Your pre-class homework is simple (not easy, but simple). I am really interested in where you guys want to go with art/painting. There are a few lucky people I have met that can say "I just wanna paint like Sargent" (or whoever). If you're like me it's much more complicated than that.
So, your assignment is to answer this for me:
What do you want to paint like?
You can answer in words or pictures or whatever combination you like.