Teach & Tell

08/09/2026

Story Vases. Coiling. This ancient technique is still fun to do. LP available upon request. Folklore on air dry clay vases.

08/09/2026

Bored with clay? Try Colored Wire Sculpture. LP available upon request.

Principle / Concept: Symmetry
3 Dimensional balance differentiated from 3D symmetry.
Anything divisible into two equal or identical parts is symmetrical. Symmetry is a visual principle. Balance is not. It pertains to the ability of three-dimensional creations / sculpture to stand on its own.
The earth’s gravitational pull requires symmetry for all living and non-living things to maintain their balance and stability. Gravity pulls at things at the center and if it cannot find the center the object wabbles and becomes shaky.
Note however that even something that does not look symmetrical can stand on its own if the artist is able to center the pull of gravity against the three-dimensional artwork.

07/09/2026

On Shapes and Drawing...

05/08/2026

On Naïve Art and Artists

29/07/2026

21/07/2026

THE BIG C
CREATIVITY : Linear Elaboration

This activity can unravel an important facet of creativity.

The ability to originate, the fluency in combining lines, and shapes to produce different patterns and designs and how placements are executed to bring out visually arresting compositions will manifest one’s creativity. How much you can do is frequency. The level of sophistication the doer is at in terms of lines and shapes combinations to create interesting designs will also manifest in the final output.

It will also elicit one’s ability to effect emphasis and subordination. What he will do to *emphasize parts and set the rest in subordination.

*Either by designating areas of saturation and or by increasing the distance between the lines and design motifs to expose more white areas which in turn lighten and calls attention to itself as the eyes seek respite from darker, saturated areas. In which case, the lighter area will be more visible in lieu of contrast. Therefore, it is not enough that you can combine and create motifs, you should know where to place them to define areas. Placements consequently impact symmetry.

Drawing is communication, through this drawing exercise, students will realize that it is not enough that they can elaborate and make beautiful design out of lines and shapes. They should be able to show what they have drawn, what they want the viewer to see and what they will see.

- Bob Joaquin



Note:
Don’t hesitate to DM me for questions on any of my posts…:)

30/06/2026

Dropped by a senior artist friend in Baguio this afternoon. One of the best in my book. Shared some trade secrets over lunch of sumptuous 'Sinigang na Baboy' prepared by his lovely wife -sound technical discoveries and initiatives in painting with oil and acrylic which I believe Fine Arts Materials and Technique Units in university CFAs should seriously consider... # wishful thinking

26/06/2026

Why Still Life Drawing?

Inanimate objects, or things that don’t move are the most common subjects for drawing. Artists do them to practice and develop their compositional ability in the artform. It also enables them to exercise and or sharpen their knowledge or sensitivity to correct scale, proportion, perspective, symmetry and composition. Scale is the relationship between the sizes of two or more objects in a drawing while proportion is about the sizes of the parts of an object to itself. Initially when an artist draws he keeps his lines very light, so light he is the only one who can see them. He keeps on drawing that way until everything is drawn very lightly on the paper, then he checks if the drawing is not only correct in proportion and scale with every model he has chosen but most importantly, that his drawing is big enough or occupies 80-85 % of the creative space / surface which is how artists would refer to the paper or material they are drawing on. He tries to capture every detail that makes the subject special. He uses linear weights properly, hence does not draw in one tone because he is aware that even linear drawing can suggest volume if the linear weights are used skillfully. Where the light is coming from, he draws his lines lighter than where the shadows fall. He ensures that he has objects or images in the foreground, middle and background to be more successful in creating that illusion of space on the paper. To center his drawing when he needs to, he imagines a line over his paper, a vertical line at the very center of the paper and transfer that line to his models or picture when he draws to keep his output centered. Drawings can be off center, but that would require some skill to make it work.

26/06/2026

The Art Teacher Is A Language Teacher



Language teachers often forget that they need to make the students realize the beauty of a language and how powerful it can be in expressing how they feel, what they see, what they think, and or what they want to say. It is easy to forget that to make the students genuinely interested in learning a new language, teachers must make them realize what they can do with it for them to appreciate it by heart.

A language teacher needs to make his students grasp the empowerment a language can offer for them to enjoy learning everything about it. And, you don’t have to be a language teacher to do that. But it is imperative that a language teacher knows how to write, how to describe something, anything like his students can ‘touch’ it, to express something with words-to know his adjectives and adverbs and to hone his sentence construction competency to inspire, enable and sustain students’ interest, patience and perseverance over acquisition and mastery of a second language.

Art teachers should not forget that visual art is a language.

10/06/2026

Drawing should be taught in the middle school while the interest, confidence, fascination and curiosity for the art form are still evident among learners, and the hand muscles are soft and formative. In the upper school, you will have to compete with video games, anime fascination, and athletics. Not to mention gender attractions. Late is late. Henceforth it can be more challenging and frustrating to inspire, and or to push a student to abandon forces of habit, acquired techniques and styles no matter how wrong or mutt.

In teaching anything to a learner, you can only push and inspire, you cannot force a person to learn how to draw properly. You need to inspire them to-to make them realize what is in it for them – present and future applications, benefits, and rewards, You need to be tolerant of technical shortcomings, imperfections, indiscretions and interpretations. It is critical that you demonstrate how it should be done before hoping for best results.
Drawing can be learned with genuine, acquired or inspired interest by training, not straining.

Drawing by my student, David Tang. Drawing II. Beijing , China