Knowledge of Human Anatomy

After a class on aspects of arm and leg anatomy.

I've been interested in the study in human anatomy since I went to the anatomy lab with my friend Mike, who was going to med school in Vermont around 1985.  I remember that it had an immediate affect on me - not in the shocking way that you would think, but I was just interested in how amazing this machine is that carries us around all our lives.  I drew some small drawings in my sketchbook for a couple hours while Mike was going over notes and dissecting a shoulder joint.  So amazing.  I don't have those drawings anymore ... wish I did.

Teaching figure drawing is one of my favorite subjects to teach.  I use the figure almost exclusively in my own work, for reasons that I will go into towards the end of this entry, and I teach a section in anatomy for at least a couple weeks at the beginning of the course.  I've acquired about four books on anatomy, and every time I go into Strand Books in NYC, I drool over the Taschen encyclopedia on anatomy that costs $150 and weighs about 40 pounds.  So, I use my books, as well as some of my drawings form the figure, and I have the students learn all of the bones and muscles in the human body.  When I was teaching at Syracuse University, I would take my class over to the University Hospital anatomy lab at the beginning of every semester to draw from the cadavers.  (The doctor who ran the anatomy lab grew up with my father, and so when I went in one day and introduced myself, he said "y'know, I knew McKaig's from Jordan, NY," and when I explained that one of them was my father, I had an in).  After the class would leave the lab after the drawing session, it was as if they had seen alien beings, or witnessed some historic archaeological discovery right before their eyes.  Often, the drawings they created from that experience were some of the most sensitive and focused of the semester.

I teach anatomy because I feel that a heightened understanding and EMPATHY for the human figure is essential when creating images of the human form.  Too often students seem to be frustrated at the beginning of an attempt to draw the figure, but as soon as they understand what lies beneath what they are looking at - the inter-connectedness, the complexity, the structural elements - then their drawings gain a new richness and sensitivity.  When a model is posed in a certain manner, I can then talk to them about how the "rhomboid, teres-major and Infra and supra-spinatus muscles" are stretched out to extend the arm, etc., and they understand and pick up on subtleties that now are supported by their knowledge of anatomy.

I also teach anatomy, because the understanding of the all the inter-connected parts of the body also relate to all other structures and arrangements in the natural world.  Depicting the human form in space on a two-dimensional format is one the most difficult tasks that a student can undertake, and so if they gain in their mastery of this skill, then it empowers them to tackle almost anything else.  Kenneth Clark said: “The nude human figure does not simply represent the body, but relates it, by analogy, to all structures that have become part of our imaginative experience.”  I find that when my students understand the "science" of the body, as well as the expressive potential of the human form, then they tend to be much more fearless.  I'm all for that.

Printmkaing critique

Figure drawing

Finishing a self-portrait.

Figure drawing critique

Critiques

I conduct critiques in several different ways, and on a regular basis, and I conduct critiques that are geared toward different situations, as follows:

-       When students are working steadily on a painting, print or drawing, I conduct what basically becomes a quick personal critique throughout the class session.  I ask open questions like “what are you doing next?”, “What are you working on now, and why?”, “How will what you’re doing in this area affect the other areas of the image?”, etc.  A common encouragement I present to them is to “be honest” about what the image needs.  This requires focused analysis, not generalizations or defeatist attitudes on their part.  I hope that this question has an empowering influence on them.  I want them to assume that all they have to do is quietly consider what is a challenge in the image. Then, they almost always inevitably go right to the area that we both agree needs to be addressed in the image (mostly because it is obvious that the particular area chosen is being avoided), and they also know almost immediately what steps they might take to resolve those issues that are presented to them.  I want to emphasize, I don’t expect them to come up with a clear plan that will definitely resolve the issue – I just want them to be empowered to TRY something, and to work toward the resolution, not to pre-conceive it before trying.  Like I say to my students – avoiding your problems doesn’t make them go away.  A quick personal critique can often be away of regaining focus on what the student needs to do, as well as a way for me to encourage them with pointing out other areas that have worked, due to their focused effort.

-       Preliminary group critiques are conducted after maybe two or three weeks on a longer painting or print project, in order for the students to take a break from the focused work, step back, and get reactions from their fellow students on what they are doing.  I often ask each student to come into the studio the night before a group critique and to write about one other student’s piece, to be read at the critique the next day.  This allows the students alone time with the work, so that they don’t feel pressured to come up with quick analysis in front of their peers, to give them time to express what they really want to say.  I also ask them to answer three simple questions in their written analysis – “What do you see?”, “What are the strong parts, or strong directions in the piece?”, and, “what are the challenges, or things that need to be changed, in your opinion?”  The first question concerning “what they see,” seems simple, but spending time and analyzing all aspects of what is seen can be very revealing, as opposed to a casual, quick analysis.  Answering this question after thoughtful and focused looking reveals much to the artist about how affective their approach is (mark-making/brush work, color scheme, space, composition, built up or lightly considered areas, etc.).   After the written comments are presented, I then allow the rest of the class to present their comments and ask questions of each other, not the artist.  I do this because I don’t want the rest of the class to take the easy way out by getting the answers directly from the artist – I want them to go through the process of critical thinking and discussing.  This prolonged discussion sometimes seems to drag on, but I feel that it’s important in terms of encouraging them to think in this focused, critical manner when they are working on their own painting/print/drawing.

-        At the end of the assignment, or at time that the piece is presented for viewing, I conduct a final group critique.  This takes on a very similar character as the previously discussed critique situation, with one change – I expect that each student needs to speak about each piece, and … that I don’t speak during the critique.  I do this so that they acquire the skill and sensitivity of concentrating on what is being said by everyone in the room, and so that they gain the ability of formulating their own decisions based on input presented on the spot.  I think that encourages them to think more on their feet, and it forces them (somewhat) to not let too much that’s said left open.  Decisions and determinations need to be made, even if the determination is that some aspect of the piece is not supposed to be pinned down.

The importance of process.

Talking with students about the different aspects of process is what I spend most of my classroom time with.  Many students have to be encouraged to not take shortcuts, to not expect the answers given to them, and to not focus on having the answers before going through the process of developing an image or object from the very beginning.  You will notice in the images in the previous post, that the students are expected to be fully independent with even the most mundane aspects of art-making: building frames for stretching canvas, grinding their own stones for working in lithography, mixing their own paint, maintaining the studios, developing fully resolved preliminary drawings, etc.

This emphasis on process and nuts-and-bolts work has several results.  It encourages the student to become acutely aware that ALL aspects of art-making (formal, technical and conceptual decisions) have an effect on how the image or object is read by the viewer.  It also forces the student to become aware of the subtle aspects or inherent qualities of each media.  Using the progressive grains of carborundum when grinding the stone, and following the process exactly in order to end up with a surface that affects the drawing that is to be completed - this is a perfect example of the student becoming aware of the inherent quality of stone lithography.

Having the students become proficient in all aspects of the process also has a more practical result - each student can act on their ideas more independently.  They won't need to ask for permission or to ask for guidance in all aspects of ... building frames, cutting wood for woodblock prints, sharpening their tools, stretching canvas, etc. - and so then they will be able to work towards where their ideas take them.  In other words, much fewer limitations.

I have each student completed well resolved drawings from life for each painting for several reasons:
- Extending the process this way causes the student to realize that resolving the image as a painting can be a long process in general.  The painting looks the way it does because of this gradual development.  The richness, range and sensitivity that occur are a result of this preliminary step.
- This also makes the development of the finished "product", so to speak, much less frustrating.  Problems and challenges have been worked out in the preliminary drawing, so the student has a much more positive direction to the work at hand.  Basically, it helps build a "library" of experiences to draw from.  Having resolved related drawings in the preliminary drawing format informs what the solutions might be in a related situation in a slightly different format/media.

The importance of process

Grinding limestone to prepare the surface for printing. 

Demonstrating assembly of wood frames for stretching canvas.

demonstrating completed assembly of canvas frame. 

process of developing an image from life and from preliminary drawings.

process of developing an image from life and from preliminary drawings 

Life drawing conducted in the dance studio.

drawing on the prepared limestone surface.  Note the covered "border" of the stone, in order to enable accurate printing.

My Teaching Philosophy

-       I encourage my students to develop strong formalistic and aesthetic understanding as a basis for expressing their own personal vision.  I encourage my students to be aware of all that is going on around them in terms of visual and cultural stimuli, but inevitably, to be manipulated by none of it.  I do feel, however, that a keen knowledge of art history and the traditions and techniques that have been developed through the ages is a necessity in analyzing and developing their own expression.  Because of that, I integrate a thorough curriculum of pre- and post-modern art history into all of my courses.  I do this by introducing material from my own library of books, as well as the resources from out institution’s library into the class session as regularly as possible.  I also have worked with the Interlochen librarian towards building the art resources in the library, and have stayed informed about current publisher’s catalogs of books from all areas of the visual arts, so that I can help build that resource for our students.  In addition, I am a voracious reader of contemporary periodicals that deal with art, culture, history, etc., and so I also incorporate that material into my classes as well.  I have consulted our librarian about how to broaden the scope of that periodical literature available to the students, and this has informed much of how I have grown my curriculum as well.

-       I encourage my students to experiment with all the media and technical apparatus available – in order to understand the limitless possibilities available in manipulating the inherent qualities of each media.  I encourage each of my students to aggressively grow in their understanding of the inherent qualities of a variety of media in order for them to be able to also grow conceptually.  I integrate methods learned through the Project Zero program at Harvard University, which I use towards having the students become more sensitive about specific formal decisions they are making, as well as becoming more sensitive to the essential quality of the process, and how this sensitivity promotes in them a more thorough understanding of the how the process informs their art-making.

-       I consider myself a hands-on teacher, but I feel that I encourage each of my students to grow on their own – to explore and to be free to make “mistakes,” to push themselves in ways that their work takes them.  I feel that the self-directed education is inevitably the best way to guide the student in their education as students of art. To this end I constantly encourage each student by asking open, active questions that then direct each of them towards active responses as shown in their work. I conduct classes in a way that allows me to approach each student individually, so that they can articulate their progress in ways that alludes to concepts and techniques that have been presented in preceding classes.  I also conduct regular structured critiques, and have developed a series of questions so that each student is required to become a part of the critique process, as well as so that each student has to become sensitive, empathetic and thorough in their responses to those questions.  I ask them to look forward towards how they use the media and process, not backward (at their so-called “mistakes”).

-       I feel that gearing instruction to each individual student is important, and so I strive to know each student’s concerns and strengths, so that they hopefully learn the importance and validity of drawing, painting, printmaking, etc. as it relates to almost every creative discipline.  In closing, I encourage – and expect – my students to be knowledgeable, dedicated, positive, aggressive, analytical, passionate, alert, confrontational towards themselves as well as towards what they are seeing, to always question – never settle, and to be aware of the wonder that can be revealed by the creation of a work of honesty, passion and empathy.