A few days ago I provided a meeting for our graduate students. It was based upon the idea that graduation can be a special kind of obstacle for students. The challenge of graduation is often not graduation itself, but the story we tell ourselves about what graduation means. I had designed a meeting that involved […]

Just finished the War of Art by Stephen Pressfield. I liked his concept of Resistance. Resistance for him is a destructive force that disables you from being creative. In his words: ‘with ever tree of creativity that grows; comes a shadow. Being creative for him is about finding ways to overcome that Resistance. In his […]

Words I often hear from students during reflection-moment are distractions, procrastination, anxieties, and imposter syndrome. Studying on itself probably would not be half as difficult if it was not for ourselves. There is a title of a book that I often think about: ‘You Are What You Do’. Sometimes we perceive studying as a ritual […]

I joined a meeting with people who did not know each other and we had a shared task to bring out a singular verdict. I observed and noted what was said by participants in order to reflect upon how we try to convince others. refer to prior experience others didn’t have: I have been using […]

“How do I Know if my Students Are Learning (Online)?’ The question was asked by a colleague in the context of online learning due to the corona measurements. I think it’s an important question because we spend so much time on education; it’s important to reflect on what is effective. I also believe it’s a […]

Last year I encountered challenges in creating a safe environment for students. When people feel unsafe in a conversation there are two paths: silence or violence. Silence can be used as a means to avoid potential situations by withdrawing (by any means) from the conversation. Violence is when verbal strategies are used in an attempt […]

Introduction.  I’ve done a small follow-up illustration survey in class with 23 2nd year illustration students. The goal was to get some insight in student interests, ambition and their view on the field of illustration. There were 4 ‘closed’ question: what are an illustrator’s best chances in today’s market? what are you current interests in […]

Illustrators do not always have to wait for clients for work. A good entrepreneur looks for his/her own opportunities in the market. At the WdKA we encourage our students to learn to iniate personal projects for clients they would like to work for. Creating your own proposal does not imply that you’re a fine artist. […]