Tuesday, June 9, 2015

St. Paul's School Visit

In May I was invited as a guest to St. Paul's School in New Hampshire. SPS is a 9-12 grade private boarding school with a fantastic arts program (because of their facilities, professors, and a focus on it being an important part of curriculum). The school also displayed several of my pages in the common area of their art building. Special thanks to Brian Schroyer who organized much of my visit, but also included a Mouse Guard assignment for his students,  and was my guide for my time there. This week's blogpost is very photo intense, but I wanted to try and capture my visit to SPS and share it with you.

School Grounds
I'll start with photos I took of the school grounds & facilities. SPS has a mix of architectural styles and ages, but the bulk of it is older, leaving you to feel like you've stepped into a Muggle Hogwarts in New Hampshire. 



The "New" Chapel (completed in the very start of the last century)

Chapel Interior

Chapel Interior

Chapel Interior

Chapel Interior


Hargate: The Art Building 


Hargate: Common Area


Hargate: Photography Studio

Hargate: Painting Studio

Hargate: Drawing Studio

Hargate: Computer/Graphics Studio

Library: Balcony

Library: Study Room

 Scudder House (my lodgings for the visit)

Scudder House: Common Room
Scudder House: Common Room

Hall to the Dinning Rooms

A room in the Dining Hall used for special occasions

A Room in the Dining Hall used for special occasions

A Room in the Dining Hall used for special occasions

At SPS in the Building where the Dining Hall is, every graduate's name is carved into the wall under a coat of arms for their graduating year. In the room pictured above where some of the oldest graduates are listed is a "Harry Potter".

 My visit and interactions with the students.
While visiting SPS, I was shown around campus, did demonstrations and interacted with students, discussed curriculum with the teachers, and gave a formal presentation in the auditorium. 

Some of My Mouse Guard pages were on display in the common area of Hargate

Signing books for Brian Schroyer's daughter,


Giving a Coloring Demo to the Students
Coloring Demo


Looking over proofs with the Printmaking class

Inking Demo on a lightbox

Inking Demo

Inking Demo

Inking Demo sample

Presentation for Students & Faculty
(I focused on the "Drawing Like Yourself" message)

Reading with Brian Schroyer's Son & Daughter


 Student Work.
 The level of work these students were doing (9-12) was on par with college level assignments & portfolios. I took photos of work that was either on display or still out and available between classes. 

Oil Painting

Abstracted planes assignment

Abstracted Planes assignment 

Oil Painting


Oil Painting

Stil Life Paintings

Stark Contrast Portraits in Ink

Rendered Pencil Eyes assignment

Painted Composition

Painted Portrait

Close up of Portrait to show brush strokes & canvas texture


 Mouse Guard Assignment
Brian Schroyer assigned his drawing students to do an assignment in advance of my visit. For the first part, they were to refernce one of my drawings (either from my books or culled from this blog) and emulate my techniques and composition to recreate a Mouse Guard image. The second was for them to then draw a new piece using something from the first drawing in a new composition and allowing themselves to draw like themselves.


Student copies of my drawings. These two were so good, I didn't realize they weren't print outs of my work until I was up close to them.

 The Students' own compositions:




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The experience I had at SPS was a wonderful one. In my early college days I'd considered becoming a professor of printmaking, but with my desire to focus on my own work and avoid conflict with any school's administration, I never pursued it. I love to inform and share ideas and verbalize what I've come to learn, and I try to do as much of that as possible at conventions, but doing it for students of art was another level of fulfillment of my college era goal. I hope to do more of it and hopefully get to return to St. Paul's School sooner than later.


2015 Appearances:
Heroes Con June 19-21
Boston Comic CoJuly 31- Aug. 2
Long Beach Comic Con: Sept. 12-13
Baltimore Comic Con Sept. 25-27
New York Comic Con Oct. 8-11
Art-Bubble Comics Festival: Copenhagen: Nov. 14-15

1 comment:

Daniel Joseph Sardella said...

Very cool post. Love all the photos. Looks like an awesome school. Some of those pieces are impressive.

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