Stupidest Assignment Ever

[Tanjou]

Well, you've all had those teachers... haven't you? The ones who give those outlandish assignments that make no sense...?

When joining this clothing drawing class I thought I'd be learning exactly that. How to draw clothing! We've studied the figure, color composition, deformation, and how to draw nine-heads-high fashion figure... no real assignments to teach us how to draw clothing... but now... Oi.

She gave us the assignment of drawing a tree... Then to draw clothing on it. Okay... that's a plus it has clothing! But what the bloody hell does that have to do with what we actually should be learning??



Anyway! Who else have had those completely meaningless assignments or a really vain art teacher that has no appreciation for cartooning and comic writing? n_n; Give examples, rant, post the pictures... whee.

[Kevin Wolf]

I've never dealt with that, but I did have a Creative Writing teacher who didn't allow us to actually create anything. That was frustrating as hell.

[Tanjou]

I've never dealt with that, but I did have a Creative Writing teacher who didn't allow us to actually create anything. That was frustrating as hell.

How does one write creatively when not.... creating? o_O

[Kevin Wolf]

Yes, that was exactly what drove me crazy about the class. Everything had very narrow guidelines. Not once were we allowed to just create something out of thin air. I'd been writing for years when I took this class; I didn't need training wheels.

[Kirb]

We've all had these kinds of teachers.

[[AlmightyPyro]]

I had an English Assignment once where I had to draw a comic over something I liked to do. So I drew a comic over drawing comics. Infact, I use Keenspace as a reference in it. But I made a 90 just because I drew out a complete sentence in more than one speach bubble.
My Comic kicked the crap out of the others and I didn't get the highest grade because My English Teacher knows nothing. It angered me. i'f I find where I scanned it I'll put it up here.

[Tanjou]

Kirb: Kya, that's great... ._.; Highschool teachers are evil... >>; Except Theatre and English. (*Drool* Must read that all now, it's so pretty.)

Pyro: Usually it's my art teachers that have no respect for comics. I had a lovely English teacher who liked to read my mini-comics I'd do as jokes. I've only once had an art teacher who knew what she was doing because she does commission sculpture (Human Figure class... ::Shields eyes at the memories.::)

[MixedMyth]

I think I know what she's trying to do. The branches...limbs, heh, mimic various bends that would occur on people. I think what she probably wants is a study of folds, and how they interact with the bend and stretch that limbs have. How they FIT on limbs.

That's just a guess, mind.

[Tanjou]

I think I know what she's trying to do. The branches...limbs, heh, mimic various bends that would occur on people. I think what she probably wants is a study of folds, and how they interact with the bend and stretch that limbs have. How they FIT on limbs.

That's just a guess, mind.

You're giving her too much credit. Yeah, I see were that'd help... but couldn't we get a model in the class and have them were clothes and my world could be so much easier?

[Dutch!]

I was gonna say the same thing. You get a chance to draw clothing, and in ways you usually wouldn't think of drawing clothing, so you get to experiment with the folds and things.

And then there's the bonus of drawing something a bit out of the ordinary, which is much more enjoyable than continually drawing clothes on people. This would have been one of the activities I would have enjoyed if I bothered to take art classes past year eight.

As for the creative writing whinge...anyone can write something creatively from absolutely nothing and go nuts with it. True creativity is taking what's already there and making it your own. I'd say that's why you were given guidelines about what to write about.

But then, I only teach ten year olds...what would I know, eh?

[Levi-chan]

As for the creative writing whinge...anyone can write something creatively from absolutely nothing and go nuts with it. True creativity is taking what's already there and making it your own. I'd say that's why you were given guidelines about what to write about.

But then, I only teach ten year olds...what would I know, eh?

Maybe. But i've been in some educational institutions who actually tell you how to write. Sentence construction (subject first, then predicate! there are no other options!), phrasing size, limitations on the scale of the hyperboles you can create...

So, yeah. It was kinda annoying. Maybe that was what the dude meant, eh?

[Leko]

There's nothing I hate more than guidelines. Especially when they're teaching you how to write poetry. Which shouldn't be possible anyway, but there ya go. God I hated creative writing. *shudder*

Of course, guidelines are also fun because if you can find loopholes it's great fun to mess with your teacher's head. Heheheh. Like draw the clothes on a dwarf willow from Alaska (they're only about three inches tall, but still technically trees). Or draw it wearing lingerie instead of the clothes she's expecting.

[Tanjou]

Of course, guidelines are also fun because if you can find loopholes it's great fun to mess with your teacher's head. Heheheh. Like draw the clothes on a dwarf willow from Alaska (they're only about three inches tall, but still technically trees). Or draw it wearing lingerie instead of the clothes she's expecting.

We had to draw only trees from outside. (How boring!) But... the lingerie is a spiffy idea... maybe I'll make a second one.

[Endless]

heh, Hogarth's "Dynamic Wrinkles and Drapery" is a pretty good read for clothes

though I've never really thought of dressing a tree before..hmm

as for writing, I can write about anything fairly well with little effort, I find it more challenging to express the same idea within guidelines and limitations, but maybe that's just me and my weird head

[Luprand]

Well, you've all had those teachers... haven't you? The ones who give those outlandish assignments that make no sense...?

Ugh, I know exactly what you mean. I mean, this whole semester, my martial arts instructor has been teaching us all these useless things, like falls, rolls, and forming a wall with one arm and one leg. And just when we think he's gonna teach us how to break people's necks and stuff, he goes and shows the class all the non-lethal self-defense moves. What kinda bullcrap is that?!

--Sij

[Dutch!]

I love the way you understate your comments and quietly take the piss!

[Pimpette]

The thing about these assignments is that they teach you how to deal with various demands. The whole point of school is to prepare you for real life - for jobs.
In a job you have to deal with guidelines, many of them restricting and often irritating. These "weird" assignments teach you how to take the hit and roll with it.
As for english courses simply teaching the mechanics of writing - eh. You have no idea how many people are out there who don't know that stuff. I've had two classes on writing in this course and both were a breeze, for me (my parents are spelling and grammar freaks, so it got passed down to me), but at least a good half of the class had issues with it.
So, most teachers have reasons for this kind of stuff.

I say most.
I have known stupid teachers with pointless assignments. Oh god have I known them. Damn high school...

[Komiyan]

What MM said.. Surely the point is to draw folds and such? You know, showing that you have a feel for how material hangs.

But just cause it makes sense to me doesn't mean I'd want to draw it :p

[McDuffies]

I've never dealt with that, but I did have a Creative Writing teacher who didn't allow us to actually create anything. That was frustrating as hell.

How does one write creatively when not.... creating? o_O

I know what Kevin says. It's teachers who constantly give you assignments where your imagination has no place. And I was a kid with a very live imagination. But they either give you assignment of copying some painting to the detail, or something that is so pointless that nothing comes to your mind - you know, nothing that could spice up the drawing, make it actually worth looking at.
This tree assignment reminded me of one similar I had: draw trees so that they look like humans.
'Course, I haven't had art classes since elementary school, so my latest experiences come from literature classes; In high school, I was lucky enough to get a literature teacher who actually knew to appreciate when someone's different from average.

[The Neko]

Well, when I was a kid, I'd still be creative whether or not the teachers forbade it. But then again, it depended on the assignment whether or not I wanted to be creative or not. The kind of art classes I hated were times we did things like "make a collage" when we were supposed to be in a "DRAWING CLASS".