“Art is so important for everyone to experience. I don’t think it has to necessarily lead to something concrete. I think the act of creating art alone is a very powerful experience. It helps connect us as humans. When we create art we understand a little bit more about ourselves. When we see the art of a stranger, we know a little bit more about them. We’ve seen the world through their eyes.” – Mr. Jacob Francis
By Sian Shin
In his tenth year as a teacher at Collingwood, Mr. Francis is one extraordinary educator and artist with a background in studio art at UBC. Mr. Francis started his artistic life in the classical arts. He then went on to teach studio art to grade six and seven students at Collingwood.
“We’re in a very fast paced society,” Mr. Francis says. “We’re not present enough. When creating art, it centers you and for a minute you’re absorbed in your art and absorbed in the moment.”
When asked about his influences and role models, Mr. Francis mentioned all types of artists such as Shepard Fairey (graphic designer), David Hockney (painter), and Jeff Wall (photographer). It is their perseverance to keep pushing through the process of creating art and finding new media in art that presents true inspiration to Mr. Francis. Like them, he tries not to stop at the first answer; rather, he looks for multiple answers. The highest level of art, Mr. Francis believes, is when the artist’s brilliance erases the separation between aesthetics and concepts. “When you get them both,” he says, “it’s magic.”
Mr. Francis’s entire art station consists of simply a pen, paper, and illustrator. His work is half raw hand drawn and half digital. This truly defines his love of working in both worlds of art. When asked if he would ever fully immerse himself in digital art, he responds that when art becomes too digital, it becomes too stiff. “You always have to go back to the crayon and the napkin,” he says.
Although Mr. Francis is a teacher to his students, he defines himself as a student of the world of art. He plans on continuing to teach himself to get better in very fundamental aspects of design. Like practising a sport, he says, he has to work on every single aspect of his art. As an art teacher, Mr. Francis wants to be involved in making art and going through artistic processes with his students. He admits, “I’m not a master at this, I’m also learning.”
Mr. Francis has the following advice to share with his students as well as all other budding artists: “You just have to do it. You just have to start making marks. You can’t be afraid to fail; you almost have to embrace the failing, embrace the imperfections.”
Mr. Francis would one day like to hit the 10,000-hour mark in the design outlier equation of mastery. He plans on following what amounts to his own advice to students: “If it’s not difficult or there’s no challenge, there’s no real satisfaction; you won’t know if or when you have arrived.”
By Sian Shin
In his tenth year as a teacher at Collingwood, Mr. Francis is one extraordinary educator and artist with a background in studio art at UBC. Mr. Francis started his artistic life in the classical arts. He then went on to teach studio art to grade six and seven students at Collingwood.
“We’re in a very fast paced society,” Mr. Francis says. “We’re not present enough. When creating art, it centers you and for a minute you’re absorbed in your art and absorbed in the moment.”
When asked about his influences and role models, Mr. Francis mentioned all types of artists such as Shepard Fairey (graphic designer), David Hockney (painter), and Jeff Wall (photographer). It is their perseverance to keep pushing through the process of creating art and finding new media in art that presents true inspiration to Mr. Francis. Like them, he tries not to stop at the first answer; rather, he looks for multiple answers. The highest level of art, Mr. Francis believes, is when the artist’s brilliance erases the separation between aesthetics and concepts. “When you get them both,” he says, “it’s magic.”
Mr. Francis’s entire art station consists of simply a pen, paper, and illustrator. His work is half raw hand drawn and half digital. This truly defines his love of working in both worlds of art. When asked if he would ever fully immerse himself in digital art, he responds that when art becomes too digital, it becomes too stiff. “You always have to go back to the crayon and the napkin,” he says.
Although Mr. Francis is a teacher to his students, he defines himself as a student of the world of art. He plans on continuing to teach himself to get better in very fundamental aspects of design. Like practising a sport, he says, he has to work on every single aspect of his art. As an art teacher, Mr. Francis wants to be involved in making art and going through artistic processes with his students. He admits, “I’m not a master at this, I’m also learning.”
Mr. Francis has the following advice to share with his students as well as all other budding artists: “You just have to do it. You just have to start making marks. You can’t be afraid to fail; you almost have to embrace the failing, embrace the imperfections.”
Mr. Francis would one day like to hit the 10,000-hour mark in the design outlier equation of mastery. He plans on following what amounts to his own advice to students: “If it’s not difficult or there’s no challenge, there’s no real satisfaction; you won’t know if or when you have arrived.”