I was thinking about some of the inspiring art teachers I’ve known. What got me to going down memory lane? Well, the wife and I are having a garage sale and our house is currently a mess. I’ve been hauling in boxes with STUFF in them to be priced, going thru this and that etc. In doing so I came across a box containing early paintings and artwork done in high school in the early 1980’s. This made me think of Mr. G my high school art teacher whom I still appreciate to this day.

Why my high school art teacher was an inspiration.

Mr. G (that’s what everyone called him) was great. I thought he was pretty cool. What made him so? Did he teach me some outstanding technique? No. He pretty much left me alone.

Whaaat??

Let me explain. My first class with him in the 10th grade was a commercial art class as it was the only one available at the time. Apparently I passed the course on the first assignment. Mr. G recognized the talent I had and from that moment on I was assigned to do nothing else but draw no matter what the rest of the class was doing. He even had me sit at a separate table near his desk so I wouldn’t have the distractions. I was to draw until I graduated.

One year I was put into a different teacher’s art class and I told Mr. G that I was sorry I wasn’t going to be in his class. He said “I’ll take care of that.” Back in his classroom once again, I remained there each year until graduation. I credit that time spent in Mr. G’s class in helping develop my drawing skills and giving me opportunities to explore and experiment. That was the best thing he could have ever done for me. He left me alone to practice and practice I did.

Today, as an art teacher I hope somewhere along the way someone will also consider me as one of their inspiring art teachers.

Early high school artworks

I spent a lot of time on this drawing. Don’t remember where the picture source came from. I don’t claim it as an original.

I even got to practice doing some animals. Is this Bullwinkle?

This class assignment focused on repetitive designs. It was done in mixed media including watercolor and colored pencil on paper.

The following painting was not done in high school art class, but it was from 1983, so I was still in high school at the time. Compared to my work just a year earlier it was a big improvement which I credit to spending more time on drawing. It was also an original and one of the better pieces that I painted during that time period.

Hope you enjoyed going down memory lane with me and thank you Mr. G.