Art of Teaching Art: A Guide for Teaching and Learning the Foundations of Drawing-Based Art

By Deborah A. Rockman

Book Overview

Often the finest artists do not make the best teachers. Many frustrated college students of art know this all too well as they suffer through unstructured classes with inexperienced teachers or graduate student instructors. In these situations, it is easy to blame the teachers. But the problem is largely institutional: most students graduating with MFAs from art schools receive little if any instruction in teaching art. If you find yourself in this predicament as teacher or student, this book is for you.

The first book to provide a comprehensive guide for teaching college-level art, The Art of Teaching Art is the culmination of respected artist and instructor Deborah Rockman's two decades of teaching experience. Believing that drawing is the backbone of all of the visual arts, she begins with a complete explanation of drawing concepts that apply to any subject matter, e.g., composition, sighting processes, scaling techniques, and methods for linear and tonal development. She then illustrates these concepts with step-by-step methods that easily translate to classroom exercises. Next, she applies the drawing principles to every artist's most important and challenging subject, the human figure. After an extended section on understanding and teaching perspective that explores illusionistic form and space, the focus of the book shifts to the studio classroom itself and the essential elements that go into making an effective learning environment and curriculum. From preparing materials lists and syllabi, to setting up still-lifes, handling difficult classroom situations, critiquing and grading student artworks, and shooting slides of student artworks, she leaves no stone unturned.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195130790
• ISBN13: 9780195130799
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Oxford Univ PR
• Length: 340 Pages
• Weight: 2.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.2" x 10.2"

Customer Reviews

The Art of Teaching Art

This book teaches in depth the learning foundations of drawing based art for higher level arts students. The book requires lots of reading and study: it also has many black and white examples of principals being taught. The language could be somewhat confusing for non artists.

excellent resource!

I bought this book while pursuing my MFA. I was in my first semester with a Teaching Assistantship and was freaking out! I was in the predicament of being able to make great art, but not articulate and teach it. This book guided me through my TA in grad school and now is the first text I consult when teaching my own classes. I taught K-6 Art Ed for a few years and was able to apply Ms. Rockman's instruction of composition, line variation, and scaling. Once I made the move to a University setting, her chapter discussing the classroom environment and how to facilitate critiques proved invaluable. Fine Art can be such a difficult area to apply grading scales. She offers criteria for making sound grading judgements on student work. Overall, I think every Grad student doing a TA and every art instructor should have this book. It's a solid foundation for beginning or improving your teaching skills.

Excellent source for both art students and instructors

I am presently an art student working toward my degree in teaching college level art. This book is a wonderful source of information for both art students and teachers. The topics are covered very thoroughly and in an understandable fashion. Some of the topics covered in this book are: sighting (excellent content on sighting), principals of composition, value, space and depth, the human figure and anatomy, gesture drawing, portraiture, perspective (very, very well done), establishing a classroom environment, preparing group critiques, diagnosing problems in student work, suggested homework assignments, preparing a slide library, building a resume, and much, much more. Every chapter is extremely well written and contains a wealth of information. It presents a solid foundation for those of us who will be entering the teaching field of art, and for those of you already in it. This book will help you reinforce your art skills, along with prepare you for the ability to teach the knowledge that you have to others. I would give this book 10 stars if it were permitted.

No TA or new art faculty should be without it!

When most artists attend graduate school they are thrown into the position of teaching freshmen level art courses with little or no preparation for doing so. Luckily, Professor Rockman has come along to provide in her book a clear and concise education on the teaching of foundations level art. I was lucky to have been a student of Ms. Rockman's and only survived my experience as a Teaching Assistant by having had her example as an instructor to draw upon. Now anyone who picks up this book can draw upon her reservoir of experience and insight. "The Art of Teaching Art" is a tremendous resource, one that no TA or new art faculty should be without. I cannot recommend it highly enough!

Finally some help for college level teachers!

This book is what every person needs who is teaching art in a college or university setting. It's actually got a lot of helpful information for non-art faculty as well. It is so thorough and so clear, and the illustrations make it evident that this author knows what she is talking about. It's one of those books that I will refer to over and over again.