Having just completed giving
a very satisfying workshop in the middle of our vast country, some flashes of
inspiration came to mind. . . . .How does one choose the workshop they should
attend?
What will the instructor teach
me?
Am I in it to come home with a
painting just like the instructor, or am I there to learn and grow
artistically?
I believe that every
instructor is there to help anyone advance in their skills, but many have
difficulty articulating the essentials to making good art.
Of course, we cannot always
determine what the instructor intends to teach . . . . .and THAT is precisely
what my inspiration is about. To
communicate to you, the reader, what is taught in my workshops. Naturally, as a painter, you are looking for
the best possible experience for your money and your time. So, it is essential that this information is
available to you.
What happens in my
workshops? First off, I don’t
demonstrate until the last few hours of the last day. Oh!
You are surprised? What I do NOT
teach, is how to paint like me. Nor do
I teach technique.
Here is what happens . . . .
. . .and I will tell you straight: It
isn’t boring in the least. Moreover,
you will find this the most challenging, the most interesting, the most
informative workshop you have ever attended.
Here’s why:
Good art is not necessarily
about how well you render a subject.
What’s more, good art isn’t always about what subject you paint . . . or
what the instructor paints. Truly GOOD
ART comes from within you . . . . . from you intelligently assessing all of the
aspects that go into making a piece of art . . . . and making the art from your
heart .. . . . not from photographs . . . .at least, not very often.
That said, here is what you
will learn in my “Painting Beyond the Obvious” workshop: How to design a good painting of ANY
SUBJECT. Also, within that design, you
will learn exactly how to put mood or
emotion into your paintings. We do that
by doing a lot of learning about Line and Edges, Sizes, Proportion, Scale,
Directions, Shape and Form, Value, Texture and Color strategies. That is all in one week!
To sum it up, its all
about making a stunning Composition
of any subject . . . .portraits,
landscapes, figures, still life and, yes, even abstracts.
It is the very thing you have been searching for and have not known what
questions to ask or how to put your finger on what you need to know to make
extraordinary, good art.
And there is a very personal
side that is also addressed. You will
be fed with lots of information, yes.
You will also receive the sort of personal guidance and suggestions that
you would in a close mentor relationship with the instructor . . . . no matter
what your level of skill is.
In the ending hours of the
workshop, the class selects an emotional mood they want to see the instructor
paint. Then, as a group, we carefully
discuss and choose the aspects of the design and specifically how it should be
painted. The instructor then uses a
still life subject and executes the painting.
That preparation for the demo took all week to educate everyone about
the aspects and conditions of a sound composition and design and how to set an
emotional mood.
When you are trying to
determine if a workshop is good for you, don’t you think you should ask about
WHAT is being taught rather than what kind of pictures the instructor makes?
