Think of taking up art in middle or old age, and you think of Grandma Moses, the American primitive painter who first picked up a brush in her 70s. But here's the problem: Technically, at least, she wasn't that great.
"Grandma Moses was not a very good artist," says Nan Freeman, 62, a drawing and painting instructor at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. "She was a charming and wonderful lady, but what do you compare her to? Michelangelo?"
Moses painted what she wanted to paint, and there's nothing stopping anyone else from doing the same. Art skills, says Freeman, are something anybody can learn.
"Drawing is about like reading and writing, and they're very basic skills," she says. "But it isn't the case that people are born Shakespeare. Everybody can do it, but you need to develop it."
The best way is by taking a class. "Education works," says Freeman, whether at a fine arts degree institution (which often offer night classes for dabblers, taught by the same artists who run the school's masters programs), a high school continuing-education program, an arts and crafts center or a local professional who's teaching courses to make ends meet. The caveat, says Susan Clain, dean of admissions at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, is that, "Not all teachers are good artists, and not all artists are good teachers."
To find the right instructor, first know your level - anything from getting past stick figures as a hobby to making a serious career change to the arts - and then research the options.
Sit in on a class to test your comfort level. Read student-written teacher evaluations. Use word of mouth. "Ask your friends, an art center - there are lots of arts associations and special-interest groups, and you can rely on those, even in a small town," says Clain. "The whole art circle is really a very small world. You really need to be out there talking - go to open studios, engage people, ask them if they can recommend someone."
Freeman suggests approaching the selection as if you were buying a car or a house, especially because classes can be expensive. Though she says "it's hard to make judgments about anything when you're completely unaware of the field," interview instructors to get a handle on what they know - and what they can tell you.
"You need someone who can convey what he or she knows, and that's particularly difficult in the arts," Clain advises.
"Get a good teacher - and there are a lot of bad teachers who don't calm you down about things, tell you not to be so hard on yourself," says Freeman, who has also taught at Harvard and Tufts universities. "They need to teach that, and design and line and visual form, perceptual ability. You need a teacher who can critique and give you feedback."
One-on-one feedback can be particularly important for older students, especially absolute beginners and once-promising youthful artists who pick up a pencil or paintbrush after an absence of many years. Freeman says that while the time off probably does not affect an unused skill level, it does change how you see your own work.
"It's like Adam and Eve after they ate that stuff - you get more embarrassed and ashamed and you judge your work. There's a definite developmental shift, and probably you didn't establish and consolidate your drawing skills and then you become self-conscious."
"It's hard to get good at drawing. Beyond the basic skills, you have to work at it," she says. "People have to do a lot of bad drawings before they make any good drawings at all."
Those who are already there and are considering a career change may actually find their age an advantage. Freeman has had many middle-aged students - even one in her 80s - and Clain, the admissions dean, calls herself "a big fan of non-traditional students."
"They're here because they want to be here," she says. "These are people who have been out in the world and they've made this decision - and it's a scary decision - and they do set high expectations for themselves. There's more of an ownership that takes place when they're older; they've set a goal for themselves and can take big advantage of the institution."
And besides, she says, "People who are older bring a lot to the table in terms of life experience. To be able to make art about one's ideas and experiences - it's harder to do that when you're 17 than when you're 57."
