Kim English Workshop

In February I attended a Kim English workshop at the Easton Studio and School in Maryland.  I love Kim's paintings and would love to do more paintings with people in an environment.  Kim had us practice painting the figures over and over again, wiping them out after each painting.  He started us out with 5 minute poses and eventually we had some 20 minute poses. It was a good experience.  Kim did several demos in class, but after the class he sent us some pictures of a step-by-step demo.  Steps 1 and 2 were about 5-7 minutes each.  Steps 3 and 4 were about 20 minutes each and Step 5 was about an hour.   

Kim English Step 1

Kim English Step 2

                                                             

Kim English Step 3

Kim English Step 4

Kim English Step 5

                                                   

Sherrie McGraw Workshop

I attended the 5 day Sherrie McGraw workshop sponsered by the Council for the Arts of Herndon. It was held in Herndon at the Coomber School of Music which is this great old building space attached to a Barn. Sherrie did demos for figure and still life and students in the class could choose to work on either or both. I choose to work on figure the whole week. Sherrie is a good teacher. She took the time to talk to each one of us individually and worked with us on the things that were important to us. I was working on giving more space around the figure so it draws the viewer into the scene instead of my usual close-up view. I was also using Sherrie's palette of colors and the medium Maroger to see how it felt. I like using Maroger but I can't really use it in my studio at home or at open-life classes at the Art League because of it's strong smell.

At the end of the week there was a reception and Sherrie gave a slide show talk about the progress of her career throuhout the years. It was a great week.

In September I attended a Carolyn Anderson workshop in Easton, Maryland. It was held at the Easton Studio and School through the South Street Art Gallery. Carolyn gave several demos throughout the class and of course made it look so easy. This was a good class for me because I have been trying to loosen up and be more painterly. Carolyn said that we need to change our mentality so that instead of painting a painting of a model, we should use the model to create a painting. (Photo is one of Carolyn's demos)

At the end of February I attended Jeremy Lipking's workshop at the Scottsdale Art School. It was an excellent experience for many reasons. The workshop itself was great because Jeremy paints differently than any teacher I've ever had and I learned so much from watching him. The students in the class were also top-notch. A few had work in the local galleries so I was able to walk over after class to see their paintings and several students were also teachers. The school itself is in the heart of Old Town Scottsdale with many restaurants, shops, galleries and hotels. The weather was perfect so I could walk around at lunch and after class. It felt good to get away from winter for a while.

Rob Liberace took his classes (I'm in his painting class) to the National Gallery to see some drawings that he selected from their collection. We went up to the Prints and Drawings room to view them up close. What a treat to see them up close with no glass.

In the afternoon some of us got to go with Rob through the conservation rooms. Kristen gave us a tour. This is a picture of an Edouard Manet painting that they just cleaned laying on a large table. Now they are trying to figure out Manet's process and the models, etc. They think that the man on the right with the top hat was inserted later and is the same figure he used in the painting The Absinthe Drinker. Someone told us that the painting on the table was in Manet's studio when he died and his widow wanted to sell it. A potential buyer came and wanted to know if he could buy just the two young boys in the middle for a reduced price!