[QUOTE=OpalCat]
I got an A in the class 
The teacher said that my paintings are all too dark (not emotionally, but literally too dark). I explained to him that the aesthetic I’m interested in exploring right now is one of stark contrasts from small, isolated light sources. In other words, dark paintings with concentrated areas of light from one light source. If he wants to tell me that I did that poorly, fine. If he wants to tell me how much I did or did not succeed at what I set out to do, fine. But don’t give me a negative critique on my pants because they aren’t a skirt, you know? But whatever. I’m done with his class, I got an A, and I don’t need to take any more classes from him so I’m happy
[/QUOTE]
Is it possible that a lot of what you took as him saying he didn’t like your work was due to poor communication (on his part, not yours)? I say this because I had a few teachers who seemed to be terrified of ever saying “this is a great painting” or even “this is good.” I think the goal (for such teachers) is to push you to get better, and, especially if they see you as a beginner (which they will, since you’re in a lower-level class, they don’t care about your past portfolio). There can be a fetish for “making the student break out her bounds” or “look at painting in a new way.” This can be incredibly frustrating for someone who already has a clear vision of where they want to progress with their art.
Perhaps he even thought something like “Opal clearly knows how to paint already- she’s just trying to coast through my class without learning anything new” and that made him go on the offensive with you from the start. Now we (I’ve been following your threads since you started with this clown) can see that you really are moving forward and testing your limits, but he might have been oblivious.
Now, there are teachers who can pull off the “I’m never satisfied” thing and make you completely devoted -like my figure drawing teacher who kept making me work on my assignments more each week- I’d bring a drawing in for a crit, and she’d say- this shading is weak, the fingers don’t have bones, blah blah blah- take it back and work more, plus do this weeks homework- by the end of the semester I was reworking 4 or 5 drawings at a time and I thought I’d die and fail the class because she clearly hated me and my work. I ended up half-assing my final because I was leaving school anyhow, so I got a B, but then 3 years later I had another class with her and in our first crit she mentioned that I was one of her most determined students and she was glad to have me back! Because she knew how to interlard the criticism with support, I cite that figure drawing class as “when I really learned to draw.” I tell this stupid story not to pour salt in your “I have a sucky teacher” wounds, but to let you know what I think this guy may have been going for (and failing because he focussed on taste and content issues rather than technical ones)- he may have had a teacher like mine once and is trying, in a fumbling way, to give that to his students.
The fact that you got an A leads me to suspect that he knows you have talent and drive, and that the work you produced is top-notch, especially for an underclassman. The way that I dealt with my soul-killingly bad teachers was to try to take their inane suggestions seriously, at least on smaller projects and in-class work. My rational was thus: I’m not paying all this money and coming to class 6 hours a day so I can do my own thing. A BFA degree isn’t exactly a license to print money, and it certainly won’t be the thing that makes my art any good. If I knew exactly what I wanted to do and learn and create, I’d spend the moolah on a studio and materials, and just make work for 4 years. Since I’m not doing that, I should try to get input from as many people as I can, and do things that I wouldn’t have thought of on my own (even things I find stupid) so that I know what I don’t want to do, as well as what I do want to do. Obviously, YMMV. You do very labor-intensive paintings, whereas I generally work quickly and on paper, so I had a lot more ability to do “throwaway” projects in the name of learning. Also, this strategy only works if you also have teachers you respect who you can go to at the end of the day, so to speak, to get some good critique on your real work.
Anyway, I certainly like yours better than his.