“Am I Finished?”

By Daniel T. Driggs on 2/1/2018 7:14:52 PM
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“Am I Finished?”   I recently had a student ask me this question.  Before I share my response, I want you to think about what you would say.  I realize that you can’t see the painting in question, but imagine an art student asking you, “Am I finished?”  Better yet, imagine you are in school.  You are ready to turn in a term paper.  As you hand your instructor the paper you ask him/her to read it and then let you know if it was finished.  How would your instructor respond? 

There are many possible answers for the art student who asks, “Am I finished?”  One method would be for the instructor to critically examine the composition, the use of color, and technique.  The problem with this method is three-fold. 

1. It takes the heart out of the art and looks only to the guts.
2. Most people do not take criticism well. (This is probably due to the fact that few people really know how to give constructive criticism.)   
3. Criticism too often leads to frustration and defeat. 

Every artist I have ever known has faced some sort of frustration. Entering the field of art is entering into a minefield of frustration, but the last thing you want is to be defeated.  The goal is to succeed.

When I was in college and doing my required semester of student teaching, I had students experience the giving and receiving of criticism.  The class of high school juniors and seniors were asked to place their art work on the tables.  Each student was then asked to leave their drawing pencil beside the piece of art they liked best.  One by one they had to explain why they liked that particular piece.  At this point there was no confrontation.  There was, however, the evidence of biased promotion of their best friends work.

After using this method through several projects, I asked each student to place their drawing pencil beside the piece they didn’t like and explain why.  For the most part this was far more difficult.  After they had explained what they didn’t like I had them go back to the same piece and explain what was good about the piece. 

This principle applies to people as well as art.  When something bothers us we need to look for the good points.   Every artist (as well as every individual in any field) needs to have someone who will help them build their strengths. 

By now you may be wondering how I respond to a student that asks, “Am I finished?”  (or an equivalent question).  The quick answer is to answer with a question.  Keep in mind that responses like, “What do you think” are too open, don’t provide guidance, and won’t help the student to grow as an artist. 

I believe the goal of the teacher is to build confidence in the student.  The greatest honor a teacher can receive is to have the student surpass the teacher artistically.   

In order to help the student to find personal success I like to respond with questions like:

• “What are you trying to say?”
• “How do you feel about the subject matter?” 
• “What do you think needs to be done to make the viewer feel the way you feel?”

These questions help the student to understand that art is more than techniques.  Art should be a means of communication.  Good art communicates with emotion.  This can be compared to an author of a novel.  The author can have perfect grammar, but if there is no driving (emotional) story line the novel fails.

When you are ready to call it quits on a painting, don’t ask, “Am I finished?”  Ask yourself if the piece says something about how you feel.  Ask yourself if you have used your artistic strengths to draw the viewer in.