Teaching since 1993 | Helena Min| Art Education

OTIS College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA, USA

I taught from January 2005 - May 2013 the following classes.

Course - 180 Drawing and Composition I
Course - 181 Drawing and Composition II

OBSERVATION & PERCEPTION

Drawing follows one’s observation and perception. Students are guided to enhance their perception and to be keen to observe their surroundings.

FUNDAMENTAL DRAWING SKILLS

Representational drawing skills and visual relationships using line, plane, volume, linear and atmospheric perspective, light logic/value, and color as a basis for “structural/volumetric” drawing.

COMPOSITION

Applying principles of traditional drawing - linear perspective, relational measurement, angle sighting, use of central axis, use of viewfinder - to visualize and to establish a successful composition. The inventive use of pictorial elements to promote aesthetic resolution and clarity of intention.

VISUAL RELATIONSHIPS

The interplay of line, plane, and volume to create and/or enhance the forms in a given space, achieving equilibrium in the overall composition.

CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING

Students will be challenged to find their own mistakes/problems and will be able to re-work and to resolve through one-on-one discussion as well as group critique.

Course - 190 Life Drawing I
Course - 191 Life Drawing II

HUMAN ANATOMY

Students learn to analyze human skeletal and muscular systems. With the knowledge in human anatomy and drawing from a live model, students learn to analyze human form and to construct it in drawing.

GESTURE

Analyzing the rhythm, balance, and movement of a figure. Observe the tension and weight that flow in the body. Observe how the skeletal structure forces the action.

PROPORTION & MEASUREMENT

Various methods to measure are introduced in the process of establishing the proportional relationship of “body part to the whole body, and the whole to the parts.” The methods of reinforcing proportion are the major axis of body, angel sighting, head-counting, plumb lines, triangle measuring, etc.

SENSITIVITY OF MARK MAKING & PERSONAL VISION

After completion of the principals and elements of figure drawing, students are challenged to explore their cultural influence and personal visions.

Photos by Helena J. Min ©Helena J. Min 1993

Mount St. Mary's University, Brentwood, CA, USA

I taught from January 2000 - May 2003 the following classes.

ART Drawing
ART 22 Watercolor

Cerritos Community College, Norwalk, CA, USA

I taught from January 1998 - December 2004 the following classes.

ART 30.2 Fundamentals of Painting
ART 31 Intermediate Painting
ART 36 Beginning Painting for Art Majors
ART 110 Freehand Drawing I

VAS-Visual Art Studio, Los Angeles, CA, USA

I've founded VAS - Visual Art Studio in 1993. Over 27 years, VAS has specialized in Portfolio Prep Course for students who pursue higher art education in college and career in art and design fields.

Over the years, my teaching at VAS has transformed and enriched as I got matured as an artist with my daily practice, discoveries, and learnings in my studio with my own artwork. VAS has been an exciting place to share with the younger generation what I've learned from my teachers and my own studio practice, and to develop the curriculum with my new discoveries and experiments. aligned with the fast-paced changing world. VAS has been offering a mutual learning experience for students and myself, demonstrating the limitless creativity of the human mind, the value of our diverse perspectives, and a sacred form of human expression of inner condition for many.