Workshop Magazine

Workshop, Fall 2010

Brian Riley — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:30:00 GMT

On the Cover:
Painter Peter van Dyck leading a workshop at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art.

FEATURES

Frank Serrano: Accurate & Efficient Plein Air Landscape Painting
by M. Stephen Doherty
In his popular DVDs, book, and workshops, California artist Frank Serrano shows how to successfully paint directly from nature in any location.

Bennett Vadnais: 4 Stages to Successfully Painting a Landscape
by M. Stephen Doherty
Taking advantage of all he learned from painting landscapes with watercolor, acrylic, and oil, New York City artist  Bennett Vadnais recently helped workshop participants plan and execute better landscapes. He recommended making compositional sketches, drawing the best design on a panel, applying transparent washes of color, and building up thicker layers of oil paint.

Daniel J. Keys: Passing on the Legacy of Learning
by Allison Malafronte
During a recent still life workshop at Village Arts of Putney, Daniel J. Keys had a chance to not only follow in the artistic footsteps of his mentor Richard Schmid but also to pass on to others what has so generously been given to him. .

Kate Lehman: The Value of Studying With Several Professional Artists
by M. Stephen Doherty
New York artist Kate Lehman developed her approach to oil painting by studying with a number of top artists. Now, she encourages students to pursue a similarly diverse art education. “No one teacher has all the answers to your questions,” she says.

Richard McKinley: Tackling Three Key Challenges of Plein Air Painting With Oil and Pastel
by Linda S. Price
During an inaugural series of workshops at the Salmagundi Club, in New York City, Richard McKinley helped students with such painting issues as simultaneous contrast, atmospheric perspective, and refraction.

William A. Schneider: Strategies to Organize the Elements of Your Paintings
by M. Stephen Doherty
Illinois artist William A. Schneider emphasized the value of preparatory studies as he showed workshop participants how to locate subjects within their paintings and how to organize effective compositions of shapes, values, color harmonies, and edges.

Rob Silverman: Measurement Tools to Improve the Accuracy of Your Drawings and Paintings
by M. Stephen Doherty
During a recent workshop held in Edward Hopper’s childhood home, Rob Silverman showed students how to use grids, a viewfinder, and value charts to check the accuracy of their artwork..

Michael Klein: How to Adjust to the Challenges of Painting Flowers
by M. Stephen Doherty
In his workshops, DVDs, and book, Michael Klein shows students how to respond quickly and effectively to the changing appearance of flowers in oil paintings. “In these cases, I don’t spend a lot of time developing detailed drawings,” he explained in a recent workshop at the Grand Central Academy of Art. “Instead, I make sure every brushstroke of oil color is accurately mixed and placed so that I capture the transient appearance of the flowers, and then I focus on the parts of the setup that remain constant.”

How the Academic Method Can Improve Your Drawing and Painting
by M. Stephen Doherty
During a recent workshop in Philadelphia, Daniel Graves and Peter van Dyck introduced students to a condensed form of the instruction offered at the Florence Academy of Art. The participants learned how to make precise studies of plaster casts and live models, which sought to improve their ability to understand, record, and respond to nature.

Workshop, Summer 2010

Brian Riley — Tue, 25 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT

On the Cover:
Camie Davis (below) teaching at the Grand
Central Academy of Art, in New York City.

Photo by Nathan Kraxberger

Cedric Egeli: Knowing How to Learn

FEATURES

Workshops as Shared Learning Experiences
by M. Stephen Doherty
A number of valuable and lasting benefits can accrue when artists work alongside one another and engage in a free exchange of information, motivation, and inspiration. Even if the artists barely know one another, they are likely to share a feeling of camaraderie. That kind of a palpable energy was present when 10 professional artists gathered in New Jersey at the invitation of Workshop and Forbes, Inc.

Joseph Paquet: 10 Keys to Effectively Judging the Important Relationships in Painting
by M. Stephen Doherty
This Minnesota plein air painter helps students grasp the most important concepts about oil painting and shows them how to apply these concepts successfully.

Variations on Impressionist Painting
by M. Stephen Doherty
Students and faculty members at the Bridgeview School of Fine Art, in Queens, New York, recently spent eight days painting the same model to demonstrate a range of approaches to oil painting based on Impressionism.

Aaron Westerberg: Creating a Monochromatic Figure Study
by Matthew Marchant
In a recent California workshop, Aaron Westerberg showed students how to apply their drawing skills to creating oil paintings by developing a monochromatic grisaille using one warm and one cool red and handling a brush as if it were a drawing tool.

Camie Davis: Portrait Painting Based on Measurement and the Perception of Shapes
by M. Stephen Doherty
During eight four-hour sessions of drawing and painting models who held the same pose, students in Camie Davis’ classes learned to express themselves using carefully planned procedures.

Cedric Egeli: Knowing How to Learn
by M. Stephen Doherty
In two recent workshops, this distinguished artist emphasized that developing the ability to actively listen, observe, study, and practice the fundamental aspects of painting is important to making progress as an artist.

Brian Stewart: 4 Stages of Successful Plein Air Paintings
by M. Stephen Doherty
During a recent workshop in Barbados, Brian Stewart explained how to achieve greater success with outdoor paintings by following a progression from a “dress-rehearsal” study to a finished work of art.

Alexey Steele: Pursuing Passion and a Personal Vision
by Michael Zakian
Alexey Steele is not the type of teacher who imposes strict guidelines or rules on his students. Rather, he offers an encouraging educational environment for artists to discover their own personal vision while he demonstrates his own passionate pursuit of the great artistic and cultural ideals of the past.

Workshop, Spring 2010

Brian Riley — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:14:00 GMT

On the Cover:
John Morra teaching still life painting in
New York City.

Photo by Nathan Kraxberger

Michelle Dunaway:
Painting From the Center

FEATURES

Paul DeLorenzo: Learn the Basics of Academic Figure Painting
by M. Stephen Doherty
Having been trained by two of the most important American academic artists, Paul DeLorenzo was in a unique position to introduce workshop participants to techniques based on 19th-century educational programs.

Burton Silverman: Learn a Complete Language, Not Just Phrases
by M. Stephen Doherty
One of the most venerated artists working today, Burton Silverman offers students a language of art they can use to express ideas and emotions. “I try to help people develop a broad understanding of the creative process so that they can draw and paint more than what they superficially observe,” he explained during a recent workshop in New York City.

Sherrie McGraw: How to Capture a Life Force in Artwork
by M. Stephen Doherty
In a recent two-part workshop, Sherrie McGraw showed students how to create drawings and paintings that respond to the feeling of vitality in a model’s pose or in a still life arrangement.

Charles Harrington: Discover the Best Qualities and Potential of Acrylics
by M. Stephen Doherty
During a three-day workshop, Charles Harrington taught participants how to take full advantage of acrylic paints and mediums and how to avoid problems with the fast-drying, water-soluble paints.

Thomas V. Nash: Improving Overall by Focusing on Your Biggest Weakness
by Bob Bahr
This successful portrait painter suggests that oil painters consider their progress in terms of their entire process, both to ensure consistency in approach and to eliminate problems that may be holding them back.

John Morra: Explore the Many Potentials of Still Life Painting
by M. Stephen Doherty
Because a still life is a flexible and inventive subject for painting, John Morra asks workshop participants to try a variety of approaches, some of which are quick exercises and others that are carefully planned, detailed explorations.

Michelle Dunaway: Painting From the Center
by Michael Zakian
This New Mexico artist believes that truly great art results from an honest approach to painting, centered on responding to what moves you as a painter and making that the focal point of the work. In a recent workshop in Southern California, she showed students how she applies this approach to her figurative and portrait subjects.

Workshop, Winter 2009

Brian Riley — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:00:00 GMT

On the Cover:
Curt Walters painting the Grand Canyon
(photo reversed).

Graydon Parrish: A Rational Approach to
Color Hue, Chroma, and Value

Ben Fenske:
Six Basics of Landscape Painting

FEATURES

Ben Fenske: Six Basics of Landscape Painting
by M. Stephen Doherty
During visits back to the United States from his home in Italy, Ben Fenske teaches fundamental concepts and skills that can help landscape painters make progress.

Junn Roca: Directing the Painting Process Through Artistic License
by Molly Siple
During a recent California landscape workshop, Junn Roca gave his students the freedom they needed to make design, value, and color decisions that flowed from their own artistic instincts rather than strict formulas.

Curt Walters: Prepare to Paint a Complicated Subject
by M. Stephen Doherty
Arizona artist Curt Walters, one of the best-known painters of the Grand Canyon, conducted a special workshop along the South Rim that challenged even the most experienced painters. “The canyon is so complicated in terms of the shapes, atmosphere, light, and colors that one has to be well-organized and disciplined,” Walters told the participants.

John Cogan: Finding Your Own Way in Acrylics
by Bob Bahr
This New Mexico painter has found novel ways to accomplish his goals, including the use of the recently introduced, slower-drying acrylic paints.

Graydon Parrish: A Rational Approach to Color Hue, Chroma, and Value
by M. Stephen Doherty
During an intense three-week workshop in New York City, Graydon Parrish took students through a series of exercises to help them understand and apply the Munsell color system.

Donald Demers: An Evolving Approach to Teaching Landscape Painting
by Lori Woodward
For years students have been lining up to get into landscape painter Donald Demers’ workshops, and those who are regular students of the instructor know that as Demers evolves and advances as a painter, so does his instruction.

Elizabeth Torak: How to Make Emotional Connections With Your Subjects
by M. Stephen Doherty
During a workshop on painting still lifes and landscapes, this Vermont artist emphasized that artists’ emotional responses to gestures, movements, and designs are far more significant than their ability to record the exact physical appearance of their subjects.

Workshop, Fall 2009

Brian Riley — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:01:00 GMT

On the Cover:
Diego Larguia helps a student with her
painting during a recent workshop in
New Orleans.

Tony Pro: Seeing the Color of Light

Kerry Dunn: Condensing Instruction
for Part-Time Students

FEATURES

Bryan Mark Taylor: Using the Safest Oil-Painting Materials & Techniques
by M. Stephen Doherty
Because his studio is in the home he shares with his wife and young children, Californian Bryan Mark Taylor changed his working methods to use the safest oil-painting supplies and techniques. He recently showed a group of workshop participants how they might also minimize their exposure to solvents, mediums, and pigments.

Stephen Cefalo: 10 Concrete Solutions to Figure-Painting Challenges
by M. Stephen Doherty
After studying with top realist painters and teaching in several art schools, Stephen Cefalo is now establishing a community of dedicated artists in Arkansas. He recently began teaching workshops during which he shares his knowledge and experience and fosters connections between painters.

Andrea J. Smith: Expand From a Limited Palette and Focus (Available Online)
by M. Stephen Doherty
In the new atelier she opened in Rome, Andrea J. Smith teaches students to use a limited palette of colors when painting exactly what they see from a measured distance away from the subject and the easel.

Steve Huston: Capturing the Rhythm of Gesture
by Michael Zakian
By breaking the figure down into interrelated shapes, patterns, and relationships, Steve Huston showed his workshop students how to capture the living, breathing rhythm of the human form.

Tony Pro: Seeing the Color of Light
by Michael Zakian
In a recent workshop in California, portrait and figure painter Tony Pro showed students how to better observe and understand the qualities of both natural and artificial light and how to turn those observations into appropriate color choices on their canvases.

Clayton J. Beck III: Using Color Charts to Control Color Selection, Temperature, and Value
by M. Stephen Doherty
During a recent workshop in Vermont, Clayton J. Beck III showed participants how to make color charts and use them to find the right combinations of oil colors to more accurately represent the appearance of a model holding the same pose each day.

Kerry Dunn: Condensing Instruction for Part-Time Students
by M. Stephen Doherty
Artists who are not able to take advantage of full-time educational programs can participate in workshops in which teachers offer condensed versions of a school’s or atelier’s valuable instruction. Kerry Dunn recently conducted such a workshop at Studio Incamminati, in Philadelphia.

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Workshop, Summer 2009

Brian Riley — Fri, 15 May 2009 10:01:00 GMT

On the Cover:
Diego Larguia helps a student with her
painting during a recent workshop in
New Orleans.

William Jameson: The Elements of a
Great Workshop

Gavin Brooks: Painting What You
Learn and Observe in Nature

FEATURES

Russell Vujs: 10 Tips on Painting Marine Subjects in Oil With Accuracy and Atmosphere
by M. Stephen Doherty
During recent workshops on Cape Cod, Russell Vujs showed students how to paint realistic water, skies, and boats in ways that capture a convincing sense of light and atmosphere.

Diego Larguia: 15 Tips on Learning to Paint in Oil
by M. Stephen Doherty
Simplifying the painting process makes it easier to work and make judgments about color mixing, paint application, and edge control. Here’s how Diego Larguia does that in classes on still life and landscape oil painting.

Ann Manry Kenyon: The Direct Method of Portrait Painting
by M. Stephen Doherty
Using the direct, or alla prima, method of painting allows an artist to continually develop and refine a portrait while the oil paint is wet, but it is a performance that requires an artist to be well prepared and keenly focused. Florida artist Ann Manry Kenyon often demonstrates her techniques of drawing and direct painting from life in workshops and in filmed programs.

William Jameson: The Elements of a Great Workshop (Available Online)
by M. Stephen Doherty
During a recent workshop in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, William Jameson provided instruction in plein air oil painting, but he knew it was just as important to offer encouragement and direction to students while they enjoyed the experience.

Robert Liberace: Capturing the Energy and Expressiveness in Great Drawings and Paintings
by M. Stephen Doherty
The goal of Robert Liberace’s workshops, classes, DVDs, and museum tours is to help students understand how figures can be drawn and painted in such a way that they express a dynamic sense of action. He points to great works created throughout the history of art, especially those made during the Renaissance in Italy.

Qiang Huang: Myth Buster (Available Online)
by Kim Carlton
This Texas oil painter shatters multiple myths—including the notion that artists are myopic and single-minded. Qiang Huang helps workshop participants learn how to draw, how to paint, and how to sell their work using modern technology and traditional painting methods.

Gavin Brooks: Painting What You Learn and Observe in Nature
by Michelle Morton
Maryland artist Gavin Brooks recently conducted an informative plein air painting workshop at Stratford Hall, the home of Robert E. Lee, on the banks of the Potomac River, in Virginia.

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Workshop Spring 2009

Brian Riley — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:45:00 GMT

On the Cover:
Quang Ho in his Denver, Colorado, studio.

DEPARTMENTS

Editor's Note

Scott Christensen: Prepare, Practice, and Paint at the Highest Leveln

Four Approaches to the Same Landscape

Craig Nelson: Learning Through Repetition
and Refinement

FEATURES

Watermedia Composition
by Stephen Quiller
Stephen Quiller helps watermedia artists develop stronger compositions, the important structures of their paintings.

The Atelier School of Classical Realism: Taking Steps Toward Stronger Drawings & Paintings
by M. Stephen Doherty
Students who enroll in classes with David Hardy and Rob Anderson at the Atelier School of Classical Realism, in Oakland, California, pursue a number of different approaches to figure, landscape, and still life drawing and painting, including the sight-size method and a three-step process of developing drawings and oil paintings.

Skip Whitcomb: Think Less About Your Subject and More About Making a Personal Statement
by M. Stephen Doherty
This Colorado artist makes comparisons to literature, music, art history, and cattle ranching to help workshop students understand how to use subjects in nature as starting points for the painting process. “I show them how to use the visual elements that support their concept and eliminate those that don’t,” Whitcomb explains. “It’s similar to the way Hemingway created vivid images in the minds of people who read his spare descriptions, even if they never traveled to the locations.”

Quang Ho: Essential Information for Painters of All Levels (Available Online)
Interview by Allison Malafronte
Colorado artist Quang Ho’s new instructional DVD series offers a concise version of what students can expect in his workshops, including his eight visual approaches to painting, his views on developing understanding, and a discussion of everything he wishes he had known before he started painting.

Four Approaches to the Same Landscape
by M. Stephen Doherty
Four professional artists recently convened in a San Francisco park to paint urban landscapes. A comparison of the scenes, composition, materials, and techniques they used can help you in determining your best approach to any scene.

Craig Nelson: Learning Through Repetition and Refinement
by M. Stephen Doherty
In his workshops, filmed education programs, online courses, and university classes, Craig Nelson either reinforces the drawing and painting lessons he’s offered before, or he refines the content and format of his instruction. “We can’t learn everything all at once, so we need to review fundamentals over and over again,” he explains, “but we can also benefit from new approaches to art instruction.”

Scott Christensen: Prepare, Practice, and Paint at the Highest Level
by Allison Malafronte
For committed artists ready to achieve breakthroughs in their landscape work through extensive study of the Old Masters and intensive practice, this artist’s workshops are a revelation.

Michael Workman: A Strong Abstract Composition Comes Before Color
by Bob Bahr
The ravishing color in this Utah oil painter's landscapes relies heavily on strong compositions—a very useful message that workshop participants may find surprising, given Michael Workman's reputation as a tonalist.

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