Technology makes art education a bigger draw

Link via eschoolnews.com

With the rise of technology in art education, some might fear that traditional media, such as charcoal drawing and oil painting, are being shunted aside in favor of software-based creations, but the art educators who spoke with eSchool News said certain software programs and emerging web-based collaborations are helping establish a strong base of conceptual understanding–regardless of raw manual or technical talent. This enables a far wider range of students to appreciate art. It also encourages and facilitates the acquisition of more advanced, traditional techniques and skills by far more talented beginners.

Consider Stephanie Reese, a technology teacher at Notre Dame Preparatory High School in Scottsdale, Ariz. For the past 12 years, she, has been using Corel Painter, software designed to mimic traditional painting.

“I use art in the classroom to teach everything from communication and desktop publishing to web design and in yearbook classes,” she said. “We’re using it for students to be able to tell a story, and this allows them to do it visually. Whether they use video or artwork, they still manipulate the medium and create something that’s a story.”

Reese uses Painter software to teach different concepts–including 3D animation modeling, 3D figures for geometry, and sculpting for anatomy classes–and also to teach color theory.

Painter X with Learning Corel Painter X with Jeremy Sutton DVD is available at an academic discount price of $95.