No smoke.

Grapes on the Vine Donna Woodall, 2007

11x14 inches, Oil on canvas

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly my students learn. I'm a decent teacher, but still.
This past week a student looked at me with a "yeah, right" when I told her that her grass was better than she thought and that she needed to find the closest leaves and complete the grapes before she would know what the grass as a subodinate item would need to be. She was obsessing over the grass!
I don't blow smoke. I am positive toward my students and their work for two reasons. First, I want them to grow in a positive way. Second, I've seen sooooooo many of these pictures develop that I pretty well know what they can become before they go there. But for all my compliments and encouragement, I am pretty well honest.
I believe all people can succeed in drawing and painting if they apply some basic rules and have the drive to keep on - keepin on. I'm not saying they'll be famous or make lots of money selling paintings, but they can succeed and produce good work based on their personality and style.
My own paintings are seldom my own style, for I must teach and much of what I do is geared toward teaching strong skills and visual perception. My heart would much rather experiment. In my soul, I'm a slasher!
I have one student who really wants to become a slasher. I'm ready to work with her. She's already developed the keen, visual interpretive skills. So now, we go for personal expression that obeys the principles of art. It should be fun.
The picture is a photograph of the lead picture I painted during a recent rote (follow me) assignment. I do these in a class setting to help students see and accomplish good technique or learn a specific skill. The students are on the finishing stage. I've not signed it yet.