Teaching art is a non linear process. Even though I write up a syllabus I find when I get into my class that the students guide the direction that the class will go in. My portrait/figure class this morning at the DeCordova Museum School was changed by the feedback of my students. After all, the students are the ones that need the guidance and when I hear a need to develop or explore certain issues that are important, I am on it. We did our 10- 2 minute gestures which is great for a warm up but I noticed the desire to hold onto the form with line. Which can at times limit the ability to create mass. There was a question about enlarging the head and running it off the page and how to develop the concept of features on the head and needing to build mass. That is when we jumped into charkole (brand of charcoal), erasing out the form and drawing it back in. This is where the eraser becomes a drawing tool and not just for getting rid of information. I did not tell my students the length of the pose for fear they would lock into their drawings. And the freshness of seeing the whole drawing would leave the room for the sake of trying to achieve "a pretty drawing'. The exploration of drawing and the experience of gesture needs to happen throughout the artwork....start to finish. It's so exciting to see growth with my students in a 3 hour session.