In the olden days (a term sufficiently vague for my purpose)
painters, along with all other artisans, learnt their trade by serving an
apprenticeship under an established master.
Sadly this system of teaching has been largely consigned to the history
books.
On leaving school at the age of fifteen, I wanted to serve
an apprenticeship with a master woodcarver in the next village. However, in those days a career in woodcarving
was not to be encouraged. I had no option but
to follow in my father’s footsteps and served a seven year apprenticeship in
engineering. Be that as it may, the
values of an apprenticeship are the same whatever the trade. I learnt my skill at the workbench and the men
in overalls that taught me how to cut a screw thread, also instilled in me a
love for poetry and music.
This leads me to how we go about teaching a new generation
of painters and master craftsmen in general.
We no longer have the wealth of masters that we had generations
ago. Degree courses are not the answer:
skill comes from practice, not from theory.
I have never attended an art school, but fifty years ago I spent a year painting on the pavements of France
and selling work to on-lookers direct from my sketch book. That practice enabled me to begin earning a living
from my art.
At the moment I am being begged to tutor a degree course in
the visual arts. More in my line are the
life classes that I occasionally teach from my studio. Or better still, send aspiring painters out on the streets with a sketch book as their means of survival.
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