What techniques have you devised to make online learning
more effective?
Sometimes it rains, by Carol L. Douglas
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I’m no fan of paint-and-sip, it’s entertainment, not
painting class. (Here’s a
tale of what happens when you let a real artist loose at one.) I didn’t ask
my students to use the same reference photo. Instead, my instructions were relaxed—everyone
had to paint evergreens of some sort.
Bunker Hill Overlook, watercolor on Yupo, by Carol L.
Douglas
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I completed each step of a painting and my students
followed. Then I looked, round-robin, at their work, to see if they’d completed
that step satisfactorily. In terms of class dynamics, it was fine; technically,
it had shortcomings.
The first is that I had to choose one medium or the other. Without
a cameraman, I couldn’t easily flip between watercolor and oil setups. That’s
not great in an all-media class.
The Dugs in Autumn, by Carol L. Douglas
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The biggest issue we faced is the size of the screen. If
people have iPads or laptops handy, I think they’ll work better than their
phones. I’m using my phone because it can be mounted on a tripod. But that
means that most paintings I’m looking at are only a few inches across. We can
talk about issues like composition at that scale, but not about brushwork,
marrying edges, or paint application. The lighting is bad in most home studios. That means I can’t see color accurately.
I felt like I was touching on only about half the subjects I
normally do. Color theory and composition are important parts of painting, but they
aren’t the whole picture.
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Rising Tide at Wadsworth Cove, by Carol L. Douglas
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I’ll tinker this week to figure out if I can monitor the
Zoom session from my laptop while broadcasting from my phone. Or if I can feed
the video from a separate camera. Luckily, my son has finally made it home from
his long exodus back from university. At that age, technology is in their
sinews.
I have figured out that bigger props are better. I replaced
my sketchbook with charcoal and newsprint for the composition phase. I painted
a 12X16 demo; that’s a huge 3-hour painting but it wasn’t large enough. Next
week, I’ll drag in a 24X30 canvas. That will help students see better. And I’ve
learned that any props I need must be assembled in advance.
Having students mute their mikes when not speaking turns out
to be a two-edged sword. It keeps the screen focused on the speaker. At the
same time, it quells the commentary and criticism that’s so important in a
small painting class. I think my students usually learn as much from each other
as from me, and I’m sorry to see our interchanges become so formal.
One advantage of this online class was that I was able to
invite two teacher-painter friends to join us: David Broerman from Fort
Wayne, Indiana, and Chrissy Spoor
Pahucki, from Goshen, NY. Usually, at this time of year they’re cracking
the whip on teenagers with spring fever. It was a special treat to have them with
us. That’s something to build on.
I’m interested in how you’re teaching and learning long-distance.
That goes not only for workshop teachers and students, but for public school teachers,
university professors, students, and those of you taking frequent online
meetings. What techniques have you devised or mastered to make this easier or
more effective?