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“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

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Views from the Choir Loft

Tips for Parents in Guiding Artistic Teenagers

Gwyneth Holston · December 30, 2013

GWYN_Vermeer “The Art of Painting” by Vermeer.
T IS DIFFICULT for parents to know what to do for their artistic son or daughter. Should he or she even be encouraged? It is next to impossible to make a living as an artist, art supplies and classes are expensive, and moral debauchery pervades contemporary art. I believe that being an artist is a rare vocation, but it is a vocation nonetheless and should be encouraged despite its many difficulties. If your teen is about to graduate from high school and is serious about becoming an artist, it is his responsibility to provide the passion and drive in pursuing such a path. It is your responsibility to guide him.

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Buy the best quality art supplies you can afford. It makes a difference whether colored pencils are Crayola (student grade) versus Prismacolor (professional grade). It is better to have a few really excellent art tools than a wide array of cheap materials. Creating art is hard enough without having to battle art supplies.

2. Surround your child with examples of good-quality art. Visit art museums and check out books from the library. Have a framed piece of original art in your home. Travel abroad if possible. This will train his aesthetic sensibilities even before he learns anything formal about art history.

3. Formal instruction is important and worth the expense. The self-taught artist will make some progress at first and then experience long plateaus. Sometimes just a few words from an experienced teacher will save months or years of time. It will also help your child to gain the humility and maturity necessary to grow after hearing a harsh critique.

4. Find the best art instruction available in your area. Larger cities often have an Art Students League or art colleges that provide Saturday classes for children and teens (including need-based scholarships). Recreation centers are good for introducing a child to a new medium (pottery, for example) but are useless for providing higher-level training.

5. Encourage your child to enter art contests. During my teens, I won certificates, apparel, sports memorabilia, a bike, and the opportunity to attend a reception for foreign dignitaries. I also lost a lot of competitions. Since I never knew which contest I would win, I entered them all. It got me in the habit of pursuing every opportunity and not taking it personally when I lost.

6. After high school, don’t send your child to an art college. I don’t know of any degree-granting Catholic art schools that provide high-quality training. Secular art colleges are dens of iniquity that sell very expensive, very useless degrees.

7. Encourage your child to get intellectual training first, then technical training. Artists are an integral part of culture. Artists need to have a solid formation in the language of Catholic culture before they can be capable of forming a visual sentence in that language. I would encourage future artists to get a degree in the classics, history, literature, or theology.

8. Your child will need to have a practical skill as well. Art does not pay the bills. Even if he does become a successful artist, it will not be for at least a decade or two. He should consider learning a trade or getting a certificate in a high-demand field. Future free-lance artists will benefit greatly from taking classes in small business management and understanding taxes, accounting, etc.

9. Professional training in the arts is best found in an atelier setting. An atelier is a professional artist who takes on a small group of students and trains them in the academic method. You can find a list of ateliers on the Art Renewal Center website www.artrenewal.org.

10. The only way to learn to draw the figure is to draw the figure. Nothing can replace the knowledge of form gained by life drawing, but it should only be undertaken by serious students in a professional setting. Figure drawing is not the lascivious event imagined by non-artists. It is an extremely challenging exercise that is far closer to the cold analysis of a medical professional. Students over the age of eighteen should have a talk with their parents and confessors before deciding to take a Life Drawing class.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Gwyneth Holston

Gwyneth Holston is a sacred artist who works to provide and promote good quality Catholic art. Her website is gwynethholston.com. Read more.

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. However, on the feasts website, the chants have been posted for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C), which is this coming Sunday: 6 July 2025.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)
    With each passing day, more is revealed about how the enemies of the liturgy accomplished their goals. For instance, Hannibal Bugnini deeply resented the way Vatican II said Gregorian Chant “must be given first place in liturgical services.” On 6 November 1966, his cadre wrote a letter attempting to justify the elimination of Gregorian Chant with this brazen statement: “What really gives a Mass its tone is not so much the songs as it is the prayers and readings.” Bugnini’s cadre then attacked the very heart of Gregorian Chant (viz. the Proprium Missae), bemoaning how the Proprium Missae “is completely new each Sunday and feast day.” There is much more to be said about this topic. Stay tuned.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“The Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal will undoubtedly enrich liturgical life at the parish level by making accessible these ancient, noble, and theologically-rich Catholic hymns, translated into English in quite a beautiful way.”

— Rev. Fr. John Berg (Superior General, Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter) 30-NOV-2018

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