FEELINGS: How do you feel when you look at the canvas and consider the process of painting? Is it possible for you to conceive of a way for that feeling to change and evolve? If so, how might you go about getting your feelings about the painting process to evolve … anywhere from slightly to radically different?

INTUITION: Just like I would never hand over a sewing machine to someone who has never sewn and say “follow your intuition and just sew,” I also think that guidance with paints and related materials is needed to get a person to feel comfortable with the painting process, before we engage our intuitions.

EVE of DAY 1 (June 27, 2019): Join hostesses Katy Larsen & Rhonda Hereford for an evening reception with delicious nibbles as we meet, greet, and get to know one another before diving into our wondrous painting experience. 

DAY 1 (June 28, 2019): On the first day, I will demonstrate and teach a maximalist approach numerous ways to help you manipulate and apply paint onto a canvas in a maximalist approach so that you can build up layers, causing the canvas to transition from a “young” canvas to a “mature” canvas. The first part of the class will move quickly on purpose, to get you to stop over-thinking and simply try the methods out quickly. Later in this first day, I will also demonstrate a minimalist approach of building up layers where less of the canvas is covered. For the rest of this day, as we start to digest the methods and as we potentially discover new ones together, we will rely more on our intuition as we each make decisions, solve problems, and wrestle with the resounding “what next?” when it comes to building layers on a canvas.

DAYS 2&3 (June 29-30, 2019): On the second and third days, we will embark on selecting one of our canvases from the first day to deliberately paint a subject using a photo reference. This reference can be a portrait, a figure, an animal, flowers, landscape … anything you want to paint, we can paint on top of a canvas in ways that will excite you and empower you as a painter. On these days, you may decide to take one of the other canvases to coax out stories or concepts that the canvas may be projecting out, through the marks that were made. As time allows, you may be able to do both.

TECHNIQUES

• Overview of tools and materials with principles of best practices in terms of handling paints and caring for tools
• Warm-up exercises to get our mindsets into new ways of thinking and seeing and feeling
• Demonstration and teaching of how to build layers of paint on a blank canvas using 15+ methods
• Discussion of concepts drawn from literature that have applications on how to overcome creative barriers during the creative process
• Discussion of lifelong journey involving how to make the art we make our own by reaching deep into who we are and allowing who we are to be expressed on our canvases
• Principles of solving problems and deciding when a work is finished or finished for the time being
• How to look at and discover concepts that the canvas communicates and how to coax such concepts out into distinctive imagery
• How to apply representational concepts onto the canvas by working with references and quiet the background, and when appropriate, to add shadows for still life-inspired images

SKILL LEVEL: All

MEDIUM: Acrylic paint on stretched canvas

STUDENT SUPPLY LIST

• 2-3 stretched canvases: 18x24 inches is a good size or something close to that size
• Fluid Acrylic paints by Golden:
  • Titanium White
  • Carbon Black
  • Titan Buff
  • Raw Umber
  • Ultramarine Blue
  • Cadmium Red (or pyrrole red)
  • Diarylide Yellow
  • OPTIONAL: Naples Yellow, Prussian Blue, Green Gold, Teal, Phthalo Green, Fluorescent Pink (heavy body)
• Heavy Body acrylics by Holbein
  • Jaune Brilliant
  • Aqua blue
• Acrylic inks: Golden High Flow acrylics in black and white
• Fineline precision applicators (gauge 20)
• Derwent inktense pencil (in ink black)
• Palette knife
• SUBJECTS: Reference photos of subjects to that you’d like to paint on the second day stored on your smart phone or tablet (like an iPad), devises fully charged. If you have an old family photo, take a photo of that photo and store it onto your devise. Photos with high contrast (lights and darks) is recommended. If you don’t have a photo, I will have many photo references that you can use.
• PAINTBRUSHES: I use short flat brushes. They are also called “brights.” Do not bring long flats, which look like short flat/brights. I recommend either the Dick Blick Scholastic OR Robert Simmons Titanium, both available on dickblick.com.
  • Blick Scholastic Wonder White Brushes (long blue handles)
    • One size 12
    • One size 20

OR

• Robert Simmons Titanium (long silver handles)
  • One size 4
  • One size 12
• EASEL: If you have a collapsible table easel (aluminum or wood) please bring it. If you don’t have an easel, bring a large roll of paper towels.
• MISC: Paper towels, baby wipes, apron, container for water

KIT FEE: If you bring paints as recommended and use your own paints, there is no kit fee. If you bring paints but don’t bring the ones I recommend and you end up using my paints, the fee will be $15 (to be paid to the instructor by cash or check at time of class).

LOCATION: The workshop will take place at one of the art studio spaces within The Agora Borealis: a vibrant art center located in Shreveport, Louisiana.

SCHEDULE: Each day, the workshop will begin at 9:30AM and end at 4:30PM, with a lunch break from noon to 1:30PM. Details regarding the reception on June 27th will be emailed to each enrolled participant by the hostesses, along with details regarding the location.

IMPORTANT: Due to limited class size, the spot for this class is transferable but payment is non-refundable. Please read about this policy in our Studio Policies.