difficult to explain and I am sure that many of us just follow the mysterious energies of electrons floating in the labyrinth of our brain attracting each other or pushing off in the process of electric discharge, which moves the hand with the brush or any other medium leaving on the surface scars of this electro-volcanic process. The truth is that artist statement facilitates the intellectual reception of the creative visual content. However, the figurative painting is mostly self-explanatory creation and over intellectualization of its content is to me unnecessary activity.

In my recent series of paintings I want to show how in my perception the artist statement interacts with the kind of art I do. Does it help to understand better what I paint or it acts rather like a distracting element. To me, the artist statement is like voile. Personally, I agree with Archibald MacLeish’s phrase “should not mean but be” and so I prefer to look at the face without the voile so I can read its psychological cartography, but it is my way to see the issue at this time.

Click here to see the artwork.