I have always loved art. I attended art lessons when I was younger, and art was always my favorite "special" class growing up. I even took art in high school where I got to experiment with specific forms such as watercolor and pastel.
However, nothing in grade school or high school could have taught me what my college art class has taught me.
One of the major things I've learned is how time-consuming art projects can be.
This semester, I have spent more time in an art room than any other classroom. I also spend more time outside of class working on art than I do for any other class's workload.
This may seem annoying and frustrating, and believe me, at first it definitely was. But it has since then really helped me develop better time management when it comes to my schoolwork. And my many hours in the art room aren't all bad - I have gotten to meet people and make friends while hard at work.
I have also learned how detailed and difficult art can be.
The art class I am currently enrolled in is printmaking, and the creative process for making a print is nothing close to easy. I had a brief introduction to printmaking in high school, but this class was a HUGE jump from that high school class to now.
For example, for some of the projects I've had to make, my professor has asked for one perfect print. This sounds easy until you find out that in order to get one perfect print, I need to actually make AT LEAST 10! When my professor first told me this, I looked at her like she was insane; but as I started the project, I discovered she was right.
There are so many things that could affect the way the print comes out, from the amount of ink on a plate to what level you make the press. You also have to make sure the paper is lined up the same exact way, every time. After having to make 10 prints, I have discovered that YES, 10 prints for one GOOD print is very much so a necessity.
Don't even start me on patience.
Printmaking has taught me patience on a whole new level. I have been so frustrated with some of the projects I had to work on this semester, and some of them almost brought me to the point of tears. There was a time where I had spent three and a half hours on a project and it just wasn't working. I was angry and frustrated, about to lose my mind, but then I took some deep breaths and kept going. Within another hour, I was done my project, and the feeling afterward made the frustration worth it.
Sometimes, you want to go above and beyond just because.
This art class has also taught me to take pride in my work. There have been times when I could have stopped working on my project because I met all the requirements my professor was looking for. However, I knew that if I kept working on the project a little longer, it would turn out 10 times better than if I had just stopped before.
This taught me that the bare minimum isn't always the best option. It might be the easiest, but no one succeeds in life by just doing only what's asked of them.
You might say, "Jordan, I don't know anything about printmaking so none of this makes sense to me nor do I care," which is why I'm bringing it up.
People have no idea how hard printmaking is, let alone how difficult any other art class can be. I think other people should know how precise, time consuming, and difficult printmaking can be.
The respect and criticism of art majors aren't always positive, which I think is complete bull****. I have seen people make 10 prints to then realize they could make it better and start all over again. These students work just as hard as any other student majoring in any other field.
Do not put your major above someone else's, especially when you have no idea how much work and determination another person contributes to their work.
Having seen how long and hard some of these students work on projects has only confirmed my feelings towards anyone majoring in any art form. I respect you immensely.
