Art on Steroids

Powerful lessons

While my first oil painting teacher Hans was talented, after years of his art lessons, I became disenchanted. I noticed he favored the couple who joined the art class after I initially joined. He complimented their drawing and painting abilities, while belittling mine. 

To be honest, I believed their work was better than mine, but my being a teacher then, I knew that a good teacher is honest with their students without becoming condescending. Hans, who was not a trained teacher, was becoming condescending to me, with comments such as “bad” describing a particular art piece I created.

My self-esteem and confidence suffered.

It was time for a change. 

I left art class for good. But my love for oil painting was as strong as ever, and I continued painting on my own regularly. But I wasn’t really growing as an artist; I was stagnant. I couldn’t imagine the good fortune that was about to come my way. 

I taught English composition and literature at a university, each quarter being 10 weeks long. I was to begin a new quarter teaching at a satellite campus, when a well-known artist and experienced teacher, Konrad Hack, was to begin teaching oil painting to his class. Konrad served in Vietnam as a combat artist, and some of his oil paintings were hanging in the Pentagon.

This artist was high caliber, a skilled teacher – and modest. 

And a stroke of luck: not only did his class not conflict with any classes I was teaching, but the class met during my lunch break. 

Hungry to learn, I approached Konrad and asked if I could sit in on his class for 10 weeks, just to be one of his students and learn from him. He agreed and welcomed me into his class. At first I felt awkward, watching the students I taught earlier in the day seeing me as a fellow student. However, I quickly fit in and actually enjoyed being a peer with my students during the art lessons. I felt what it was like to be a college student again.

This blog cannot fully describe what an absolutely wonderful, life-changing, art-changing experience Konrad’s class was. Not only did he share his own art, which was magnificent, he helped each of us become the best artists we could be. My students crafted great pieces under his guidance. 

I sought his advice about a number of my oil painting creations, and he gave fair critiques, highlighting the positives and suggesting opportunities for growth as an artist. 

During this class, for my final project, I wanted to paint a jaguar, and Konrad encouraged me to try new techniques while painting it. As I continued working on the painting for a few weeks, Konrad consistently encouraged me. He always said, “You’re the artist. You do what you want to do.” And that statement granted me freedom.

When thinking about a background for the painting, I initially thought it should be green, suggestive of a jungle. However, Konrad had taught me all quarter long to think outside the box. So I made the unusual-for-me decision on the background color. I made it purple, and it worked like a charm.

When I showed Konrad my final painting, aptly titled Jaguar Stare, he gave it a hearty thumbs up, followed by high praise. And that felt unbelievably fantastic.

Years later, I fondly remember everything about that class. Konrad taught me so much about art, colors and composition – about everything, really – that I grew exponentially as an artist and my path in this endeavor was forever changed.

Jaguar Stare