20: Head, Heart, and Hands

AMDG. Today’s episode is a crossover between Homecoming and curriculum deep-dives as Kolbe teacher and alumna Rebecca DeVendra describes how she’s lived out the idea that, if you’re challenged by something, it’s probably worth buckling down and learning the self-discipline to pursue. From writing “I hate Latin” in her high school textbook to earning a classics degree and from learning how to properly sharpen a pencil to her work as a representational artist, Mrs. DeVendra discusses both her own experience and how she teaches current Kolbe students. Ultimately, the conversation centers on the idea to never sell students short. By inviting them into discussions of primary sources and surrounding them with artistic mastery, we develop their senses of both curiosity and dignity.  

 

Resources discussed: 

Art Renewal Center 

Cast Drawing Using the Sight-Size Approach 

Drawing the Head and Hands 

Options for prints of Da Vinci’s Last Supper 

Options for prints of Bouguereau paintings 

Bouguereau’s The Elder Sister 

 

Artists of note (alive and painting today!) trained in Atelier Schools 

Mrs. DeVendra’s studio 

Katie G. Whipple 

Gwyneth Thompson Briggs 

William Nathans 

 

Have a question for the Kolbecast team? Write to us at podcast@kolbe.org.