Whenever we see paintings displayed in Waldorf classrooms, at first sight we are struck by their uniformity. The often-heard title quote is a likely response, and its undertone of reproach makes class teachers bristle defensively. But is it an expression of ignorance, or justified criticism?
Well, as usual that depends on a range of factors which we shall now explore.
WHY ARE CLASS PAINTINGS SO ALIKE?
First, it is worth noting that the same reproach is never heard regarding the outcomes of maths problems, choir practice and foreign language lessons. Children are expected to conform to the rules of these subjects – or rather, to learn being attuned to the laws that govern arithmetic, music and pronunciation.
By contrast, the visual arts are generally regarded as the field where everyone expresses their individuality freely, from infancy. No lessons needed!
Those who hold this view are unaware of how limiting it is.
Why? Because it is like expecting a child musician to do nothing but improvise, each day and every day. If that child is not another Mozart, the outcome will not lead to satisfying results, nor to progress and mastery. (And not even Mozart improvised all the time.)
Improvisation is of course great, but it needs to be built on a thorough understanding of the instrument. On constant practice of the right technique, on études and arpeggios and music theory, accompanied by years of interpreting the works of great composers.
That’s how we learn.
In the visual arts, this has a definite parallel. Your ‘instrument’ may be clay, stone, wood or metal. It may be a photographic or a cinematic camera. It might be charcoal pencils, crayons, pastels and paints. Whatever your medium, its nature has to be studied. For several years.
Note: Not even art rests on talent alone. Making children approach this subject without guidance is like giving unskilled adults heaps of building materials and expecting them to construct a proper house.
Initially, simple exercises are needed to develop an understanding of how our medium behaves under given circumstances. How does it respond to ignorant or skilful handling? What are its possibilities, its laws and its limits?
For this reason, painting lessons in the early years of Waldorf Education are concerned with simple exercises that lead children into the technique of aquarelle painting. Such études let them experience the different qualities of a basic range of colours and train a feeling for colour moods:
The requirements of the wet-on-wet painting technique, the colours used, and the laws of their interaction are universal, and it follows that the results of basic colour exercises cannot be wildly original.
The whole class is working on the same task and learning the same thing, as they do in every other subject. Outcomes will vary more widely than in arithmetic, but every painting created that lesson is a study of a given theme or topic:
Ideally, colour mood paintings have the appeal of Czerny études, which through a range of technical exercises build the skills that are needed for free individual expression at a later stage.
In such instances it is natural and right that the class set of paintings looks very similar.
On the other hand, a class set may also look alike because everyone copied the teacher’s painting. Now that is another matter altogether, and here the quoted criticism is justified.
TEACHER, DON’T PAINT!
I can say from experience that the best painting lessons are those where the teacher is not doing a painting herself; where there is nothing at all for the children to copy. Instead, we prepare the class for the topic in an earlier lesson, setting the scene with a story, a poem or a guided drawing.
Then, after a brief recall while the paper is soaking in the water tray, everyone is able to create their painting by themselves. All work with focus and in silence, guided by their inner vision:
Such painting lessons lead to outcomes that are not uniform copies of an adult’s work. Though they follow a given topic closely, they will naturally be more varied, individually expressive and surprising.
AN EARLY PAINTING LESSON
The following description is an excerpt from A WALDORF DIARY
The children collect a painting board and put on their protective apron. Designated helpers hand out brushes, cloths, sponges, glass jars half-filled with water, and little pots of paint that sit snugly in their wooden holder.
In the meantime, large sheets of painting paper are counted by two volunteers and placed in a water tray one by one. (This is the most popular job, so use marks on a class list to record who has already been chosen to carry out this task.)
While the paper is soaking, go through the process of painting to refresh the memory:
“This is how we sponge the wet paper lightly to remove water puddles and trapped bubbles of air, taking care not to rub and damage the surface. Do you remember where to put your sponge after you squeezed it well? … That’s right, on the radiator, where it will dry without going smelly. And if we don’t put the water jar close to the edge, it won’t be knocked off the desk by accident. Using just one paint pot at a time, we put the lid back on before opening another … We begin with yellow paint while our brush is clean, and hold the brush at length … like this … letting it dance lightly as an ice-skater across the paper … The cloth is used to squeeze excess water from the brush, like this, once it has been rinsed thoroughly between colours.”
There is much to remember, and the coordination of these things has to be practised with patience.
The class are called, row by row, to queue at the tray with their board to receive the wet paper. Standing at the desk, all paint silently, from imagination and at their own speed.
Those who are done put away their painting things quietly and sit down with their reading book. Go around initialling finished work with a pencil. The paintings remain on their board and are stacked in a special rack to dry overnight.
Recall: When these paintings are mounted in a wall display, the children study it with interest and compare images, noting differences. Look at the work together, sharing factual observations and descriptive comments.
THE BAD DRYING RACK
Like the damp cloth that lives out its germ-infested days near many a kitchen sink, a mouldering wooden drying rack inhabits the corner of many a Waldorf classroom.
It holds the stack of painting boards while the artwork is drying, and in the enclosed space of this tall box that may take a couple of days. Especially in Britain’s cool and wet weather.
This impractical cupboard-like model ought to be consigned to the scrap heap. For my part, I added – admittedly with glee – the inherited smelly and damp-blackened item to our maintenance team’s bonfire of rubbish.
THE GOOD DRYING RACK
A woodworking parent made a better model for the class. Its two open frames were linked with hinges at the back and could be folded when not in use. It did not take up much space, and the paintings dried much more quickly – usually overnight.
The best solution, however, came to me in a flash of inspiration when I realised: We don’t need a drying rack at all! We just need spacers to keep the boards apart.
THE BEST SOLUTION
I shall now share my no-rack solution with you:
First, place the format of painting paper you use on one of your painting boards. These are naturally quite a bit larger than the paper. Now measure the margin of space around the paper to find out what size of spacer will fit its width. Four centimetres would be the minimum.
Then get the Woodwork teacher (or anyone else) to use the machines in their workshop to plane square pine wood slats of your chosen size to a smooth finish and saw them to identical cubes. The larger these cubes, the more airy space will be between your painting boards.
Every child will need one spacer at each corner of their board, so calculate the needed total by multiplying your number of children by four. Don’t forget to add sufficient spares for new pupils who may join your class in the course of the years, and for unexplained losses.
To keep your wooden spacers clean, dry and hygienic, cover them in a coat of clear varnish.
Note: For the same reason, wooden painting and modelling boards should also be varnished.
Store your spacers in a basket or box, and use the corner of the old drying rack for something else.
A NEAT SYSTEM
Towards the end of a painting lesson, set out four spacers in a convenient place. This could be a sideboard, a spare desk, a table – wherever the drying paintings will not be in the way. All the better if it is near your central heating. With a large class, plan for two or even three stacks of boards.
After finishing their work, the children use a paper towel to mop up paint and water on their board’s rim. You don’t want it to drip and spoil other paintings when stacked.
The first child gets her work approved and initialled by the teacher, places her painting board on the prepared spacers and puts others at each corner of her board, ready for the next classmate to rest his board on these prepared spacers … and so on.
The whole process is a valuable exercise for group awareness and working together.
Once the paintings are completely dry, they are removed from the boards. These need to be cleaned, so set up a rota of small teams to take turns. It also makes a meaningful break-time job for those who misbehaved in a lesson or the playground.
Initially, dried paintings are wavy and uneven. To flatten them, stack them precisely and pile the cleaned class set of boards on top. You can also add a few heavy books for good measure:
Let this arrangement sit for at least 24 hours. Then the beautifully flattened paintings are ready to be mounted in a wall display that reflects the learning group. When seen side by side, their artwork of mixed abilities gains a surprising force, a visual appeal that surpasses individual outcomes in many ways.
Comments are welcome, so don’t hesitate to share experiences, questions and feedback below.
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