Recently at Atelier Artista

The start of the school year has me incredibly busy. I haven't forgotten about you dear readers of my blog. I have been drawing, painting, cleaning and teaching everyday as well. everyday. No days off, no rest for the wicked. Unless of course the wicked gets sick, which happened last weekend during Thanksgiving so that was my break, in bed then volunteering at the QAS Log drivers Waltz.  Heres a peek into a bit of what I've got going on.

At my last figure sessions I first did a painting I didn't like so I scraped it down, the following week I decided I was better off studying the form through darks and lights rather than sticky colour. Heres a few of the steps in drawing Neema last session on Wednesday night.

My classes are running every day of the week at Atelier Artista (atelierartista.com) Its not too late to join in if you'd like to take the remaining classes until the holidays let me know and come on down.

On Tuesday afternoons I have Colour in Theory and Practice. We finished values, temperature and colour mixing and are now venturing into understanding and using colour harmonies. 

On Wednesdays we do portrait drawing and painting and have begun the first stages of blocking in our self portraits.

Its all about the light and dark and beginning with a good likeness. Next comes colour and form enhancements.

On Thursdays We have classical drawing in the morning and are currently studying some of Bargues method.

In the afternoon on Thursdays, I give a lecture and demo in my "painting secrets of the masters" class.

On Fridays we study Anatomy and more in Full figure.  Ive worked out some theories on how to be both effective and efficient. After this class,  I head on up to Waldorf to teach teens. On the week-ends I have two classes at ACAD and on Sundays I often have samplers at Swintons. 

But wait.......there is more.... there is always more...

so keep your eyes on the prize  =:D

Another "sampler", this time in oil

I prefer oil, and in this sampler I really let my knowledge shine. Its a far tougher medium, because so much history goes along with its use, but its rich creamy texture make is so worth the effort. This sampler went great as you can see below.......with so little time sample the medium for the first time.

Im refining my explanation with these whiteboard notes to accompany my handouts.

These samplers at Swinton's sell out quickly so sign up today on their website if you want to get in the next one!

Going B-A-N-A-N-A-S ! ! !

Meanwhile........
(while I build up my studio/Atelier Artista I am preparing for a solo show at the New Edward Gallery)
...........and I'm going

B-A-N-A-N-A-S ! ! !

Here is a visual breakdown of all the steps.

Samplers at Swintons

It is the first Sampler of the new year at Swinton's  and what a fun one.
This one was Acrylic and next weeks sold out one is on oils.

I moved from Studio 2 into the big studio and was super early to set up everything, so I feel I did my best one yet. Below are a few pics I managed to snap during the acrylic sampler.

If you'd like to try a sampler with me go to Swintons website and sign up!

A world of colour

Things are getting exciting in my colour theory class for painters. We began working with different colour schemes/harmonies such as monochromatic, analogous and complementary. The students mixed the colours they needed on their palettes then applied them to their various compositions.

Some really gorgeous colours are being developed and some nice colour work is being done on their test panels. I love colour and all the things that can be done with it.  Also I thought I'd mention I have a new video episode up on my Youtube channel, check out the colours from my trip to Japan and hear about the harmony and balance of the aesthetic I saw throughout my trip.

Tonight, I'm uploading the final episode (as it relates to my trip to Japan) so stay tuned for Episode 17 "Composition" where I show some of the Hiroshige prints I saw at the Suntory Art Museum in Tokyo.

Colour, who doesn't love it?!

As creative people artists are really drawn to colour. Candy  for your eyes.

I am teaching Colour Theory for Painters at ACAD this semester and it is really shaping up to be a great class.  It is so much fun, it seems like class time just disappears in the blink of an eye. Here is a peek as to what we have been up to in the past few classes, seeing all this colour may interest you, maybe this is a class you'll be interested in learning colour theory and taking this class with me in the future.

The glorious colour wheel. I assigned students a very limited palette in which to create the secondary and tertiary colours with.

Others opted for a different challenge and worked with warm and cool variations of each hue.

Or blending with transparency to create something that reminds me of the "spinning wheel of death" on my mac laptop.

The majority of work, insofar, is done on the palette and the notes are what are transferred in these swatches and diagrams.

I like how each students work space looks, the variation in tools and scattering of materials.

My demo area is just as chaotic. I do bag my oils in separate zip top bags per colour, but when its time to get creative, we all know, order goes out the window in the chaos of passion :D