Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for November 08, 2019

Professor Zebo sure sees brilliant art when he sees it. (Congratulations, Tara, on getting that grade.)

Tara is what teachers consider who thinks outside the box. She is not a follower and chooses a different path. That is what gets her in trouble but not today. Today, she shines.

okay i did not see that coming at all but than i’m also not surprised either plus i really wasn’t thinking about it either

Okay.

So the “key” to passing one of Zebo’s art classes is rendering the exact opposite of what you see.

In other words, YOUR “interpretation” of what you see.

And once again, Tara gets a passing grade without expending the slightest bit of effort.

I’m beginning to see why a number of “folks” don’t like her………..,

Yup – that had to happen.

It’s going to be a loooong week.

It’s fresh, it’s bold, it’s unfathomable, it’s Art!

It’s Tara

Like we did not see this coming.

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Poop in a bottle: A+

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Toothpaste wads lying in the sink: A+ or Zebo lets them dry to use as after dinner mints…

Okay, now, who didn’t see this one coming?

Apologies for yesterday’s snark remark about how watching Gunther be degraded was more fun than this arc.

It wasn’t because I want to see more hate heaped upon the G-man; I am his biggest supporter. It’s just that I consider this particular arc as beneath the arcs in which it appears G&K want us to hate the G-man.

As if anything I say makes any sense right now.

And a shout out to Nil for recognizing that Tara’s “still life” would be worthy of Zebo’s approval.

Uggh, stigmatizing art teachers and abstract art. Picasso said you have to be a good artist (ie-know your craft and technique) before you can be a great one.

Love Luann’s expression in the third frame.

Lol who noticed the good still arts were drawn by famous cartoonists?

Luann’s right about some of the drawings and Zebo once again proves himself to be a self-effacing schmuck…

So predictable.

At least two people called this yesterday, one predicting that Tara will get offered a TA position. If so that would be a real test of the friendship between Luann and Tara. Tara drives so many people here to near paroxysms of judgement, but she does things so effortlessly. It my be a real test to Luann who has to work,and has more propriety. Plus being a TA is very important to her. “Danger Wiil Robinson, Danger.”

To quote a famous tennis player, “you cannot be kidding me!”

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as the saying goes.

Shucks, all Luann has to say is, Professor Zebo, I agree with you 100% and her job will be safe!!

Zebo LOVES randomness. That’s what he considers art. Random is unexpected and thus original.

Well in all fairness, he IS an art instructor at a community college.

LOL! I called it yesterday!!! I just KNEW it. Do I win a prize?

“OK, but she did that as a total joke after making fun of you.”

Maybe this will be the thing that will completely change Tara’s life? Will she become a serious artist? Or this will convince her (or Luann) that she is right to make fun of the professor?

Wow. Figured The Duck would be all over this one.

Has anyone else noticed the signatures on those drawings?

Anybody notice the artist’s signatures? Gary Larson (Far Side), Bill Watterson (Calvin)?

So Tara’s right! Zebo IS full of it!

Wonder what “the nostril” got…?

I was at an art gallery and there was a sheet of plywood painted white. It was for sale for 1500. Yeah, $36 bucks for the plywood and $12 for paint and I could have made a reproduction. Why I would do that, is beyond me!

Prof does not realize that he is being mocked or likes it because of that?

Of course Zebo would give it an A plus. Pretentiousness is his byword. Cologne. Lip Balm…

Kind’a saw that one coming.

Another unbridled antagonist in this strip courtesy of G&K. As if Anne Awful wasn’t enough.

I admit it. I don’t ‘get’ art, abstract or otherwise. It’s all subjective. Tara might get an a+ from this guy but might get a failing grade from another art teacher. Should art be graded at all?

Yep, called it at least in part.

See Luann? Art is everywhere.

Of course.

Tara is the most complex recurring character in the strip. By design, I wonder? She’s a high achiever, excelling at everything with minimal effort. Was the sculpture a fit of pique or a flash of brilliance? High achievers can go one of two ways. Batman and the Joker were/are two “high achievers.” Her expulsion from Mooney U. and the Monster Truck seating episode point to a distain for societal “rules.” Her social skills are defective but that is common among high achievers. The last minute bailout of the camping trip is but one example. The missing days after the wild party, thievery and other clues tend toward a dark side to her personality. She exhibits some characteristics of a sociopathic personality.

In many ways she is very compatible with Nil. I wonder if she isn’t being groomed for something dramatic. A new thorn in Luann’s paw, as Tiffany was in middle and high school? A foe or a padawan for Awful Annie? Only GnK knows for sure… or do they?

Love the guest artists!

The last painting is signed Watterson. Were Calvin and Hobbes here?

Yup. this is why I disliked art class. the people who did nothing got the high grades while others, who took time and effort to express thier minds got D’s.

As far as Tara’s “work,” what we have here is an opinion. I “was” in a writer’s group in which the leader, a former ivy league economics professor, lead critiques on what he thought our stories needed. Oddly, others followed his lead. My stories have been criticized, but not torn apart like a pack of weasels. So, for fun, at the next meeting I submitted an exert from a favorite, and excellent, book, changing the plot names and locations. Sure enough, Professor Nasty went straight for the jugular with comments like “what does this mean” and “this doesn’t make sense,” while in fact it did and he MISSED the obvious. I nearly fell over laughing, and even worse when we went over his garbage. Thus, are they really qualified to judge you?

RISD 1955 everyone was required to take Freshman Foundation before their elective. Mine was Advertising Design. I learned more in freshman foundation that has always applied to my professional work as advertising designer. Didn’t have computers then, everything was done in an analog process!

Zebo needs to brush up on his grammar, it’s, “this IS an A+”.

…Tara did put a lot of emotion into it – that does show, you know…

5

Hmm. Tara’s “mixed-media” composition wins the prize. Not overly surprising… but it is more than a little annoying, given her disdainful attitude. Even though I have generally liked Tara as a character…. this week…. not so much.

I can see Zebo’s point though…. taken as a 3-D representation of the still life (of a gourd and wine bottle like in the other drawings), it is a more unique perspective on the subject (even though I doubt Tara really meant it as such).

If Zebo looks at Nil’s nostril drawing… I am hoping he also proclaims it as great art as well…. because the drawing could be thought of as a representation of Nil’s olfactory impression of the still life.

Now… if Zebo is “testing” Luann…. which I thought was going on this week (but I now admit seems much less likely now)…. perhaps Professor Zebo is waiting for Luann to either a) tell all about the development of Tara’s “mixed-media” piece, or b) pontificate about its inherent capture of the essence of the still life.

Haha love the signatures on the pieces! Of course there’s Greg, the cartoonist but the rest are signed Jeff (presumably Mallet, from Frazz), (Gary) Larson of The Far Side and (Bill) Watterson of Calvin and Hobbes

Seriously, did anyone NOT see this coming?

I could be misremembering but didn’t Luann once get an A from Zebo on a drawing that she just dashed off for fun and with very little thought?

Art certainly is subjective.

Again to quote the right phrase from a once-famous irate tennis star, “you cannot be serious!” That’s not art, that’s something a 3 year-old would make! (and believe me, any 3-year old would make a better design that that!) Cover it over in plaster and you have art! That he’s holding in his self-centered hands is fart! I give that a quarter a star (that is, a star with the upper left point only shining, the other 80% is empty!)

Just wait until he’s asked to do another art sample like that!

she (correction..for some reason I thought pyro made that)

I think there are lots “Tara’s” in the world, who seem to excel so effortlessly but there could be more than meets the eye here. She could just be modest about how hard she really works. Or she could just be that smart but is holding herself back out of fear that if she were to unleash her REAL potential, everyone would hate her. I think she is one of those people who is just really gifted and struggling to find her place in the world without pissing everyone off in the process.

LOL!! This brings back memories of art class back in high school. I can’t remember what exactly we were supposed to draw, but I got out a sheet of “scrap” paper and quickly drew a rough draft. Then I took another piece of paper and painstakingly drew the real picture. SIGH … the teacher came by and casually nodded at my real picture, and then gave my SCRATCH PAPER an A.

Tara is footloose and fancy-free… and that is probably why she does so well. Without any kind of stress to get in her way, she’s free to let her mind relax when it comes to her studies. No pressure!

I think we all saw the success of this piece coming.

NAILED IT!!!

Well, she put her feelings into it.

I’m hoping Zebo isn’t real dumb, and has a punchline for us

Zebo is a totally overdone piece of work and pretentious as heck…

Did anyone notice the signatures on the drawings? Is this a tribute?

Hah! Thought so!

Most people can create art that is good in a conventional sense but it is often boring—and plenty of people are good with that and that’s okay. But he had asked them to look beyond what was there (basically) and Tara depicted the still life in a really unconventional way that reflected her gut reaction and feelings. Could have just as easily failed (were this real life) but it worked. Not everybody’s thing but that’s okay too.

Am I the only one who noticed Mr. Evans’ bad still life sketch behind Luann? LOLOLLLOL

Did anyone notice the signatures on the sketches? “Jeff” (evidently Jeff Keane, if the dotted line is any indication), “Larson” (the bottle looks like it has a caricature of the prof’s face), and “Watterson”!

Now Tara may be able to sell her minimalist art and created without much effort in several thousand dollars. A pure sample of conceptual art.

Oh my good lord, is that actually Watterson art??!?!

I called it. Professor Pretentious can’t tell the difference between Art and Sarcasm.

I took Art all through high school and got "A"s and "B"s ..When I went to college on the GI bill I had lost it…(probably because “She” wasn’t there anymore… For finals we had to do four different types of work…Very poor on my part except for the water color which I found impossible to be good at…Out of desperation I found a picture slide of the house I “lived” in IN Japan …something “clicked” and I DID IT!….Got an “A” for the semester…

Tara

Well, it was spontaneous and made with an expression of her deep, inner feelings.

for the first time I am really disappointed in Zebo. He discusses and demonstrates drawing skills; but when students emulate and do a good job he doesn’t reward. This time his response is just a little too over the top. If he wants random pop art (if you can even call it that) he should say so.

Not rare these days: https://nypost.com/2013/05/15/43-8-million-for-this/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/jeff-koons-rabbit-breaks-auction-record-most-expensive-work-living-artist-180972219/

I have to stop expecting these middle school rocket scientists to ever reach “escape velocity” and make it into a world of mature behavior.

Ah, so he’s an avant gardist…

Well, it’s official: Teach is bangin’ Tara.

Art teachers generally understand that art is subjective and that they don’t grade, especially in non-artist level classes, based on artistic merit but rather on technical skills. Similar to an English class.

I am not at all surprised at Zebo’s grading. I’ve seen the like….

I’d love to see The Zeeb ask Tara to explain her piece d’ art.

Greg put his signature in the second panel, as well as copies of Gary Larson’s and Bill Watterson’s signatures. I don’t know whose the other signature is — who is JEFF?

Art is subjective and generally at a Community College level will be judged and graded by criteria explained in detail before hand.

While I get the Zebo hinted that he did not want a mechanical replication of the subject in it’s most realistic form one could argue that a photo-realistic drawing did indeed “Capture the Banality of Perceived reality” though Tara’s flippant response was certainly “exploring Uniqueness” it did not really hit any “deep essence”

That’s not to say it cannot be perceived as Art, but the general attitude in learning the arts is one needs to learn the rules before one breaks the rules. So if Tara did this with full effort I might see it more as “dada” … but most instructors I know would judge the effort (and require a paper or oral presentation in which you express your inspirations, why you did what you did, what techniques taught in class you used to achieve the work etc.

So I get what Greg is trying to do, I really do, but it comes off as a biased and flippant instructor with the whole giving a “C” to someone simply because they were able to make a photo-realistic drawing.