Master Keys Conference - University of Glasgow
Drawing Attention to a Neglected Landmark
Sometimes the smallest things can lead to the biggest things. Remember my drawing class's field trip to the laundromat? While there, we ran into Dr. Ken Alston, retired professor, who works with the Legacy of African American Schools, and had recently moved back to Rock Hill. He had given a talk about Rock Hill history at the university a few weeks earlier. We got to talking and he asked if my class was, by chance, planning to draw any cemeteries.
As a matter of fact, yes!
Drawing gravestones is an excellent way to practice drawing one and two-point perspective. So I normally take my classes to a cemetery in walking distance to the University at some point during the semester. But Dr. Alston told me about an old neglected Black cemetery not much farther away. Some important people from Rock Hill history were buried there, but it had been left to fall apart after its last buriel in the 1950s (when another cemetery became the preferred destination). Dr. Alston has been working to repair the cemetery and help it receive an historical marker as the landmark it is.
I love when school projects can gain legs and do good in the community, so I checked it out. There was some beautiful old statuary and it was evident that many of the families buries there were well off and represented important stories to the community.
So we headed out to draw...
Meanwhile, students were able to spend a lovely time fine-tuning their craft and reflecting on stories of those buried in the cemetery.
UPDATE!!! Here is the news story from CN2!
As a matter of fact, yes!
Drawing gravestones is an excellent way to practice drawing one and two-point perspective. So I normally take my classes to a cemetery in walking distance to the University at some point during the semester. But Dr. Alston told me about an old neglected Black cemetery not much farther away. Some important people from Rock Hill history were buried there, but it had been left to fall apart after its last buriel in the 1950s (when another cemetery became the preferred destination). Dr. Alston has been working to repair the cemetery and help it receive an historical marker as the landmark it is.
I love when school projects can gain legs and do good in the community, so I checked it out. There was some beautiful old statuary and it was evident that many of the families buries there were well off and represented important stories to the community.
So we headed out to draw...
Meanwhile, students were able to spend a lovely time fine-tuning their craft and reflecting on stories of those buried in the cemetery.
UPDATE!!! Here is the news story from CN2!
Interview on AI in Education
You may recall I recently gave a talk about "AI-Assisted Illustration: This Changes Everything." Well, I was recently interviewed to talk about AI in education by Yili Fan. Yili is a documentary filmmaker, educator, and creator of Fill the Space: A Collective Intelligence Method. Kim Wilson, head of the Arts in Basic Curriculum, which is housed at Winthrop University, connected us, and I'm so glad she did!
I'm often interviewed by students for class projects, so I have to admit, I was a bit surprised to walk into a seriously professional set up for the interview!
I'm often interviewed by students for class projects, so I have to admit, I was a bit surprised to walk into a seriously professional set up for the interview!
Picture Book Trends Workshop at Hollins University!
It's back! I'm thrilled to share that I'll be hosting my Picture Book Trends workshop again this summer at Hollins University! Click on the banner to learn more! 
Mural Time!
This semester for my Illustration: Persuasion & Propaganda class, we made a mural! You may recall the last mural called "Get Out the Vote" right before the pandemic. Back then, we were addressing an upcoming election. This time, we're dealing with a lot of post-pandemic burn-out, so we decided to go with a Mental Wellness and Selfcare theme for the semester - hence, this year's design.
There was a lot of prep work that went into this. Students had to decide on a theme (within our theme), a color palette, the image itself, representation, application, etc. That took almost a month to get sorted. Happily, our local paint shop PPG donated the paint and supplies. Once we settled on the design, I had the line art printed onto oversized paper at the UPS store. Then it was a matter of using transfer paper to trace the design onto the mural surface...
Painting the mural took several class times (studio classes run 2 hours and 45 minutes each), but the students were diligent.
And the outcome was SPECTACULAR! Check it out! (Click the mural to open it larger in a new window.)
I was so proud of my students; but better yet, they were proud of themselves and learned a ton! What a lucky teacher I am!
There was a lot of prep work that went into this. Students had to decide on a theme (within our theme), a color palette, the image itself, representation, application, etc. That took almost a month to get sorted. Happily, our local paint shop PPG donated the paint and supplies. Once we settled on the design, I had the line art printed onto oversized paper at the UPS store. Then it was a matter of using transfer paper to trace the design onto the mural surface...
Painting the mural took several class times (studio classes run 2 hours and 45 minutes each), but the students were diligent.
And the outcome was SPECTACULAR! Check it out! (Click the mural to open it larger in a new window.)
I was so proud of my students; but better yet, they were proud of themselves and learned a ton! What a lucky teacher I am!
Drawing Outside
I'm extremely behind on blogging about all the awesome things we've been up to at Winthrop this semester, so apologies for sharing them en masse. But share, I must!
One of the classes I teach is a Beginning Drawing class to Freshmen. It consists of the basics of perspective, still life drawing, and landscape drawing. That's my favorite part because it means drawing outside in our beautiful Hardin Gardens. There's not much else to say other than, what a lovely way to spend a class time! Here are just a few of my students hard at work...
One of the classes I teach is a Beginning Drawing class to Freshmen. It consists of the basics of perspective, still life drawing, and landscape drawing. That's my favorite part because it means drawing outside in our beautiful Hardin Gardens. There's not much else to say other than, what a lovely way to spend a class time! Here are just a few of my students hard at work...