This was the final demo in my online figurative workshop: “The Family Album 2” at The Winslow Art Center.
I loved teaching this workshop because of the incredibly-wide array of work that the group produced. It was as much a creativity workshop as a figurative one and, boy, did the participants ever get creative!
This demo was about adding pattern to a figurative work. I didn’t have enough time to add even more pattern, but I like what the dots in the mid ground brought to the image. Originally, there were flowering shrubs back there, but I prefer the childlike playfulness of dots as well as the utility of using them to move the eye across that space.
There is no limit to how much patterning can happen in a painting as Vuillard’s works so marvellously show us:
Throughout the course, I focused on knowing the focal object in our paintings and this little boy’s face really shows that. He’s not the centre of interest and I treated him in a cursory way while still conveying his smile and the sunny day.
The little girl got a more complete face as befits her status as focal point.
I’ll be teaching two online workshops at The Winslow Art Center beginning on May 22 and 23: “Loosen Up Your Paintings” and “Expressive Florals”. Both delve into composition, colour, brushwork and more.
I assign homework in each class - though I fully understand if people don’t have time to paint each week and don’t make any comment about absent work. I’m not a monster:) - and each piece is critiqued so that participants have clear suggestions for improving their work. Sometimes I illustrate my suggestions by digitally altering submitted paintings to show what I mean.
The feedback on the critiques has been overwhelmingly positive with many painters telling me how much they’ve learned from hearing me talk about the all of the artists’ works as well as just their own.
If you’d like to truly advance your art practise, I hope you’ll consider joining me online in May.
Happy painting!
Ingrid, Your family painting is really wonderful! It captures the carefree, intimate, informal quality we find in so many of the best family photos. I will bookmark the Winslow Art Center for online classes in the future. I can’t do the one in May due to a schedule conflict. Also: That Vuillard painting is amazing! It’s so much fun!
I will definitely take this workshop if you offer it again. Was too late for this one. Love your work.