When you have a real experience in front of a work of art  it isn’t detached or intellectual.  It’s exciting, and it’s visceral  and you never forget it. These experiences become part of the real moments that live on forever in your consciousness. They are what being a lover of fine art and/or a fine artist is all about.

Sometimes it seems to me that we’ve  lost sight of  the potential the arts hold to enrich our lives in positive ways. Are we still able to really inhabit the moment, to exclude everything but the experience we’re in, both as viewers and as creators?  This is the very definition of  transcendent experience,  the required condition of all great art: presence.  To find your self and your real potential as an artist, you must be entirely present and to do that you must learn to have and maintain focus. Focus is the ability to direct all of yourself into the moment, into what you are doing, with no distractions, no part of your consciousness engaged elsewhere.  No matter how good you may think you are at something,  you will have a more profound experience if you are able to entirely immerse yourself  in your work than if part of you is distracted. This is the essence of profound experience, and this is what fewer and fewer people seem wiling to attempt in this age of multitasking and perpetual interruption.

Rembrandt, Vermeer, Velasquez, Goya, Degas, Turner, Sargent…one could go on. You feel them as they completely inhabit their work. Their work touches us now the way it touched the viewer in its own time, the way it will touch the viewer a hundred years from now. They inhabit their work. That is the real miracle.

Now I have to hope that all our faculty and students will continue to understand that the path is learning to focus, bringing your self entirely to whatever it is you’re doing, and patience, for the path is long and we will have to try and try again on the road to knowledge and skill.

This is why we ask for silence in classes. This is why we don’t permit head phones and cel phones. We are trying to create the conditions that will allow you to discover and actualize your own powers.

If silence frightens you, breathe deeply, close your eyes, see yourself working happily and well.  I promise that you’ll learn to treasure silence as part of the pathway to your own magical, inner, creative world. In attempting to draw  a jug, a cup, a nose with integrity (that is, with full attention), as Hawthorne says, you will find your self!

The greatest gift we can give to our students is the discovery, through the cultivation of discipline and focus, of their own innate powers. That’s something that once found will be yours forever, and is priceless.

I’m doing well. Adam and I are still at Big Soul for the third season of “By The Rapids”. We’re, as always keeping our quality and quota up…

Haha! Well, I draw still, but I haven’t been terribly proactive with a sketchbook. It’s something I want to make a habit again…

How’s everything at school? I hope the new groups of animators to come have as much success as we did.

Please say hello to Tina and the rest! and thanks for the constant stream of job postings. I appreciate them and everything you’ve done and still continue to do for us.

Cheers and all the best
Jay

This workshop has been designed to be a great introduction to the basics of representational drawing. If you are planning to apply to arts programs, this is an opportunity to build your portfolio.

Five FULL days of instruction.  December 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 2010

• Principles of Drawing: How to express 3-dimensional form. Emphasis on proportion, 3-dimensional solidity, construction and weight.

• Life Drawing: An introduction to drawing from the life model

• Perspective and freehand drawing: Develop skills in the mechanics of linear perspective.

• Design and Composition: An introduction to the basic elements of composition

• Critique

Date: Date: December 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Class Size: Limited to 15
Cost: $500.00 + G.S.T.

Contact: cdrmay@maxthemutt.com      416-703-6877 x223 or 1-877-486-MUTT x223

This course is designed to help students visualize three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional page, and develop basic drafting skills. Students will first learn the fundamentals of how to render both objects and environments in one, two, and three point perspective without the aid of real world reference.

They will begin by drawing basic geometric forms from all possible angles, then progress to relatively more complex “real” objects by carving into and adding on to those base forms. Using this methodology students will master the art of sculpting in two dimensions.

DAVE ROSS has drawn and written for Marvel Comics and DC Comics on “Captain America,” “Spiderman,” “Batgirl,” “Star Trek,” “Daredevil,” “Birds of Prey” and “JLA: Act of God,” among many other projects. He was also an artist for the series “Rai” at Valiant,” and has worked as a concept designer and layout artist for animation.

Date: Sept. 30 - Dec. 2, 2010 (10 Sequential Thursday Evenings)

(Sept. 30, Oct. 7, 14, 21, 28, Nov. 4, 11, 18, 25, Dec. 2 2010)

Time: 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Class Size: Limited to 15
Cost: $400.00 + G.S.T.

Contact: Carla Drmay, Max The Mutt Animation School 952 Queen Street West, Suite 300 Toronto, M6J 1G8Tel: (416) 703-6877 / Toll Free 877-486-MUTT Fax: (416) 703-3930

Email: cdrmay@maxthemutt.com

Unfortunately, over the years nutritional habits have declined!  So much of this is habit that young people tend to close their ears to the scientific facts about how body and mind work together.

The programs at Max the Mutt are rigorous. The dedication has to be there, which means doing everything possible to help yourself  succeed. This includes good organizational skills, and a real love for what you are studying, but all of that can be sabotaged by poor nutrition. Junk food lowers resistance to disease, can lead to mood swings (the sugar blues), and denies the brain what it needs to be creative.

I’ve cut and pasted the articles below in the hope that you’ll read them and take them to heart.

From a post by Peter Moore on EduBlog:

Nutrition and Creativity

Nutrition and creativity?  This might sound like an odd fit, but just logically think about it for a moment.  If you are in poor health, how creative do you think you will feel?  In order to be creative you must have a sharp mind and body.  If you are filling your body full of chemicals and pesticides you are not going to be performing at optimal levels.

If, for some reason, you doubt this, look at it from a different perspective.  Would you eat two large steaks just before running a marathon?  How about four cheeseburgers?  You get the point; you need the right fuel for the job.  Your brain is largely fat, but healthy fat.  Omega-3 fatty acid foods such as flaxseeds, flaxseed oils, sardines and Alaskan wild salmon are brain foods.  Many of us are lacking omega-3 in our diets, and so this is one way to jump-start your brain.

Eating as many fresh fruits and vegetables as possible is another way to make sure that your brain and body is at optimal performance.  With many fruits and vegetables it is only slightly more money to buy organic, which means that you are drastically reducing your exposure to harmful pesticides. You are paying more, but you are also getting more.  Numerous studies have shown that organic food is higher in nutrients.  Smart shopping will also allow you to find many organic foods that are only slightly more expensive than their non-organic counterparts.

Exercise and Creativity

Exercise, in any form, increases blood flow to the brain.  The more blood flowing to your brain, the better it works.  A simple brisk walk can be enough to get the job done and it’s an easy way to help you be at an optimal setting to be creative.

User-Submitted Article

How to Feed Your Brain and Increase Your Creativity

Member

By WritingNag, eHow Member

Article Rating:

(8 Rat

I want to do this! What’s This?

Feed Your Brain; Increase Your Creativity

http://www.writingnag.blogspot.com

Science tells us that every person with a healthy brain has the ability to be creative. And while there are many self-help books on the market on increasing creativity, the art of creativity and the creative brain many do not address the science of the creative brain. There are many ways to increase your creativity if you have the tools; good nutrition and foods for your brain, enough water, the desire to increase your creativity and for some people supplements will increase your creativity. Feed your brain!

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You’ll Need:

• A healthy brain
• Good nutrition
• Water
• Desire to increase creativity

1. Ask yourself if you are taking care of your brain by getting enough sleep, eating good nutritious food, adequate water and getting exercise. Often when we are stressed many of the things we know to do for proper self-care fall out the window. The brain needs glucose and oxygen to function properly. If you are on a low-carbohydrate diet you may experience a fuzzy feeling in the brain. Eating protein with a healthy carbohydrate provides much needed glucose and will help you think clearly and create.
2. Although drinking 8-glasses of water a day is suggested, you probably know what the proper amount is for your body. If you’re exercising or drinking a lot of caffeine you will probably need more. Water is needed by the brain to help lubricate the brain tissue and is essential to brain function. It is been proven that adequate water will make you more alert and capable of learning.
3. Get more exercise. We have become a sedentary nation. Exercise floods the brain with oxygen, so if you’re sitting at your desk uninspired, consider taking a brisk walk, run or even use your Wii. Recent scientific studies have shown that exercise also keeps your brain young and may prevent degenerative brain diseases.Eat brain food on a regular basis. There are foods that are known to keep your brain healthier. They include cold water fish, blueberries, and walnuts. Also don’t skimp on the carbohydrates. While carbohydrates have gotten a bad rap, carbohydrates provide fuel for the brain. For optimum brain nutrition eat smaller nutritious meals every few hours.
4. Eat brain food on a regular basis. There are foods that are known to keep your brain healthier. They include cold water fish, blueberries, and walnuts. Also don’t skimp on the carbohydrates. While carbohydrates have gotten a bad rap, carbohydrates provide fuel for the brain. For optimum brain nutrition eat smaller nutritious meals every few hour
   Read more: How to Feed Your Brain and Increase Your Creativity | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5609043_feed-brain-increase-creativity.html#ixzz0w172NOBF