June & July 2011 Classes REVISED SCHEDULE

There's no class this week. I hope those of you who are local will attend the IAPS convention! I'll be at The Pastel Journal booth on Friday and Saturday, as well as demonstrating PanPastels at their booth. Drop by and say hello.

Because of conflicting room availability at the church where I hold classes, I've had to revise our class schedule. Below is the new plan. I certainly hope you'll join me! Please contact me now to reserve your space.

June 9--Paint the Summer Sky and Clouds  
Our summertime skies are spectacular, with layers of beautiful clouds, summer thunderstorms, and beautiful virga falling. We'll discuss how to paint various kinds of clouds, looking at the structure, color, contrasts and 'rules' of clouds in the daytime summer sky. Any medium is welcome. (At Paradise Methodist Church, 11:30- 2:30.)  

June 16—Gouache Basics  
Gouache is opaque watercolor and has all the positive characteristics of watercolor and pastel. Like pastel, you can work from the darks and add the light colors over the top, as well as correcting as many times as you need to, and as in watercolor you can work wet into wet, use washes and various other techniques. I'll teach the basics at this small class. We'll work from photograph, share the same color paints, play around with different brushes, and just find out what this fun and versatile medium can do. I'll provide two different kinds of paper, and the paint and brushes for an extra cost of $10, or you may bring your own. You'll need a small palette of some kind, such as a white dish or plate, or a plastic watercolor palette, and a small jar for water. This class is limited to five students. Reservation required. (At my home in Taylor Ranch 11:30- 2:30, bring a sack lunch.)

June 23—How to use Photoshop for Paintings
I'll show you how I use Photoshop to prepare photographs to use for paintings. I use Photoshop Elements 2.0, but the tools I utilize are commonly available in Photoshop, no matter the version, so you should be able to adapt what I do. The space available at my computer is quite small, so we're limited to only five students. Reservation required. (* At my home in Taylor Ranch 11:30- 2:30, bring a sack lunch.)
FULL

June 30—Paint the Night Sky 
We'll explore painting the landscape at night, with a closer look at the night sky. I'll challenge you to cobble together two or more photos to create a nighttime landscape with a dramatic sky, perhaps including clouds, the moon or stars. Any medium is welcome. (At Paradise Methodist Church, 11:30- 2:30.)

July 14—How to use Photoshop for Paintings 
I'll show you how I use Photoshop to prepare photographs to use for paintings. I use Photoshop Elements 2.0, but the tools I utilize are commonly available in Photoshop, no matter the version, so you should be able to adapt what I do. The space available at my computer is quite small, so we're limited to only five students. Reservation required. (* At my home in Taylor Ranch 11:30- 2:30, bring a sack lunch.)
FULL

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Class Policies

The cost is $25.00 per class, payable at the door. I greatly appreciate it if you contact me to let me know you're coming. Occasionally, if the class is quite small, the location may be changed.

May 26--Final Critique and Class Potluck

You're invited to our final critique and class potluck. This will mark the end of our current session, so come ready to show your work from class and anything else you want to share with us. We'll have our usual class potluck brunch, too. Bring along a dish to share. We always have such interesting food! 

First, let's talk about what, in my opinion, a critique is meant to be. It's not necessarily a detailed analysis of each painting done one at a time, although in some instances that may come about. Instead, I prefer it to look at a body of work. This gives us a chance to see the progression of ideas through several paintings, noting things you're obviously enjoying and doing well, as well as the spots that have challenged you and may need more attention. This is why it's unwise to bring only the paintings you deem successful or finished--sometimes there are gems of information in those pieces that make us squirm. I see my role as supportive, helping you to grow and move on in your pursuits, whether you're a professional or amateur painter. Even two or three paintings will reveal a lot, although more are welcome and definitely reveal even more about your art journey. Don't hesitate to bring along work I've seen, and even pieces that have been viewed in previous critiques, framed or unframed, if you believe they will help illustrate your progress as a whole. 

What you won't get at one of my critiques is criticism. By that I mean no one is there to pass severe judgment or find fault with your work, disparage or denigrate what you're doing! I look at a critique as an opportunity to help you find the "point of friction." That's the place where, as you let the clutch out the gears engage and the vehicle moves forward. Finding this place takes a critic that you trust, someone you know has your success in mind and wants you to move forward, but understands that this can be complex and requires an artful touch. I don't want to grind the gears or fail to get you into gear, if you understand the metaphor.  

It's easiest if your paintings are ready to lean against the wall, already taped on a board so that you don't have to laboriously remove a lot of packaging or tape them up to view. We've found the Clearbags are great for transporting artwork, and wonderful to view paintings you're holding in your own hands, but not that great for the critique because of the reflections.

I think it's a good idea to spend some time thinking back over this session, as you prepare your paintings, to analyze which classes seemed to inspire you most and why.  This session has been so fractured by various intervening events (the classroom not being available, my son's wedding, etc.) that it's hard to recall what we did back in March, so here are the topics we studied:

1. Rocks Under Water
2. Stylized Negative Trees
3. Jigsaw Painting
4. Ten Minute Challenge
5. Be Inspired by: David Lloyd (interiors)
6. Seascapes
7. Mapping Movement
8. Memory Painting

Of course, you can review the classes here on the blog by simply going backwards. Please feel free to bring anything you would like to have considered as part of the critique, in any medium.

So please come prepared to share some food and talk (AND see some of my art from 11:00-12:00, while we eat). Then we'll take time to look at one another's paintings. I'll be your critic, not the class as a whole, and each one of you will have time to show your own work. The cost is just $25, payable at the door, however please let me know if you plan to attend. Thanks. 

See you on Thursday,
Deborah

June Classes Offered

I'm offering four classes this June, all on Thursdays at the usual time, 11:30-2:30. The first two will be in my home, and the second two back at the classroom at Paradise Methodist. The charge is only $25.00 at the door. Reservations are required for the first two, as space is limited.


June 9--Paint the Summer Sky and Clouds 
(at Paradise Methodist Church)

Our summertime skies are spectacular, with layers of beautiful clouds, summer thunderstorms, and beautiful virga falling. We'll discuss how to paint various kinds of clouds, looking at the structure, color, contrasts and 'rules' of clouds in the daytime summer sky. Any medium is welcome.





June 16--Gouache Basics
(*in my home)

'Fall Reds', gouache

Gouache is opaque watercolor and has all the positive characteristics of watercolor and pastel. Like pastel, you can work from the darks and add the light colors over the top, as well as correcting as many times as you need to, and as in watercolor you can work wet into wet, use washes and various other techniques. I'll teach the basics at this small class. We'll work from photograph, share the same color paints, play around with different brushes, and just find out what this fun and versatile medium can do. I'll provide two different kinds of paper, and the paint and brushes for an extra cost of $10, or you may bring your own. You'll need a small palette of some kind, such as a white dish or plate, or a plastic watercolor palette, and a small jar for water.

This class is limited to five students, on a first come basis, so please reserve now if you want to take part.
Please let me know if you want to see another class like this one offered and I will form another session when we have enough participation.

June 23--How to use Photoshop for Paintings
(* in my home)

I'll show you how I use Photoshop to prepare photographs to use for paintings. I use Photoshop Elements 2.0, but the tools I utilize are commonly available in Photoshop, no matter the version, so you should be able to adapt what I do.

The space available at my computer is quite small, so we're limited to only four students

FULL--if you want to sign up for another class like this one, please let me know. As soon as there are four who want to sign up I'll organize the day and time.

 
June 30--Paint the Night Sky
(at Paradise Methodist Church)

We'll explore painting the landscape at night, with a closer look at the night sky. I'll challenge you to cobble together two or more photos to create a nighttime landscape with a dramatic sky, perhaps including clouds, the moon or stars.

Memory Painting class results

We had an intimate class...but fun and productive! I think this class is most helpful in showing you how much you rely on the photo or not. That alone can be so instructive. We talked about how the "bones" of a painting appeal most to artists, while the "skin" seems to matter more to the viewer.

I used this photo for my demo.

I spent some time looking at it and deciding where the major shapes resided, using my hand to 'paint' it. For instance, the large cloud shape along the left-hand edge stops about 2/3 of the way up, where the right-hand cloud is approximately half way. Each mass extends beyond the middle halfway mark, so they can each be described by circles that overlap slightly.

After gazing at the photo for a few minutes and analyzing it well, I put it behind me on a desk (where I couldn't cheat and sort of 'see' it--that's just too tempting!) I painted one pass over the paper to record the memorized shapes and colors and arrived at this:

It's painted using PanPastels on a piece of yellow Pastelmat paper, giving it a lovely soft focus, slightly blended look. I felt the colors were creeping into the sunset hour, so I pushed it that direction, adding a hint of color to the sky suggesting the setting sun is off to the right. This came about as I painted, not as a result of the photograph. I checked the details more as I progressed, to find the various cloud shapes when needed, but freed myself to make a painting out of it that contained my own ideas.

I hope you'll enjoy using this technique yourself.

Have fun, gang!
Deborah

Class 8--May 19 - Memory Painting

Nighttime City, 18" x  24, pastel

How's your memory? They say if you exercise it, it grows stronger and more acute. Do a crossword puzzle or Sudoku every day and your memory stays sharp. 

How about your visual memory? Are you relying too much on the photograph as a visual guide? There's nothing wrong with panting from a picture, but you have more stored in your visual memory banks than you believe. I created 9/10 of the painting at the top of this blog, Nighttime City, using only my visual memory. It's very freeing and fun to do!

Bring a photograph of any subject you want to paint (8x10" or larger suggested.) Compose it well, so that you really like what's showing. We'll paint with the photo taped to the wall or easel across the room, working as we walk back and forth from the photo to the paper. Any size or kind of paper is fine, but I think you'll find it much easier to use the same format paper as your photo (i.e. a long rectangular photo on long rectangular paper, or a square photo on square paper), and if you feel the need to simplify even more you might make the photo and your paper the same size, as well.

This exercise is a good test of how long and how accurately you can remember a visual image, but it's also a way to strengthen your reliance on what you already know. You'll use skills you've already honed to make an effective painting. I think you'll find the painting you do this way will be simpler, using beautifully distilled shapes that effectively represent what you see. It frees you to enjoy making the photograph into your own rendition of the painting, not slavishly copying it because "that's how it looks."  

We'll do this exercise and then paint for the remainder of the class. Next week is our final critique, so you might want to finish up a painting or two. 


See you on Thursday!
Deborah

Mapping Movement class results

I find sometimes the simplest things inspire us to see differently. When I discovered how to track movement in my paintings I started thinking of composition with a slightly new twist. I decided to find where my eye landed first in a painting, in order to determine the area of greatest interest. Using a simple experiment that I tested with my students' observations, I began to realize that there are no hard and fast absolutes but generally most of us tend to look at the same compelling elements first. In a painting with good, strong 'bones' the direction and speed of the movement is fairly predictable.

Movement is the energy of a painting, the motivating factor in shifting the viewer’s eye from place to place. We tend to repeat movements that please us. Think about the successful paintings you’ve completed already and determine whether you can find connecting threads of movement, or put up a little show for yourself and identify the kind of movement you use most often. For instance, you may be inclined to use a centered and circular motif in your still life compositions. Perhaps you use strong zigzagging diagonals in your figures, or calm horizontal movement in your landscapes. Knowing your habits will allow you to either use this inclination to its best advantage, strengthening what's already working, or encourage you to try new things

Put the painting under consideration in good light and try this experiment: First cleanse your memory of the image, perhaps by gazing at your palm. Resolve that when you look at the painting you'll identify where your eyes go immediately. You want to find that spot where you can't help but look inside of the first three seconds. Do the experiment two or three times, gazing at your palm first, and see if you keep looking at that one place. I know it's impossible to forget the image in reality, but that's okay. Just repeat this a few times and see what happens.

Now analyze why. What is so compellingly interesting in that area? By the way, don't assume you know where your eye goes. Do the experiment and actually look. There's no right or wrong answer, but it will teach you things.

Once you have a good idea of that starting place, the Center of Interest (COI), repeat the experiment and identify what direction your eye moves next. From the COI, do you look right, left, up, down or at a diagonal? Again, do it a few times. Start to track the movement your eye makes through the painting.

Establish a couple of things. Where does your eye slow down and linger? Where does it slip quickly along, without spending too much time looking? What's the difference? Is there a spot where it stops completely? Is that where you want your viewer to stop?

Ask a couple of other people to do the experiment, too, and see if they have similar responses to yours.

Generally you'll find that there are some compellingly interesting elements that will draw your eye no matter what. First, faces. We're wired to examine faces, so expect your viewer to look there. Cars and other vehicles, which have front 'faces', also draw the eye, but not as forcefully. Compositionally, high value contrast grabs attention. Wherever the darkest dark and lightest light come into proximity your eye is almost sure to go. That is, unless there's a spot or area of brilliant color, a contrasting shape (one triangle amid circles), one sharp edge or line, or a singularly detailed area. If all of these are present and developed to the same degree the eye will bounce around crazily instead of moving on a well designed path. 

Want to play? Examine this painting. Do the experiment above, identifying where your eye goes first, what directions it moves, where it slows down and where it speeds up. Don't just look at it and make assumptions. You might find some interesting things doing the experiment.  

Okay, let me share the journey my eye made in this simple image.Yours may be very different from mine. Or not. 

The white highlight is unavoidably the COI. From there my eye travels up to the smaller highlight, over to the stem, down it and across the shadow to the left. Then it does a little slow figure 8 around the colors there, up around and over to the edge.  The long arrows are quick movements, down to the shadow across it, where the soft shadows slow it down again, making a zigzag path up and around and back down again. Those short, zigzag arrows are slower areas. The flat top edge finally draws my eye up, where I may begin the journey again.

Here are some other paintings you can analyze.

Roads or pathways of any kind draw the eye to the apex and unless there's another spot that has more interest, the journey might end there. The shapes, values and colors in the sky most likely draw the eye in this painting. The overall triangle of trees in the foreground is like an arrow pointing to the apex of the road, too. Lines like the ones on the highway can also be very compelling to the eye, unless controlled by value, as in this case.

Edges, colors and contrasting values play very important roles in the movement in this composition. 

Did I mention this isn't science? You might take a look at James Gurney's blog to see several much more sophisticated approaches to the idea of tracking eye movements, if you want real science. Mine is a technique meant to get your gray matter thinking about the elements of art and how they work to move the eye. I believe there's value to practicing this little experiment, because in time you'll be able to spot trouble areas. 

You may realize that your eye slowed down where you didn't want your viewer gazing that long. Better soften the details, perhaps along the foreground rail. Or you might notice that the COI is competing with another spot too much. Better clarify the value contrast, tighten an edge, heighten color--or vice-versa, in the competing area. 

My students seemed to enjoy playing with this technique and remarked that there's more than one way to analyze composition.

Bingo!

Keep going, gang!

Deborah

Class 7— May 5 – Mapping Movement

'Cool Morning Walk', 17" x 11", pastel

Have you ever taken the time to analyze movement in your paintings? It's a fascinating study and one that will help you think about composition. I'll show you a simple but effective way to find and track the movement of the eye, which may not be an exact science but will aid you in making decisions about what to include or take out of your paintings. 

We’ll take some time to track the direction the eye goes from start to finish through different paintings. Please bring one or more of your own paintings with you to share so we can all practice finding the movement in various pieces. I’ll discuss the importance of controlling movement with shapes, contrast, color, edges, etc. 

Please bring your seascapes to share with us, as well. I'm curious to know how you enjoyed the class, and what you would like to see added to it.

Come prepared to paint whatever you're working on currently, under my supervision, for the remainder of the class. Next week will be out final critique so you might want to finish up a painting in progress. 

See you on Thursday!
Deborah