Instructor Spotlight: Q&A With New Art Instructor Phil Jensen

Portrait painting

Meet instructor, Phil Jensen, of the Art & Design program. Phil comes with extensive knowledge in drawing and painting, and is an exceptional teacher for students of all levels who are looking to explore their artistic abilities. Keep an eye out for Phil Jensen’s upcoming classes to learn from a true creative artist. Get to know the man behind the brush:

1. What is your background as an artist? And how did you get started?

From the start, I simply had a great interest in drawing and painting, in creating images and illusions of my imagination, and using a myriad of media and methods in my creations. I started painting at about ten years old, and have studied continuously ever since, absorbing as much as I could of what I saw, read and heard.

2. What inspires you to create art?

Art to me, like music, is a language beyond words. There is a particular story that is told with every arrangement of things, of the light play on things that speaks of their relationship to the light. There is, of course, no way to describe this is words. It is a wide range of things that inspire my art. Dreams and their impressions often elicit what I call dreamscapes—rather surreal imagery for which there is no explanation available. Especially in my plein air work, I look for simple shapes of light and dark that excite a beautiful story. I suppose it cannot be overstated that what’s important about shapes is that they define the moment of light. I will often see something and squint to marvel at the perfection of the light. Sometimes I am captured by a combination of colors and I’m compelled to see if I can reproduce it, or I see another’s work of art, and I’m drawn to something in it (pardon the pun) that perhaps others do not see. I never know what will inspire me next, but I can be certain that something will.

3. Who is best suited to take your classes – beginner or advanced students?

It’s not a matter of beginner or advanced on skill level, as there is no line in between, and everyone is on their own page—or canvas—anyway. Those suited to take my classes are those who are willing to do the work and play through the mistakes made, those who seek art not as a simple curious or shrugging whim, but as a serious, playful study to fall in love with light and with themselves through their study.

4. What makes your classes and teaching style unique?

I would definitely consider myself a serious artist, but that does not mean that with me it’s “all work and no play”. On the contrary, I believe that play is an essential part of learning to draw and to paint—to learn anything for that matter. It is play through which we are most receptive and through which we can make the most of our mistakes. "What is the most suitable means to achieve the desired ends?" I ask this question of my students, or of myself when seeing each particular drawing or painting, with the inclusion of what the student is desiring to achieve—different from every other student. That makes every guiding suggestion or tip most suitable or appropriate to the specific question or issue. The medium doesn’t really matter. Sure, each has its own nature, its own properties. For example, the “good” thing about acrylic is it dries really fast; the “bad” thing about it is it dries really fast. The medium is only a vehicle through which one accesses their own inner medium or muse. Regardless of the medium, I distill the process from seeing and noticing through that of creating composition first, values second, and detail and color last. Any other order tends to include the non-essential or exclude the essential. I teach that there are no “shoulds” in art, that it is an expression of freedom. I have had many classes where one or more students have advanced beyond what I am teaching on a particular day, and choose to bring in and work on something about which they are passionate. By all means, I encourage them to do so, as that is where they are “at”; education to me is as much about connection as it is about disseminating information. The problems and issues with a new work will be similar to others I’m teaching, and addressing these for the class is just as valid in the moment as anything else I might be talking about. In my drawing classes, I dump a truckload of info on my students, knowing that much of it will not sink in right away; one can never know what is retained and what goes in one ear and out the other; it’s different with each student. But revisiting the concepts and principles over and over, each student picks it up at the right time and in the right context.

5. What can students expect to learn in your classes?

My students will learn the importance of drawing as a reflection of what they practice seeing, and as a foundation for all other media. With composition as a starting point, students will develop a sense for it not only in drawing and painting, but simply in seeing their world before them. They will develop a playful mind in order to see differently. And with the work-play of practice, they will gain a measure of inner freedom through their artistic expression, supported by the solid foundations they have learned.

6. Do you have any advice for someone who is new to art?

Have a sketchbook and draw from life, especially in sunshine (easier said than done around here), as much as possible to practice noticing the light play. Regardless of any other medium, drawing is essential. When it comes to painting, dive into the medium with a playful attitude; you learn the most and the fastest through play.