One of my professors at RISD was Tom Sgouros. I remember him with a great deal of respect. He valued hard work and expected no less from his students. One of the things that I recall, was his analogy of painters to musicians, and the need for both to practice their art diligently. One of the exercises that he undertook personally, was to do a daily painting of a bicycle horn. He would paint the same subject over and over, looking for new things, trying to resolve the composition in a slightly different way. He referred to this as doing his "scales." Like a professional musician who spends time every day to exercise his craft, Sgouros' daily color sketch of the bike horn did a few things. 1.) It loosened up his "art muscles" 2.) It disciplined him to paint daily. 3.) It forced him to find new solutions for an old problem 4 .) it reminded him that he hadn't yet arrived; he still had room to grow and things to learn.
It's been almost two decades since I was in art school, but Tom Sgouros' "Scales" lesson is one that sticks with me.
3 comments:
Teaching an art class to my kids and my son keeps on drawing the same object. It brought to mind Tom's horn. I googled "Tom Sgouros horn" and found your blog. I think we might have been at RISD at the same time, your name sounds familiar.
Amy - Thanks for taking the time to write a note!
I was at RISD from 1986 - 1990, and graduated from the Illustration department.
Wishing you and your family the best while you teach, travel and garden!
I also had Tom as one of my instructors, but but after he had gone legally blind and was painting his "remembered landscapes" of New England. He mixed the colors by experience and painted his memory. It was astonishing and quite inspirational. Critiques were also impressive, with him hovering 3" away from the wall to discern the work. And his comments were always spot on. One of my best-remembered instructors.
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