Sunday, August 20, 2017

Fall Workshops

Some exciting news, my Fall 2017 classes have been posted! I'll be teaching in both in Ware, MA, with Workshop 13, and in Wethersfield CT with the Wethersfield Academy for the Arts. I'm very excited to have so many courses to offer, so read on to learn more about my classes!

Draw a Portrait in a Day

Learn how to create a convincing portrait from the live model. Broken down into an easy step-by-step process, this course will take you from a simple, accurate block-in, to a finished and refined portrait. Additional techniques for learning facial anatomy and capturing likeness will also be explored.   
(Suggested drawing for beginners, but oil painting also available in private lessons.)

1- Day workshop at Workshop 13 in Ware, MA: Saturdays, 9:00-4:00, Sept 23rd or Oct 21
Private: $35 an hour (includes model fee) In Springfield MA. Schedule: to be decided through inquiry

Basics of Drawing: Still Life in Charcoal


 Learn the basics of still life in this drawing course, suitable for beginners and any level of artistic training.  Beginner students will leave this course with a solid understanding of the basics of drawing, while advanced students will learn how to push the boundaries of their skills.  Over the course students will learn how to take their drawing from a simple block-in, to a finished drawing with a full value-scheme and realistic sense of form. The beginning of the course will focus on line drawing and accurate proportions, the middle will explore tone and it’s relation to mimicking the effects of light, and students will finish by perfecting their rendering technique to make their drawing look convincingly 3-D.  Each day will begin with a short exercise, designed to introduce students to all the essential drawing concepts in a memorable way. 
Group classes at Wethersfield Academy , in CT: Thursdays, 1:30 - 4:30, Sept. 7-Oct 12 
Group classes at Workshop 13 in Ware, MA: Tuesdays, 9-11 AM, Sept 12-Oct 3
Private: $25 an hour. In Springfield MA. Schedule: to be decided through inquiry

Drapery Drawing 

Learn how to draw one of the most beautiful and challenging subjects in the history of art, Drapery. Beginners will work from charcoal and chalk on toned paper, while advanced students have the option to paint. Each student will work with a complex arrangement of cloth, and learn how to simplify then develop their work to mimic folds of drapery.
Offered only at Wethersfield Academy, 6 week course, Thurs 9:30 - 12:30 Sept 7 - Oct 12 

Ecorche Drawing: Learning Artistic Anatomy 
The aim of this course is to learn artistic anatomy, for the purpose of enhancing the students' ability to draw people. Working from master drawings, students will draft the human figure, beginning with the skeleton and constructing the muscles on top in order of depth. The course is designed to increase students’ knowledge of the construction of the human form in an in-depth and memorable way. By the end of this course, students will have an understanding of standard human proportions, the construction of the skeleton, origins and insertions of individual muscles, and be able to recognize anatomical information on the live human form. The knowledge obtained through this course is useful both to artists who work from imagination and from life.

Available only through Wethersfield Academy, Thursdays, 9:30-12:30, Nov 9 - Dec 21
*Note, due to limited space on their website Wethersfield has not yet posted this class, but you can still send them an e-mail to reserve your spot!

Anatomy of the Portrait

This course will teach the construction of the human face in a method both thorough and memorable. Students will begin drafting an anatomically correct skull, onto which they will add facial muscles. Later we will explore how to apply this information to portraiture, especially with capturing facial expressions.  By the end of this course, students will have a thorough understanding of the proportions, planes, muscles, and overall construction of the human face.

Available only through Wethersfield Academy, Thursdays, 1:30-4:30, Nov 9 - Dec 21
*Note, due to limited space on their website Wethersfield has not yet posted this class, but you can still send them an e-mail to reserve your spot!

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Works on Display

Hello all, just wanted to quickly give you an update, long overdue, about some news I've just received. Five of my paintings will be on display in Vernon, CT, at Art Center East for their exhibit, People and Places. The show features over 70 works of various artists, and will run from July 27th til August 19th. Opening reception Sunday, July 23rd, 2pm-4pm. $5 suggested donation. More information on their website: here

Among my pieces will be my final school project, "Dawn". For the final project, students were instructed to paint a portrait involving hands. After discussion between me and my studio-mate, with whom I collaborated on the project, we decided to create a painting around the theme of dawn. 


Not at all an unknown theme in art history, we looked to great painters of the past whom we admire for inspiration on the subject. Among them were William-Adolphe Bouguereau, and Herbert James Draper, pictured below:


These are some examples of academic painting at its best. But, to take a slightly more original view on the theme, we also explored Pictorialist photography, where we got some ideas for costumes and props. I also liked the slightly quieter poses, contrasted with a more dramatic tonal composition:


After digging through the treasures at the antique markets around Florence, we settled on a golden-yellow headband, after the sun, and a gold plate, which reflects light back into the shadows around the face. Our model for Dawn is slowly lifting and offering this plate, standing against a dark background reminiscent of the sky at twilight, just before the sunrise.

And that's the story behind "Dawn", hope you enjoyed. Here is the final painting, as it was on display at my last solo show: