I am sitting in the front seat of my white Ford F250 truck hurriedly throwing together an art lesson at the last minute for my homeschool high school art class
I am throwing it together because we were supposed to be doing some plein air drawing which means drawing outside. Unfortunately though the weather is not cooperating. It is drizzling, and drizzling and paper don’t mix.
I had no idea this was going to happen. I had checked the weather. It said it was gonna be sunny and 73. but you know how that works.
The weather doesn’t obey the weatherman.
So here I am. I have one hour to throw together a lesson. I can’t even do it in a classroom because every classroom is completely filled up.
I am looking through my book, drawing on the right side of the brain, which is my curriculum that I’ve chosen. I’ve chosen it because that’s the curriculum that my art teacher in college used to teach my first college art class and it’s what made me fall in love with art.
Even though I’m
A professional caricaturist,
I didn’t major in art right away in college believe it or not. I didn’t think that it was something that I could make money at, so I decided I was going to major in education instead.
In retrospect that’s pretty funny because I can’t think of a Job that would make less money than Art except for maybe teaching.
However I did end up taking one art class as an elective in college. And once I took that class, I fell in love with ART and I realized that it is what I wanted to do.
So here I am 30 years later getting together an art class from the same source, and it’s challenging to me because I have never taught this particular lesson before.
I really prefer to be better prepared.
This lesson is teaching kids how to draw a portrait in profile. I’ve only ever taught it from the front and the side is quite a bit different. So I’m reading through the lessons at a break neck speed and taking notes and making sure I have all the equipment that I need.
And now it’s time for class.
And now I’m rushing to the classroom to set up in the 2 Minutes between classes.
And now the kids are filing in and now I am drawing a portrait from the book on the whiteboard while I tell them to grab their paper and pencils.
And now I am telling them about Rembrandt, our artist of the week, because they don’t know anything about any artists at all.
So I am taking five minutes of precious art class time to give them an overview of a dead Dutch artist from the 17th century.
And now I explain how to Measure from the bottom of the eye to the bottom of the chin and from the middle of the eye to the top of the head to show them that the eyes really are in the middle of your head.
I am very familiar with this but now I am showing them how to measure where the ear goes and I’m not as familiar with that, and I’m not as familiar with Using all the different elements that I’ve taught them so far in learning how to draw a profile portrait and I am struggling a little bit.
I walk around and the kids are struggling a little bit too.
Some of the kids have not gotten past being able to draw the egg shape for the shape of the head, and I do my best to encourage them and help them out.
I am wandering around to the kids as they struggle through this exercise for the whole hour and I go back-and-forth between drawing on the board and explaining different things as I see them brought out.
The shape of the eye - don’t use the symbols that you have in your head. Draw what you see and how do you do that and How do you measure it using your pencil as a guide?
It’s exhausting. I’m on my feet the entire hour.
I finish the class and the kids get up and walk around and look at their drawings and nobody says much and they gather their books together and they march out the door.
And I wonder do I make any kind of difference with this art class?
Nobody ever says that they like my class. Nobody ever gives me any kind of feedback at all.
I wonder for the millionth time if what I’m doing is too difficult, if I am working too much on a college level for these highschoolers.
I even had one kid drop out of my art class. I was told that it was because she had too much of a workload and I thought she was dropping out of the Co Op completely but then I saw her last co-op , so I’m wondering, maybe it was just too hard for her.
I feel kind of guilty.
But I don’t know how else to teach this subject. I’ve named the art class “anyone can draw” after Ratatouille the rat who liked to cook and who proved the thesis “anyone can cook”. And I feel like I really must prove the thesis of the whole art class: “anyone can draw. “
But I’m not sure if I’m succeeding or not.
I can’t sugarcoat what I’m teaching either. The whole reason that I wanted to teach this art class in the first place is because when I was in high school, I was extremely frustrated that no one would teach me how to freaking draw. In art class. (Explain that one).
When I was in college, and I took that one art class and I finally realized that there are techniques to learn how to actually draw what you see instead of drawing the symbol that’s in your head, It opened up a whole new world for me.
That was long ago. Now I can draw without thinking, it’s muscle memory for me.
Which is why I have to use a book to teach. because I can’t really remember back that far to when I couldn’t do this and now I’m to the point where I’ve been doing this for 30 years and I’ve been drawing caricatures for a living for 26 years And I need the guidance of a book to help me to help them. In short:
I forget what it’s like to be a newb.
So each art class, I basically just give them some instruction from the book and then I go around and help each individual kid, but I don’t hear a lot of feedback and it’s discouraging.
So the kids all file out of the classroom like I said and they leave me with a suitcase full of drawing boards and pencils and charcoal and drawing pads and I zip it up and I very quickly get ready for my next class.
My next class is for kinder first and second grade. We call it game schooling.
We play a group game and then the kids play games with each other because socialization is pretty important at that age and that’s one of the reasons why these kids are in the co-op in the first place is to socialize.
So we play some bowling with a kickball and some coffee cups turned upside down and the kids have fun.
After that the kids have about a half an hour free time where they just play games that I bring in from home.
Interestingly thought it’s not the games that are popular but the building activities. So its actually turned into something of a free range art class!
They play with legos and put together puzzles and build with their magnet tiles. so while they’re doing that, I sit and chat with one of the moms.
This particular Mom, who is my helper for this class, is the mom of one of my teenagers in my art class. Her name is Lisa.
we chitchat about different things, but then she brings up the subject of her son, C. (Obviously he’s a minor so I’m not using his full name)
Lisa says to me:
“C. was never a kid who was into art. He was always a tech kid, one of the nerdy kids. he likes video games. He always has had his head in a device.”
I say “Really! He always has such good questions in my art class and he seems so outgoing and inquisitive. ” He is too. He’s always bright eyed and bushy tailed in my art class if you know what I mean. Very eager to learn.
Lisa shakes her head and says “you’re seeing a side of him that not many people get to see. He’s not normally like that. He is introverted and shy.”
I was surprised. C. seems so bright and excited about learning to draw and hes always drawing interesting conclusions.
In fact, I have been thinking that he is one of the kids that will likely major an art one day. I only have a few of these kids. The rest want to learn to draw, sure, but C. Seems so into it I’ve thought he’s always been this way.
so I am really kind of taken aback when I hear that he had never been interested in art before.
Lisa continues. “My daughter is the one that was interested in Art not My Son. He took your class kind of as a lark, but that really likes it and it’s kind of lit him on fire and he thinks he might want to major in art in college now!”
She smiles. “And it’s thanks to your art class!”
I am speechless.
How many times have I taught this class and felt like it was going in one ear and out the other, and I hadn’t made any kind of a difference at all, and beat myself up because maybe this is all too hard?
But I made a difference for one kid.
That one kid - if that’s all the difference I make, then it’s all worth it.
When you teach a lot of times you don’t see the fruit of your labor. you can’t really see the difference that you’re making. It’s more of a long term thing.
You have to have faith that you are making a difference, but it’s not the same as actually seeing and knowing that you are. Kids don’t tell you and they don’t say thank you.
Kind of like homeschooling. Kind of like parenting.
So that just really touched me and I thought it might touch you too.
I think if you put your heart into something the way I put my heart into this art class, I think if you put your heart into anything whether you see it or not, you’re going to make a difference.
Even if it’s small, just be encouraged you’re making a difference wherever you are
wherever you are whatever you’re doing You’re where you’re supposed to be
Kathy Buskett
Kathy Buskett is a pastors wife, a mom of 3 neurodivergent teenagers whom she homeschools, and a professional caricture artist with 26 years of experience drawing caricatures live at corporate events and weddings all over the country.
She primarily works out of the gulf coast but will travel anywhere.
if you’d like to see some of her work you can go here www.caricaturesbykathy.com/portfolio
Or learn more about her and why she draws flattering caricatures you can go here
And finally to hire her for an event you can email her to check to see if your date is available
Have a blessed day and thanks for reading.
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