General Etiquette > Life...in general

Painting class and other people's disorganization

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freakyfemme:
Hey all,

Last week, during painting class, Pablo asked us to drop off all our paintings at the art building to be evaluated, and "pick them up next week," i.e. this week.  I left class after about an hour, since I was finished everything.  I only stayed to paint trim and signatures, put wires on the backs of my paintings, etc., while meanwhile, other people in the class were still finishing (or, in some cases, STARTING) their cubist paintings, when they were supposed to be finished their "open" projects, or at least close to it.  In case this makes no sense, here's the back story.  The semester consisted of four painting projects, first a monochrome still life, then a complementary colour painting (mine was the one of the white calla lilies that I posted on the previous E-hell forum), then a cubist painting, then an "open" project, where we could basically paint whatever we wanted.  I always made sure I had everything finished in time for the class critiques, so I could start the next project on time and not fall behind.  Sometimes this meant coming in after hours to paint on my own time, but I figured it was worth it, and I enjoy painting, so why not? 

Anyway......after I dropped off my paintings, I figured I'd just pick them up when I had a chance, so I stopped by on Monday or Tuesday afternoon when I had a free moment, and Pablo told me to "come back at the end of the week."  So, I went back there today, at about quarter after three in the afternoon, after I'd finished practicing, since it was, after all, the "end of the week," so I could pick up my work, and hopefully see how I did in the class, because Pablo doesn't grade our work as we finish it, but rather, all at once at the end.  It turned out that Pablo *wasn't* finished, and he told me to "come back on Monday."  Now, I'm writing my last exam tomorrow afternoon, so coming back on Monday will mean re-scheduling my travel plans from Sunday to Tuesday, while travelling on Sunday will mean leaving my paintings in the art building over the holidays, where they might get moved by people who are leaving later on, or misplaced somehow.  Also, I was hoping I could get Lara to take some pictures of my more recent stuff, so I could post them on here and show you guys.

For the record, I think Pablo's practice of grading everything at the end instead of throughout the semester is stupid, but I can see why he feels he has to do it that way, if he didn't, some people wouldn't have any marks, because they didn't finish anything.   Pablo even had to cut some stuff out of the semester, we were supposed to do another painting between our cubist projects and our open projects, called a "local colour study."  I still don't know what that is, because we didn't get to do it, because other people were behind.  Oh, and according to Pablo, the open project wasn't even technically mandatory, it was just "do it if you can, if/when you finish your cubist project."  So, my beefs with the whole thing are as follows:

1.  I finished doing my paintings when Pablo asked me to, so he should have finished marking them when he said he would.

2.  I know paintings take time, but four average-sized paintings (18 by 24 inches, or somewhere thereabouts) in almost three months (early September through the end of November) isn't really that much, especially if people paint on their own, between classes, which Pablo strongly encouraged us to do. 

3.  I don't think it's fair that the people who finished their cubist paintings in time should have had to miss out on the local colour study paintings because of the people who weren't finished.  I think Pablo should have just said something like, "People who are still working on your cubist paintings, keep cubing.  Now, for those of you who are finished, here's how we do a local colour study."  Or better yet, he could have just told the people who weren't done the cubist paintings that they had to leave those, finish on their own time, and move on. 

4.  Apparently, for the people who didn't finish all their paintings, Pablo isn't going to penalize them, but rather, just make the paintings they DID finish worth more, so someone who only did two or three out of the four assignments could end up with a better mark than me, and I did all four......and again, we were supposed to do five.  But anyway, by marking that way, Pablo is effectively telling people that it's okay not to finish all their work.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love painting, and Pablo is awesome, but how should I deal with this the next time it happens, since I'm planning on taking the next level of painting next semester?  Should I just suck it up and deal, or maybe take some initiative, like telling Pablo that I don't want to miss out on anything, and asking him to show me what to do to proceed with the next scheduled project, if I finish on time and others don't?  Or, would that be overstepping my bounds by telling him how to teach his class?  Like I said, he's passionate about art, and very knowledgeable as well, and he's a really nice guy, but I think that's the problem.  He's so concerned about being the prof that everyone likes, he just doesn't know how to set clear expectations and deadlines, for us OR for himself.

djinnidjream:
Can you ask Pable to store the paintings somewhere safe for you until you return?  That way you don't have to mess up your travel plans and your paintings won't get damaged.

Slartibartfast:
Definitely make him take responsibility for storing your painting (since he was the one who kept it too late).  If you're curious about the assignment that never happened, maybe you can ask him (now or once next semester starts) to meet with you and show you what it would have been.  If you're genuinely interested in learning, it shouldn't be a problem - and you can do a painting on your own, not for a grade.  Which will probably help your technique if you're taking another semester of it.

Good luck!

freakyfemme:
Well, there are two issues here....the storing of my paintings, and the fact that Pablo seems to allow the class to be held hostage by people who don't finish their work, to the point that he not only doesn't penalize them for not being finished on time, but he slows the pace of the class down to accomodate them, and as a result, the people who *did* finish everything on time missed out on the local colour study painting.  When I asked how I did in the class (when I went to ask about picking up my paintings), he just said that he "thinks I did okay," in a sort of offhand manner.......I'm not expecting a great mark in that class now, I mean, I might have been expecting to do well before, but I'm not sure now.  I mean, he gave me subjective feedback throughout the year, but it was always things like, "Nice shading, Freaky," or "Try to use less black when you're outlining," or "Wow, you came early to get a head start, and I see you've done a lot on your painting since last class."  Those comments are helpful for the time I'm working on a specific painting, but I don't really know how Pablo evaluates the paintings, or how my paintings fit into that marking scheme.

Lady Vavasour:
Assuming that those who made an effort to get finished by the deadline had less time to work on their paintings, this grading scheme does seem unfairly to penalise those who did 4 paintings instead of 3. A fairer method of marking would be to allow the best 3 paintings only to count towards the grade. Perhaps you could suggest this to your teacher.

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