Clarke, Jefferson  

I was frustrated with Professor Clarke at first because it was so damned hard to get ahold of him! To say that he's disorganized is an understatement... but that doesn't change the fact that overall, he is a very good teacher. He's obviously talented and passionate about art, and he does everything he should be doing in a beginning art course like this. I've had some art professors who simply gave out our assignments and then pretty much left us to do whatever (some didn't even bother to stay in the classroom), but I got the feeling that professor Clarke genuinely cared about how each student was progressing. He made his rounds every day and made sure he talked to every single student individually, and his advice and suggestions were always helpful. I am sure that my drawing skills have improved thanks to taking his class.

Jefferson does cut class often but, we can\'t ignore the fact how understanding and actually helpful he is. I mean his labs and lectures when they happened were extremely informative and he critiqued each individual to better themselves. He really is understanding and when I had problems showing up to class myself, he went out of his way to give me the rundown of my missed lectures and labs. We also cannot ignore the fact that he is extremely talented.

He did cancel class multiple times when I took him last spring(2009). I felt like each occasion was ripping away a chance at some really excellent instruction. I had never drawn before entering the class, but the man taught me not only how to draw, but how to see. I made definite progress through each drawing I attempted in the course, and my final result was shockingly good. This class made me feel humble, intelligent, and ultimately accomplished. Recommended for people who would like to see if they can draw.

A pretty easy class if you do the work, but still had the feeling that I learned a lot. Very enjoyable if you like learning about different art techniques and spending a lot of time drawing.

Clarke is a really chill art prof. If you have a choice between him and other art 101 profs definitely pick Clarke because he's like 10xs more chill than the other profs who will assign hw and make you take quizzes and exams that are overly detailed and full of bullshit you don't care about anyways. Just make sure to not miss class because I think he grades on attendance, and most of your grade composes of the drawing projects you work on in class too. He plays music in class, but it gets really repetitive so bring your own music to listen to. He kind of has a big ego and can be a prick sometimes, so expect that, but just get through it and this class is an easy ge!

Plays the same 3 songs over and over again the entire quarter

Prof Clarke is a super chill human being. I believe he's also a teacher at the local high school, so he's an incredibly busy person but that's totally valid if you ask me. When he's in class, he walks around trying his best to help everyone out. He demonstrates the techniques you need to know to draw. Only thing you need to do to get an A in this class is show up and do your best. He's a good guy, is super caring and passionate about the subject, and is a good professor for this class.

One day he came into class and announced, "Hey guys watch this!" as he proceeded to pull down his pants and take a gigantic shit on the floor.

Cool guy! Matt’s a little beyatch!

No I’m not!!

Ive had better I’ve had worse. Clark is middle of the road. Class was fun, learned a lot. I’d air him again if he taught a different class.

I feel like he was a little disorganized.. Sometimes he didn't show up to class. There were projects due weeks later and other due in the same week. However, I enjoyed going to his class and he gives great one-on-one attention. We'd shoot pictures outside of class, come in to edit them and he'd go around and help us out. If we were done early, we could just leave.

This class is a ton of fun as you would expect from photography. I will say that it does take a lot more time than you think. All of the photos are taken outside of class so you have to take time when youre not in class to take photos. Its not hard to do this, but to take a lot of photos you need a few hours and some different locations/subjects depending on the project. Jefferson is the dog. He helps a ton and will help you edit any photos. Photography is weird because if you have never used photoshop then you have no idea how to edit or what a good natural edit looks like. He understands that editing is more artistic than it is a formula. If you create an artistic style with your editing he understands that because he is a photographer. He does have a preference on edits that are similar to him but its not hard to meet that. Often I edited my photos to his liking and I loved them, but he teaches so much about photoshop that you are able to edit them to whatever you want and how you like. I took a ton of photos outside of class projects out of the photos for myself and used what he taught me and the photos are great for someone who just started using editing software. This class gives you amazing skills with a camera no matter what you know before and its a ton of fun and a very relieving GE. Jefferson is great, but I also can't imagine that it is much different with another professor.

Jefferson is incredibly disorganized, and DOES NOT SHOW UP TO CLASS. He may seem like a chill guy when you first meet him, but he's incredibly unprepared and simply not fit to teach. I learned more with online tutorials than with him teaching. Our final project was to create this book for our photos. He did not provide any handouts. He demonstrated the entire process (which is incredibly complex and takes HOURS) once. Note that this book was due a week after it was assigned. Not to mention how incredibly EXPENSIVE MAKING THAT BOOK WAS. This is Photomanipulation. This is not the bookmaking class. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

Awesome teacher. More prints due than most other teachers. Very fair, lots of lab time, doesn't like lecturing, although the lectures were good. No reason to not get a perfect on the midterm, super simple projects and lots of good feedback in lab.

Jefferson never shows up for class, which is nice cause then you can leave, but it gets old when you show up and find out that class is cancelled. He's a decent teacher, but he's kind of a pompous ass who thinks he's the shit. This class is pretty easy though, so I would recommend it if you don't mind dealing with his ego.

I took 221 last year with Professor clarke and just wanted to comment...I went to class all the time and yep he canceled some classes, but what the last guy fails to tell you is that he was sick and in the hospital or something for like 2 months. As far as the class goes, it was really fun, and I learned alot. Just wish more photoshop was incorporated into it.

Jefferson is one of the laziest teachers I have encountered at Cal Poly. This is my third time having him as a teacher, and his pattern of canceling class continues. I feel like he is getting paid the same salary as other hard working professors in the Art and Design lab, but he is getting away with only doing about 2/3 of the work. Jefferson was constantly canceling class because he was \"sick.\" It was extremely annoying because you would expect to go to class and have a critique on a project, but then we would receive an email saying \"Class was canceled\" and he would still expect you to go to class and utilize lab time to develop film. Trust me, I enjoy a canceled class here and there. But Jefferson takes canceling class to a new level. Sometimes we would go a week and a half without seeing him. If your taking this class as a graphic design major to fulfill the graduation requirement, it\'s pretty easy. If you\'re a photo major and really want to LEARN something and get the most out of your Cal Poly tuition, don\'t take him. Maybe he really does have health issues and gets sick all the time? Or maybe he should just invest in some hand sanitizer.

During this entire quarter all I could think about was how this professor reminded me of that small little dog that runs through the back of scene 23 in The Incredibles by Pixar. Seriously, if you look it up you will only be able to see it...