MY ART TEACHER’S OBSERVATIONS ABOUT MY ART WORK
Since I started going to art classes on a regular basis my teacher has been Colin Kirby-Green who is himself an artist as well as an art teacher. Colin would like to make his own observations of the work that I have done with him. Here is what he has to say:
“I have been teaching Derek on a one to one weekly basis since January 2007.
We began with pencil and coloured pencil drawings and Derek showed a good sense of observation, especially when directed to look for certain things. His grasp of proportion has been very good for a beginner and he has a most pleasing natural sense of composition.
Introducing Derek to the concept of linear perspective and the use of vanishing points and eye levels has of course been more difficult as would be the case for any beginner. Derek's tendency is to see things in a more orthographic way (that is to say straight on or directly above). However, he has come to realise that linear perspective can help create a feeling of space in his pictures. I suspect that this coming to terms with the way in which things really appear might help him in some way with his problems of relationships between objects and people which are part of his Autistic condition.
When Derek was given a set of acrylic paints by his Grandfather he took readily to the process of working in a different medium, albeit that he was initially nervous as anybody would be who is attempting painting for the first time.
His ability to be precise with the clumsier paint brushes was obviously impaired compared with his hand and eye co-ordination that he showed in his pencil and coloured pencil drawings. Notwithstanding his paintings have considerable charm and very often an underlying strength. Continuing to apply the rules of perspective to help him create space in these new observational works has given him a greater challenge and he is coping with that better and better. Derek has always been given subject matter which relates to observed 3 dimensional objects. He has never been asked to work from other illustrations, photographs etc. I feel that this is a very much better way forward not only for increasing his skill and observation but also with reference to the remark that I made above about his coping with the real world around him.
Although teaching Derek has to be undertaken with a more delicate hand than many other students because of his perception that criticism might be meant unkindly rather than to help him improve it has been most rewarding to teach him and I feel certain that anybody looking at the work on this website would applaud his endeavours. Many people who have seen his website have already expressed a delight when looking at his art work”.
Colin Kirby-Green, Brightlingsea, July 2009
