I'm not sure where my head has been. I should have posted this last week with the other oil painting demonstrations. This gourd elicited great consternation from my students who struggled with getting the undulating surface and transitions between the two colors correct. In some ways like the pumpkin and other ways not, my students failed to appreciate the color variations in the peaks and valleys of the surface. I told them it was not going to be easy but to look for the shapes of the colors and block them in as best they could. A few did well.We've moved on to a small still life featuring a putty colored vase and a few more simple pieces of fruit. I did not do a demonstration this time around. Instead I did direct instruction and sketched on the whiteboard how they were to proceed, step-by-step. For some of my students this worked well, for others less so. So, I'll probably do a physical demonstration on Monday. A few were determined to do what they wanted while others--focused on getting it "right"--fell behind leaving me to dash back and forth.
Thoughts anyone on how to walk a class through the beginning painting process without doing a demonstration?
