Personal Style in Pastel
I always love it when a project brings out an artist's individual style. That was certainly the case in this pastel still-life project my 4th-7th graders completed over the last few weeks.
The goal was for artists to observe succulents and create a pastel drawing that employed cropping, blending, and the illusion of form through shading and highlights. As you can see, each artist took those prompts and ran with them!
One of the great privileges of the art teacher is getting to know my students over time. Most teachers get one year, maybe a semester, sometimes only a quarter, with their students. The art teacher, on the other hand, gets to watch their students grow year after year. I know their likes and dislikes, when to gently push them outside their comfort zone, and when to allow them to lead the way toward their own artistic vision.
Knowing each of these kids as I do: one bold, fearless, and unapologetically impulsive in her artistic decisions, another careful, precise, and delicate with every stroke of pastel on paper, and another playful and overflowing with character that comes through in her artwork to maximum effect, I can see their personal styles bubbling to the surface- they can’t even help it!
Artistic expression is an extension of who we are. It’s a piece of us laid bare on a sheet of paper, a canvas, in a sculpture. Sure, as artists, we need to learn the tools of the trade: how and when to use the different elements and principles of art, effective renderings of proportion and distance, and respect for craftsmanship- yes, of course.
Above all that, however, artists (which, in my book, is everyone in one way or another!) need to express who they are. Not only that, they need to resist every urge to restrain or adjust it for the benefit of another person (yes, even their art teacher! ) or in an effort to be accepted in some circle- whether that circle is in the art world or on the playground.
“Fitting In” is overrated. Being authentically yourself and letting that self shine for the beautiful wonder it is, well, that’s where the real magic happens. So, if you’re trying to keep your artists “on track,” make sure you’re giving them the chance to lay the track in the first place.
