1:1 Tuition, Small Groups, Mentoring, Portfolio Review
My team and I offer a variety of customized teaching and mentoring options. A few of them are listed here, but the options are endless - I customize these sessions to suit your specific needs. So please use the following as examples of what we can build around your needs, and let me know if you want something else.
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Requirements
Where possible, we tend to use video for these sessions - whether zoom, or whatsapp video, Google meet etc. Tutoring sessions can also be set up in person - let's discuss our options. Please take a look at pricing here and at basic requirements for video sessions here.
1:1 Tuition
Is there an area of your art practice where you feel that you have reached an impasse? This type of tuition might be the key to move you forward. What we do is identify the issues, then support you to discover how to move past these blockages, develop specific skills and identify any underlying issues.
Two examples
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Sometimes, for example, there can be a technical issue that, once resolved, will allow you to move to a new level in your practice.
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Occasionally, I find that clients think they may have identified an area of blockage, but in fact in working together we discover that there is another issue which needs tackling first.
Themed Courses
I encounter many artists who are competent in most areas but ask me for support / tuition in specific subject areas. We all use Youtube to teach us generic skills and I am the first to recommend certain sites. However, all too often we are left with individual lacunes which a face-to-face session with an expert can answer. Pre-recorded videos are great but they do not allow you to ask those burning questions you are left with: "I know he said to do X Y Z, but how exactly do I do that?"
<< Areas in which we struggle produce blockages that will hinder the progress of our art practice as a whole >>
Adrian Dutton
A themed course allows you to join a group of other artists who also have questions in the same area of art practice. Honestly, you would not believe just how many people struggle with exactly the same questions you have!
A short course in a small group, with all of us working on a specific subject, will leave you with an absolutely amazing sensation of mastery in an area where you previously felt struggled. Think of this as a "ask me anything in the subject area of X Y Z" sessions.
Below are some of the most commonly requested subjects. These are just examples.
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Foreshortening
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Proportions & Measuring
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Hands & Feet
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Facial Features
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Shadow & Light
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Textures (skin, hair etc)
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Giving Weight to the Human Form
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etc etc.! The subjects are many and I love teaching, so if you have a subject area that you think would make a great course, please email me here to let me know!
Contact me here to find out about upcoming Themed Courses.
Why book a Themed Course?
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You have questions in a specific area of your art practice that is covered by the theme
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Lower cost per person
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Benefit of listening to other artists' questions in the same area
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Often art friendships form & remain after the session
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Great fun & entertaining
When 1:1 Tuition might be more useful
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When you have questions across a number of themes, e.g. you are fairly advanced in your art practice and have specific questions across various areas
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Or you would prefer undivided tuition, for example if you are looking to make individual progress as fast as possible
Small Group Tuition
Small group tuition is the equivalent of 1:1 tuition for groups of artists, groups of students, friends, family, etc... - in the past, I have taught groups as varied as a group of 4 art students, a father and daughter duo, a newly engaged couple (engagement present!), a retired husband and wife couple (what a great anniversary present that was!), a daughter and mother duo who lived on different continents but wanted to share art time together - and many, many more.
Small Group Tuition is always great fun and a brilliant way to connect for people who share a similar focus. It's ideal if what you want to learn crosses a number of subjects and therefore does not fit under the single heading of a Themed Course. This will work for you if you already have a group in mind (of 2 or more people), and are looking to develop your art skills in specific art activities that you will determine (e.g. specific subjects like life drawing, landscape, or specific techniques such as watercolours, acrylics, oil...)
Mentoring
At the deepest level, my mentoring work with any artist is an intuitive, experiential exploration of the work they do as an artist and to some extent also the person who informs it.
At a more practical level, we look at your body of work as a whole to identify any underdeveloped areas, gently spotlight any blockages and come to know the causes of any resistance which might hold you back.
Finally, I also offer help, if any is needed, with everyday aspects of being an artist - whether it's the actual ins and outs of the making of art; or its aftermath complex net of pricing, marketing, selling, exhibiting, funding applications and so on; or any of the manifold other aspects that play into the work of making art for a living --- reach out and let's talk about it.
Our first chat will just be a chat - you tell me where you're at and I can tell you in all honesty whether I believe I can be of any help.
Some examples of topics covered in mentoring
Let's check your work for blockages and resistance
We all get stuck sometimes. I did, many times. It helps to get someone to take a look from the outside. A benevolent and knowledgeable pair of eyes can spot from the outside what you can't see from the inside.
We spotlight the blockage, spend a little time exploring its reasons for being, and you will be able to feel like you're having a fresh start, even though all we have done is identified and walked around these blocks.
Blockages have a habit of looking insurmountable, but they are really there to help us take a different approach, and sometimes invite us to take an entirely different turn.
Let's check your work for congruence
Congruence is when all areas of a person and their body of work are in unison. They all walk the same walk, so to speak.
We all know of "the zone" - but to most people, "being in the zone" is a nothing more than a chance encounter, something that comes on us for unknown reasons - a matter of getting lucky, perhaps. But what if you could experience "being in the zone" much more often, and in fact, regularly?
Being congruent is in my experience an excellent method of inducing "being in the zone". As an artist's mentor, I can help you spot what stands in the way of congruence in the various areas of your practice, your work and what makes you you - walking with you step by step towards congruence.
Help with the practicalities
Practicalities - there are so many! By that I mean that there are so many aspects to being an artist today. It's not just about hard work and opportunities.
I can help with many of these practicalities - and for the ones with which I can't help you, I have excellent pointers in the direction of someone who can. People from whom I have learned. People who I respect for their knowledge in that specific area. Or books which have can help you - goldmines for the knowledge that may be missing.
So we start with an overall assessment, we look your practice over - and once we start shining light on your practice as an artist, the areas which need more light will become obvious to us.
