How can I Inspire my Painting Class Teaching Guide

Teaching oil painting requires more thought than might first seem. An eminent oil painter does not necessarily make a good teacher, for a good art teacher must understand how students learn. This is where my book, How can I Inspire my painting Class? comes in. My experience has inspired me to write other artbooks which can be viewed on my artbook page.

How can I Inspire my Painting Class by Rachel Shirley

My book combines my experiences of oil painting and my experiences in teaching art. Having graduated from Kingston University, Surrey with a Bachelor of Arts Degree and attained a PCET qualification from Warwick University, I feel I have lots of useful information to share.

Within this book, the art teacher will find information on how to devise a scheme of work for oil painting, writing art objectives, managing a class, keeping students motivated and, of course, ideas for oil painting lessons themselves. The book is divided into fourteen sections, from a beginner’s guide to oil painting, to assessing artwork at the end of the course and health and safety. There is even a section on taking an art class on a field trip for plein air painting.

Learning Methods for Art

My book explains learning theories and how these can be utilised for art instruction. This includes the KOLB cycle, Ausubel’s Subsumption Theory and Bloom’s Classifications of Thought. Good understanding of how students learn will come in useful when faced with students who suffer low motivation, low self-esteem or the absolute beginner.

In many ways, a successful art lesson course is one that concludes with every student producing artwork, evidencing creative development and finding inspiration to carry on painting.

Teaching Painting for the First Time

There are lesson plan ideas for around sixty oil painting sessions that cover subject matter from life painting, animal art and landscapes to still life and abstract art. Common problem areas are also covered, including colour mixing, perspectives and drawing ellipses. Lessons to underpin painting are also explained in detail, ensuring students do not stumble at the painting stage. Such lessons include Taking a Line for a Walk and a Tonal Study. See YouTube clip for a preview of this book.

My book contains numerous colour illustrations and paintings. It is available on Kindle for the very competitive price of a few pounds (or dollars, depending on where you are).

Note: Hardcopies are available. You can either purchase the colour edition (containing colour images within) or for a fraction of the price, you can purchase the black and white edition. The print version’s statistics are: 46,000 words 90 images. 220 pages and measures 5.5inx8.5in (140mmx220mm).

If the subject specialism is other than oil painting, my Artclass Challenge blog offers art lesson ideas on other art mediums such as acrylics and watercolors, as well as activities to suit other age groups.

View my page dedicated to my other artbooks by Rachel Shirley.