Promotion, Production, and Creativity

June 14-18, 2010

Price: $600

This class will make you a faster, more creative painter. You will also learn how to promote your career and find success as a professional artist.

Availability: This class is limited to 8 students.

We will be painting mostly outdoors. There are 3 classes daily Monday-Friday. The morning class is from 9-12 and the afternoon class is from 1-4 with a 1 hour break for lunch. Often the classes merge into one longer class with a short lunch break. The evening class is from 6-8pm and is reserved for demonstrations, slide shows, computer work, still and video camera instruction, and equipment discussion.
I provide printed material daily that includes information on websites, painting resources, brushes, cleaners, mediums, palettes, pochade boxes, french easels, etc.
We will study the four important elements that make a great painting; drawing, values, edges, and color. We will paint with a limited palette and an expanded palette. We will paint still life, street scenes, landscape, figures and portraits.
We will make canvas panels, discuss digital cameras, video cameras, Photoshop and in one evening class we will produce and post a Youtube video. You will become a much faster and more spontaneous painter. You will learn how to be more productive, how to promote your career and grow your creativity.
My major influences are John Sargent, Joaquin Sorolla, Diego Velázquez, Monet, Courbet, and Frans Hals. Each student will receive daily one on one instruction.

Details
Class Description:

The days are reserved for painting.  We will paint outdoors and from life.  This is the fastest and easiest way to understand and learn color and values.  In the evenings we will talk about production, promotion, and creativity.  During the week each participant will help record our activity with an High Definition video camera. 

Monday: A short orientation and then into the field. We begin with 3 quick draws (10 minutes each). These quick draws will become part of our daily routine. They are a way to help you make decisions quickly and produce more work. The quick draws are normally painted with one color (burnt sienna) and we wipe them off after each quick draw so we can use the canvases again and again. We will paint fairly easy subjects on the first day. Monday night we will review the days work and discuss tools and materials, the tools that help you and the tools that hurt you.

Tuesday: Into the field for a little more challenging subject. We will face more complex colors and composition on this day but there will be much growth. On Tuesday night we will review our paintings and enjoy a cool slide show of some of the world's great paintings.

Wednesday: We will paint at a local vineyard on this day and visit their tasting room later in the day. There is a wide variety of subject at this location. Wednesday night Peggy and I will host a meal at our home for all the class participants and their spouses.

Thursday: More field work with an emphasis on street scenes. Architectural subjects can teach us a lot about “straight, plumb, and level”. Some of our local communities are more than 400 years old. Street scenes offer fairly easy drawing, a wide range of values, hard and soft edges, warm and cool colors, and strong cast shadows, Thursday night we create a short movie of our week's work. We will upload our video footage, edit it, add music, add graphics, and then post our video to Youtube and Facebook.

Friday: We put it all together. Live models will pose outdoors in a setting we stage and paint from life. Figures in a painting are a great challenge and usually help tell a story about the life of the people in the scene. Friday afternoon we will create some of our best work which will reflect on the week's hard work. No class Friday night. 

I would encourage you to keep an open mind and see our wide variety of subjects as a challenge and opportunity to grow as an artist.

Tools and Materials:

The short videos below explain some of the tools and materials I normally use.
This list contains the items I am using now. Bring the tools and materials you are using now but here are some of the products I use.

FRENCH EASEL or POCHADE BOX W/TRIPOD:  I use the OpenBoxM pochade box. I have the 8x10 box and I mount it on a Bogan camera tripod. You can learn about pochade boxes here: www.openboxm.com I have 2 extra French easels that I can loan so let me know if you need one so I can hold it for you.

PALETTE:  I use a glass palette in my pochade box and in my studio. Glass can be cleaned easily with a razor blade. French easels, pochade boxes, and Guerilla boxes usually have a wooden palette incorporated into the design. I would encourage you to replace them with glass. Measure what you need, go to your local glass shop, have them cut a piece of 5/16” glass, and ask them to sand the edges and corners (they do this all the time for shelfs), then put it in your box. The wood ones are ok but the glass is better.

BRUSHES:  I use Silver Grand Prix #4,6,8,14. bristle flat. I also have a big fat 2” wide bristle craft brush. They are made by K & H. I also use Langnickle #8,10,14, and one that is 1” wide. You also need a rigger (a small fine liner brush for details). If you are bringing only one type of brush, bring the bristle flats or brites. You can do almost anything with these.
KNIVES I use knives quite a bit for many different effects. I have a 1” knife and a 3” knife. If you want a “high end” knife, use Holbein SX Knives. They are made in Sekicity Japan and are expensive but they take a lot of abuse and last many years. I get them here: www.canvaspanels.com Bring whatever knife you normally use. A fairly good line of inexpensive knifes which I use a lot are made by Liquitex.

PANELS:  I use Premium Line Claessens #13 Oil-Primed Portrait Linen panels mounted on 1/8” birch or 3/16” Gatorfoam. I get them here: www.canvaspanels.com You can also make your own panels by purchasing a 4’ x 8’ piece of “standard” hardboard (masonite) and gluing a 52” wide roll of canvas to the board. You can use a good quality wood glue (professional carpenters glue) or you can use the more expensive Miracle Muck www.canvaspanels.com . After the glue dries overnight, you can cut the 4 x 8 sheet into many different sizes.
Here are the panels you need for the class: Sizes should be 8x10 or 12x16. You will learn much faster and more by painting small. You will need at least 10 panels but I recommend you bring 15-20. Bring whatever panels you normally use but make sure they are small.

PIGMENTS:  I will be teaching with two different palettes. We will use a limited palette and a more expanded palette.
For the limited palette we will use Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Red, and Cadmium Lemon (and Titanium White of course). I begin with the limited palette so we can practice mixing colors.
The expanded palette will include these colors:
Ultramarine Blue
Cobalt Blue
Viridian
Transparent Oxide Red (Rembrandt). This is similar to Burnt Sienna but much richer.
Alizarin Crimson
Yellow Ochre
Cadmium Red (I use Permanent Red Medium (Rembrandt) in place of Cad Red)
Cadmium Orange
Cadmium Lemon
Titanium Zinc White (any good titanium white will do).

As you can see above, this palette proceeds from cool to warm. This is also the order in which I lay out my palette.
I use good brands like Rembrandt, and Winsor Newton. Most manufacturers use the same basic dry pigments but quality will vary widely depending on how much extenders and fillers they use. Don't buy the cheapest brand but don't buy the most expensive either.

Other Important Items:

Mineral Spirits or Brush Cleaner. Please bring No Odor or Low Odor mineral spirits. Some artists use more expensive brush cleaners but regular mineral spirits work just as well. Bring whatever you normally use.

Brush washing container. Holbein makes a very good quality container. You can see it here: www.canvaspanels.com but you can buy it cheaper elsewhere (like Ebay). A simple 1lb. Coffee can with a birdscreen in the bottom and a lid is an alternative. It will hold enough thinner and can be sealed to prevent evaporation.

NOTE TO ALL: Airlines are getting very fussy about bringing paint supplies on board. You will not be able to bring mineral spirits on board! I will have a couple gallons here that I will share with you.

Paper towels. I use “Brawny Pick a Size”

Plastic grocery bags for paper towel disposal.

A clamp-on white or black umbrella to shade both the work surface and the palette is recommended. You can buy these from a supplier like Dick Blick, Jerry’s Artarama and others. If you don't have an umbrella, bring a good hat.

A good hat with a bill. I wear a gaucho.

Sunscreen, insect repellent, matches, water, rain coat, and clothing for variable weather.

Note: Be prepared to take your lunch into the field. We will probably eat lunch in the field 4 days.

From Camera to Canvas

July 5-9, 2010

Price: $600

This class is designed for artists who must or choose to use photos as subject matter. With the invention and use of high definition digital cameras and screens, photos are capturing much more high quality information and have become a legitimate tool for painters. If you enjoy photography and painting, this class will start a new chapter in your career. You will also learn how to promote your career and find success as a professional artist. For this class, you must bring a digital camera.

Availability: This class is limited to 8 students.

Although it is not required, it is recommended you bring a laptop computer (which you are now using) and a digital camcorder. Basic knowledge of your camera and computer (how to email, how to save, etc.) is required. We have 3 different camcorders here so don't worry if you do not have a camcorder.

If you do not bring a computer, make sure you bring the interface (cables) which attach from your camera to a computer so you can download your photos to our computers.

This class is a 50/50 mix of technology and painting. We will be using our digital still and movie cameras for capturing subject matter and then displaying the images on HD screens. We will be painting our images “from life” in the studio.
Some artists are unable to paint in the field for various health reasons and some artists prefer the convenience, safety and control of studio painting. This class shows you how to transform your photography into paintings.

A digital still camera is required for this class. The brand or value of the camera is not important but the quality of the camera does have an effect on the photographs you take.

This is not a photography workshop. It is a painting workshop in which we use digital cameras and other equipment as tools. A medium priced, medium quality camera (Canon, Sony, HP, Olympus, Panasonic, Samsung) is fine.
I will be teaching with Photoshop, Sony Vegas Pro (movie editing software), and others. Bring your favorite photo editing software or whatever you are using now.

There are 3 classes daily Monday-Friday. The morning class is from 9-12 and the afternoon class is from 1-4 with a 1 hour break for lunch. Often the classes merge into one longer class with a short lunch break. The evening class is from 6-8 and is reserved for demonstrations, slide shows, equipment discussion.

I provide printed material daily that includes information on websites, photography and painting resources, brushes, cleaners, mediums, palettes, etc.
We will study the four important elements that make a good painting; drawing, values, edges, and color. We will paint with a limited palette and an expanded palette. We will photograph and paint still life, street scenes, landscape, figures and portraits.
 
You will become a much faster and more spontaneous painter. You will learn how to be more productive, and how to promote your career and grow your creativity.
My major influences are John Sargent, Joaquin Sorolla, Diego Velázquez, Monet, Courbet, and Frans Hals. Each student will receive daily one on one instruction.

Class Description:

Monday: A short orientation and preview of the coming week. We will briefly talk about digital still cameras and their attributes. Pixels, aspect ratio, white balance, zoom, memory cards, etc. Don't worry, this will not be detailed techno stuff, just a simple explanation and discussion about what your camera can and can't do.

We will look at several different cameras and you will be asked to tell us about your own. We will learn how to get the highest quality images with the cameras we have. We will see a short film about photo composition, lighting, etc. and then go into the field for a 1 hour photo shoot.

Monday Afternoon: We upload our photos into computers. The afternoon session will focus on photo editing. You will learn to resize, crop, adjust color, rotate or flip, adjust brightness and contrast, and how to save your photos in different formats (and why). We will also learn how to manipulate photos by cutting and pasting and layering parts of photos for a desired effect.

Monday Night: We all watch Monday Night Football (just kidding). We interface with our display (hook up to the screens). We talk about how our techno-studio is different than the traditional studio. We look at different set-ups and why they work. We discuss studio lighting, computer screens vs. television screens, etc. We set up our easels for Tuesday morning's painting.

Tuesday: We begin with 3 quick draws (10 minutes each) of photos we took on Monday. These quick draws will become part of our daily routine. They are a way to help us make decisions quickly and produce more work. The quick draws are normally painted with one color (burnt sienna) and we wipe them off after each quick draw so we can use the canvases again and again.

We will paint fairly easy subjects that we photographed on Monday. Tuesday afternoon we will paint more complex subjects from our Monday photos.

Tuesday night we will review the days work and discuss tools and materials, the tools that help you and the tools that hurt you. We will also enjoy a cool slide show of some of the world's great paintings.

Wednesday: We will photograph a local vineyard on this day and visit their tasting room. We will be using our still cameras and camcorders for this shoot. There is a wide variety of subject at this location including flowers, good architecture, old structures, etc. Wednesday afternoon we paint in the studio from photos and/or film.

Wednesday night Peggy and I will host a meal at our home for all the class participants and their spouses.

Thursday: More studio work with an emphasis on larger work. One of the reasons artists work inside is so they can create large work. There are many limitations involved with outdoor painting especially size limitations. Most plein air painters spend more time in the studio than outdoors.

Thursday afternoon we will upload our video footage in preparation for the production our short movie.

Thursday night we create a short movie of our week's work. We will upload our video footage, edit it, add music, add graphics, and then post our video to Youtube and Facebook. 

Friday: In the morning session we practice indoor photography with our still cameras and camcorders. We will spend time with lighting, background, and live models will pose in a setting we stage and photograph. Figures in a painting are a great challenge and usually help tell a story about the life of the people in the scene.

Friday afternoon we will create some of our best work which will reflect on the week's hard work.

No class on Friday night.

Some of you may not have much experience in multiple subjects or you may have little interest in one or more of the subjects we paint. I would encourage you to keep an open mind and see our wide variety of subjects as a challenge and opportunity to grow as an artist. Painting and visual art in general is not just about one subject. You will benefit tremendously by photographing and painting still life, portraiture, landscape, and cityscape.

Tools and Materials:

The short videos below explain some of the tools and materials I normally use.
Bring the tools and materials you are using now but here are some of the products I use.

A digital still camera is required for this class. The brand or value of the camera is not important but the quality of the camera does have an effect on the photographs you take. Most 2-3 year old digital cameras will be fine for this class.
 
This is not a photography workshop.  It is a painting workshop in which we use digital cameras and other equipment as tools. A medium priced, medium quality camera (Canon, Sony, HP, Olympus, Panasonic, Samsung) is fine.

Don't worry if you have no experience with Photoshop, Sony Vegas, Premier, etc. The class is designed to teach you about these programs. Also, don't worry about having little experience with computers. I will share with you the shortcuts, tricks, trade secrets, etc. I will not burden you with a lot of useless techno-detail.
If you have a laptop computer, bring it. Also, if you have a camcorder, bring it.

EASEL or POCHADE BOX W/TRIPOD or FRENCH EASEL
For studio work, I will provide easels. If you are driving and have a studio easel, bring it. If you have a French easel or Pochade box, bring it.

For plein air work I use the OpenBoxM pochade box. I have the 8x10 box and I mount it on a Bogan camera tripod. We will not be painting outdoors for this workshop, however, I will sometimes demonstrate en plein air.

PALETTE
I use a glass palette in my pochade box and in my studio. Glass can be cleaned easily with a razor blade. French easels, pochade boxes, and Guerilla boxes usually have a wooden palette incorporated into the design. I would encourage you to replace them with glass. Measure what you need, go to your local glass shop, have them cut a piece of 5/16” glass, and ask them to sand the edges and corners (they do this all the time for shelves), then put it in your box. The wood ones are ok but the glass is better.

BRUSHES
I use Silver Grand Prix #4,6,8,14. bristle flat. I also have a big fat 2” wide bristle craft brush. They are made by K & H. I also use Langnickle #8,10,14, and one that is 1” wide. You also need a rigger (a small fine liner brush for details). If you are bringing only one type of brush, bring the bristle flats or brites. You can do almost anything with these.

KNIVES
I use knives quite a bit for many different effects. I have a 1” knife and a 3” knife. If you want a “high end” knife, use Holbein SX Knives. They are made in Sekicity Japan and are expensive but they take a lot of abuse and last many years. I get them here: www.canvaspanels.com Bring whatever knife you normally use. A fairly good line of inexpensive knifes which I use a lot are made by Liquitex.

PANELS
I use Premium Line Claessens #13 Oil-Primed Portrait Linen panels mounted on 1/8” birch or 3/16” Gatorfoam. I get them here: www.canvaspanels.com You can also make your own panels by purchasing a 4’ x 8’ piece of “standard” hardboard (masonite) and gluing a 52” wide roll of canvas to the board. You can use a good quality wood glue (professional carpenters glue) or you can use the more expensive Miracle Muck www.canvaspanels.com . After the glue dries overnight, you can cut the 4 x 8 sheet into many different sizes.
Here are the panels you need for the class: Sizes should be 8x10 or 12x16. You will learn much faster and more by painting small. You will need at least 10 panels but I recommend you bring 15-20. Bring whatever panels you normally use but make sure they are small.

PIGMENTS
I will be teaching with two different palettes. We will use a limited palette and a more expanded palette.
For the limited palette we will use Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Red, and Cadmium Lemon (and Titanium White of course). I begin with the limited palette so we can practice mixing colors.
The expanded palette will include these colors:
Ultramarine Blue
Cobalt Blue
Viridian
Transparent Oxide Red (Rembrandt). This is similar to Burnt Sienna but much richer.
Alizarin Crimson
Yellow Ochre
Cadmium Red (I use Permanent Red Medium (Rembrandt) in place of Cad Red)
Cadmium Orange
Cadmium Lemon
Titanium Zinc White (any good titanium white will do).

As you can see above, this palette proceeds from cool to warm. This is also the order in which I lay out my palette.
I use good brands like Rembrandt, and Winsor Newton. Most manufacturers use the same basic dry pigments but quality will vary widely depending on how much extenders and fillers they use. Don't buy the cheapest brand but don't buy the most expensive either.

Other Important Items
Mineral Spirits or Brush Cleaner (if you drive and don't fly). Please bring No Odor or Low Odor mineral spirits. Some artists use more expensive brush cleaners but regular mineral spirits work just as well. Bring whatever you normally use.

Brush washing container. Holbein makes a very good quality container. You can see it here: www.canvaspanels.com but you can buy it cheaper elsewhere (like Ebay). A simple 1lb. Coffee can with a birdscreen in the bottom and a lid is an alternative. It will hold enough thinner and can be sealed to prevent evaporation.

NOTE TO ALL: Airlines are getting very fussy about bringing paint supplies on board. You will not be able to bring mineral spirits on board! I will have a couple gallons here that I will share with you.

Paper towels. I use “Brawny Pick a Size”

Plastic grocery bags for paper towel disposal.

A good hat with a bill. I wear a gaucho.

Create a Website and Book

Sept 6-10, 2010

Price: $600

This class will teach you how to: Create and manage your own website which includes uploading photos and text, managing calendars for shows and competition, creating and uploading video to Youtube and others, tracking hits and visits, etc. You will also create a full color Hardcover or Softcover book (no fees required) with as many pages as you want. Customers will be able to purchase your book online or from you within days of the completion of this class. When you finish this class, you will have a website and a full color book. You will also learn how to promote your career and find success as a professional artist.

Availability: This class is limited to 5 students.

A laptop or PC computer (which you are now using) and a digital camera are required for this class.  We will be on a wireless internet system. Basic knowledge of your camera and computer (how to email, how to save, etc.) is required.

The brand or value of the camera is not important but the quality of the camera does have an effect on the photographs you take.

This is not a photography workshop. It is a website and bookmaking workshop in which we use digital cameras and other equipment as tools. A medium priced, medium quality camera (Canon, Sony, HP, Olympus, Panasonic, Samsung) is fine.

I will be teaching with Photoshop, Sony Vegas Pro (movie editing software), and others. Photoshop is not required. Bring your favorite photo editing software or whatever you are using now.

There are 2 classes daily Monday-Friday. The morning class is from 9-12 and the afternoon class is from 1-4 with a 1 hour break for lunch.

Details

Class Description:

 

• Monday: A short orientation and preview of the coming week. Each participant will be creating their own website online and live. We will be building our websites on the DotNetNuke framework.

• We will briefly talk about digital still cameras and their attributes. Pixels, aspect ratio, white balance, zoom, memory cards, etc. Don't worry, this will not be detailed techno stuff, just a simple explanation and discussion about what your camera can and can't do.

• Monday Afternoon: The afternoon session will focus on photo editing. You will learn to resize, crop, adjust color, rotate or flip, adjust brightness and contrast, and how to save your photos in different formats and sizes (and why).

  Tuesday: We begin work on our book. We establish an account for our book, talk about MS Word, OpenOffice, iWork (Mac) and others. We create the layout, perameters and size of the book. We walk through the first few pages and discuss layout and design.

• Tuesday afternoon we talk about good file management and continue working on the layout and design of the book.

• Wednesday: Back to the website. We begin understanding modules, module editing, what our modules can and cannot do. We look at feedback modules, announcements, calendars, uploading images, writing text, and adding shopping carts.

• Wednesday night Peggy and I will host a meal at our home for all the class participants and their spouses.

• Thursday: By now you will be comfortable working on both the website and book. We will have the basics behind us and we can be more creative with both projects. We will create the cover for the book and on Thursday afternoon you will work on whatever project that needs the most attention. Remember, you will be able to work on your project at night in your motel (assuming they have wireless, and most of them do).

• Thursday night I will demonstrate how to create a short movie. I will use footage of the week's class, edit it, add music, add graphics, and then post it to Youtube and Facebook. I will also show you how to link your own videos to your website.

• Friday: A quick look at Facebook, Youtube, and Myspace and how to create a page. We will finish our website in the morning session and our book in the afternoon session. We will order a proof of our book and briefly talk about marketing and promotion.

Tools and Materials:

The short videos below explain some of the tools and materials I normally use.

A digital still camera and a computer are required for this class.

Don't worry if you have little or no experience with Photoshop or your computer. The class is designed to teach you about your hardware and software. I am not a computer or software expert but I will share with you a lot of shortcuts, tricks, trade secrets, etc. Also, being in a class with other computer users always teaches us new tricks and shortcuts. I will not burden you with a lot of useless techno-detail.

If you have a camcorder, bring it. Don't forget your cables and cords and chargers.

Photo Files
You will need all your photo files that you would like to have in your website and or book. They don't have to be in a particular format, just bring the files you have because we will change them here. The more pics you have, the more choices and the more creative you can be with your website and book.

Text Files

Please have an outline of the text and pics you want in your book and website. Write as much text for your book as possible before you come to the class. This will save you a lot of time here. We will discuss writing styles and grammer and you can edit/add as much information to your text when you get here but the more you prepare at home, the more creative you can be here.

Remember:

• Cables, batteries, cords, chargers, software discs, etc. and any other attachments to your computer and camera that you use on a daily basis.

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