Calvin Anderson: Who Is He?

Hello. I am Calvin Anderson. 

“The rational man in our Western culture is a visual man”

The Medium Is The Message - Marshall McLuhan

I am not a visual thinker—or at least I wasn’t. As a kid, I had little to no skill in art. I could picture everything in my head, down to the last detail, but I could never get it on paper. Seeing the wondrous works (for a 5th-grade level) that my classmates created,  I accepted that art was not for me. Instead, I took to math and science. By no means was I gifted in this new field. I could just memorize equations better than I could visualize how to make a drawing.

In high school, I took a handful of math, chemistry, psychology, and many other science-related classes. They weren’t hard for me and I passed most with an A—I just found absolutely no joy in them. I didn’t want a future career that had anything to do with STEM. By my sophomore year, I had this realization. I decided to make a change; I signed up for an art class.

I started with photography. Photography led to Photoshop and computer design. Eventually, this led to an interest in film, which became my true passion. While registering for a video production class, I thought it would be a good idea to join a 2D art class as well. Why not throw in a little bit of everything? 

I have some of my most vivid memories from those two classes. Video production was the most fun I had in a class, and 2D art was the hardest I had worked in a class.

I had no experience working with charcoal, paint, chalk, or oil pastels. I had no idea how to make this type of art. I wasn’t visually gifted in this way. I struggled with my first projects. I would get caught up trying to perfect every little detail. And I couldn’t do it. In my head the visual was perfect, but what I put on my canvas could never match.

Until my teacher pulled me over.

She told me that I had to get out of my head, stop worrying about all the small details, and start focusing on building up my artwork in ways that made sense. There wasn’t an equation I could memorize. Each piece of art I made would be a different process.

To become a better visual thinker, I first had to become a rational thinker.

My artwork, since this advice, has improved substantially, and not only in my drawings. Today, I still follow her advice while working on new video projects, new drawings, and other types of art that I am still discovering.

A charcoal drawing I made
in high school (after my teacher
gave me her advice) that got
selected to be in a congressional art
competition

Another charcoal project I worked on. This time
 in a 2D art class at Lawrence University



Here is a link to my portfolio that features
many other works of mine since high school