Otis, OR 97368
541-994-5485
info@sitkacenter.org
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form
Painting Beyond the Subject
Workshop Overview
Come explore the fundamentals of creating dynamic artwork. Do you have an idea for a painting but don’t know how to start? Have you ever finished a painting and wondered why you started it? In this 4 day class, we will take a deep dive into:
o importance of composition and basic principles of designing the pictorial space
o exploring the diagonal
o value of tonal scale and light to dark ratios
o how to simplify and identify what is most important, and plan your approach.
How, what, and why we choose a subject with visual impact is the "secret sauce" for creating memorable paintings. With drawing exercises each day, we will learn the methods to analyze our work, set benchmarks that help us get unstuck and back on track.
We will discuss developing an artist-style. How an Artist Statement can be vital to moving your art to the next level. This will be a supportive and positive environment about creating successful art with no critique.
About the Instructor(s)
Helsaple is an expressive style watercolor artist from Sedona, AZ, teaches painting, composition, drawing and design. She has a BFA from San Francisco State University in printmaking and life science. Mary is an avid naturalist, birdwatcher, nature documentary filmmaker, recipient of Colorado Governor’s Award and is published in American Artist, Watercolor and Southwest Art magazines. Artwork is currently on tour in Environmental Impact II exhibit at the Robert Bateman Center, Victoria, Canada through June 2022.
Materials List: Students Bring
Note: The objective of this class is to experiment, design, and deconstruct dynamic images.
We will be working flat and in our sketchbooks on Day-one. Day two-four, we will scale things up to work in our preferred mediums. Suggest bringing watercolor blocks, pads, or canvas, boards no larger than 12 x 15. Further in the session table easels are available. No floor easels, please. Pastel travel sets are preferred with comparably sized paper or board surfaces. Bring artist tape and clips and boards as needed.
• 1 – 12 x 15 Spiral Sketchbook for drawing and thumbnails, ideas and notes.
• Ruler, Magic Rub Eraser kneaded eraser (Staples) Artist tape (optional)
Last 2-days work in any medium you are most comfortable with. Bring modest art supplies like for plein-aire. Watercolor is suggested but Pencil, Flow-Pens, Pastels, Charcoal, Conte, Acrylic, and Water-based (low-odor) oils will be considered OK.
Class exercise will require actual copies of magazine photos, photocopies of images that captivate, inspire, a painting or copies of paintings of art. We will discuss images, draw, cut, crop, alter and trace over these images with graphite and pens so working from your phone or iPad will not work for some of the class exercise sessions.
• 5-8 printed 8x10 photocopies of a subject, objects, people landscapes you have painted or wanted to paint.
• Print at least one or more of these in a black and white photocopied image (use greyscale on printer setting).
Materials List: Provided by Instructor(s)
• Architectural Tracing paper, Clear Mylar, Tape, Graphite Crayon, Watercolor pencils and small palettes for use in class as needed. Scratch-paper. Scissors
Workshop Overview
Come explore the fundamentals of creating dynamic artwork. Do you have an idea for a painting but don’t know how to start? Have you ever finished a painting and wondered why you started it? In this 4 day class, we will take a deep dive into:
o importance of composition and basic principles of designing the pictorial space
o exploring the diagonal
o value of tonal scale and light to dark ratios
o how to simplify and identify what is most important, and plan your approach.
How, what, and why we choose a subject with visual impact is the "secret sauce" for creating memorable paintings. With drawing exercises each day, we will learn the methods to analyze our work, set benchmarks that help us get unstuck and back on track.
We will discuss developing an artist-style. How an Artist Statement can be vital to moving your art to the next level. This will be a supportive and positive environment about creating successful art with no critique.
About the Instructor(s)
Helsaple is an expressive style watercolor artist from Sedona, AZ, teaches painting, composition, drawing and design. She has a BFA from San Francisco State University in printmaking and life science. Mary is an avid naturalist, birdwatcher, nature documentary filmmaker, recipient of Colorado Governor’s Award and is published in American Artist, Watercolor and Southwest Art magazines. Artwork is currently on tour in Environmental Impact II exhibit at the Robert Bateman Center, Victoria, Canada through June 2022.
Materials List: Students Bring
Note: The objective of this class is to experiment, design, and deconstruct dynamic images.
We will be working flat and in our sketchbooks on Day-one. Day two-four, we will scale things up to work in our preferred mediums. Suggest bringing watercolor blocks, pads, or canvas, boards no larger than 12 x 15. Further in the session table easels are available. No floor easels, please. Pastel travel sets are preferred with comparably sized paper or board surfaces. Bring artist tape and clips and boards as needed.
• 1 – 12 x 15 Spiral Sketchbook for drawing and thumbnails, ideas and notes.
• Ruler, Magic Rub Eraser kneaded eraser (Staples) Artist tape (optional)
Last 2-days work in any medium you are most comfortable with. Bring modest art supplies like for plein-aire. Watercolor is suggested but Pencil, Flow-Pens, Pastels, Charcoal, Conte, Acrylic, and Water-based (low-odor) oils will be considered OK.
Class exercise will require actual copies of magazine photos, photocopies of images that captivate, inspire, a painting or copies of paintings of art. We will discuss images, draw, cut, crop, alter and trace over these images with graphite and pens so working from your phone or iPad will not work for some of the class exercise sessions.
• 5-8 printed 8x10 photocopies of a subject, objects, people landscapes you have painted or wanted to paint.
• Print at least one or more of these in a black and white photocopied image (use greyscale on printer setting).
Materials List Provided by Instructor(s)
• Architectural Tracing paper, Clear Mylar, Tape, Graphite Crayon, Watercolor pencils and small palettes for use in class as needed. Scratch-paper. Scissors