“There you see the vanishing point! », exclaims Paul Masson, on the blackboard of the CM1 classroom in Garcelles-Secqueville, south of Caen (Calvados). In those days, when he gave the green light to reproduce Vincent Van Gogh’s poplar trees by hand, the students handled their pencils with care. “I am much more comfortable drawing than before,” smiles young Naël, a big fan, like his classmates, of their drawing teacher: Paul, 79 years old, volunteer teacher.
“An autodidactic enthusiast”
For twelve years, this former advertising and salesman has visited three Calvados schools (Clinchamps-sur-Orne, Bretteville-l’Orgueilleuse and Garcelles) to share his love of drawing. “When I retired, even though I was doing a lot of activities, I was afraid that boredom would set in. So I went to the headmaster in Clinchamps-sur-Orne. It started like that,” smiles the man who only describes himself as “an autodidactic enthusiast, which allowed me to instill that everyone is capable of drawing, with a little technical basis.”
This is exactly what Paul aims to do on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays for one to two hour sessions, sometimes a little longer if necessary. “Paul knows how to choose a theme that allows him to approach a technique,” says Sophie Richard, CM1 teacher. This Monday, “The Avenue of Poplars in Autumn”, by Vincent Van Gogh, to practice “lost perspective”, or how to reproduce depth.
“I wasn’t good at drawing at their age”
In a calm voice, Paul outlines the lines and vanishing points, showing you step by step, offering his tips. Each on their own sheet, students follow it and then discover pointillism, a painting technique based on dots. Cléa admits that she “learned a lot about colors thanks to Paul”. “For example, the sky is darker at the top and lighter at the bottom,” he explained. Nuances are already clearly visible in children’s watercolors. “I wasn’t very good at drawing at their age,” the volunteer teacher told us.
At 79 years old, Paul still keeps his motivation intact. “I like being active, giving. The children say it gives them technique. The technique is there, but some of it is still in my head,” he stressed. Plus his brushstrokes are anecdotes about his childhood, never boring, always accessible to today’s CM1. Poetry too. Inspired by the images of that day, Paul read verses that truly captivated his listeners, who asked for more! “When we told the children that Paul was coming, they were happy. For them, it was a reference to drawing, Sophie testified. They were happy when he told them his stories and poems. There was a comfortable atmosphere. »
“Children love it when he tells his stories and poems”
This class has studied drawing with Paul for four years. And the effect stands out like watercolor colors. Joy proudly took out a picture. “I went on holiday to the Gatteville lighthouse and drew it. When I create a landscape, I have better control.” This can be felt in the sketch. “Paul explained to us how to draw shoes based on how they rotate. Sometimes I look at photos of people to imagine what I could do,” says Robin.
Almost all of them bought themselves picture books, “which they were more willing to show us than their math books,” the teacher laughed. At times like these, there are no students struggling, no anxiety about a blank page.” One student’s mother spoke of “an extraordinary man, what he did with his children was extraordinary”. Paul also keeps his drawing book nearby. With all the contents, sketches and technical exercises, this stainless enthusiast has not finished sketching with approximately 500 of his students.
