WORKSHOP - Still Life August 14/15

2010 July 28
by Lisa Gloria

I have a new studio in downtown Aurora.  It’s a modest space, but it’s got very good light and room to teach.  7 W Downer Place, Aurora, IL.  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2071739&id=1434908358&l=96379cf10d

First order of business - still life from the very beginning.  By request, I’ll be offering a class in realistic oil painting that includes materials and step by step instruction for everybody.  Even if you’ve never used oils, or never tried realism, or never taken a workshop, or never seen downtown Aurora.  All materials are included.  August 14/15.  http://artstudiosecrets.com/onsite-workshops/oil-painting-workshop-still-life-august-2010/

Related posts


Figure Drawing Open Studio

2010 July 27
by Lisa Gloria

Tuesday nights, 7-10 pm, please join my in my new studio for figure drawing.  You know - if you live in the area.  ;-)  Uninstructed, dry media, $10, byob.  7 w Downer Place, Aurora, IL  60506

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2071739&id=1434908358&l=96379cf10d

Related posts


DVD - David Shevlino

2010 July 27
by Lisa Gloria

Remember the old days of painting videos - remember Bob Ross and Helen Van Wyk, and Bill Alexander with his mighty fan brush?  One artist on a darkened sound stage, giving you a half hour walkthrough of some rudimentary techniques.  We might shake our heads now at how abbreviated and primitive some of the techniques were but for a lot of us, those videos and TV shows were the introduction to a lifetime’s fascination with paint…  and with painters.

Today’s videos are so, so, so much different.  The technology to make one is available for us regular folks without a television studio, and this means more access to the great brains behind the great art.  We have a way to network and purchase the videos via the internet.  We have preview videos on Youtube!  Ok…  this post could easily turn into a rah-rah-rah about how great the Internet is.  I will resist the urge.  :-)

Anyhow, there’s a trend in videomaking that goes beyond the nuts and bolts of technique, to explore the motivations and thought processes of the artists. This is beyond basic technique - into the heart and soul of artmaking. I love it.  I love hearing why an artist chose a particular technique, not just how it was done.  I love watching them select a particular brush, manage their palette, approach problems on the canvas in their own particular fashion.  The thought that another professional would share the REAL secrets of their art and not just the mechanics is thrilling.

David Shevlino’s new video has just come out.  He sent me a preview copy about a month ago (which was great, it really whiles away the pneumonia!) and I’ve been waiting to tell you all about it.  Here’s what I really like: TWO paintings.  Not one - he does two paintings and talks about both of them.  David talk about not just the nuts and bolts but the “why” of the setup.  What the paintings mean to him, why it’s set up this way, how he gets it done.  The voiceover is thoughtful, unintrusive, and informative.  The music is great!  (Played by David and his brother, no less.)

Another thing that struck me and made the process interesting - David’s work over time has become less academic, more abstract and intuitive.  As a realist, this is a fascinating thing to watch.  You can see the body english he puts into the strokes, a sort of painterly kung fu.  He employs whatever means necessary to make the image in his head, including some non-traditional image transfer.  And the whole time, he’s narrating with thoughtful insights and explanations.

So, yes, I loved it.   It’s available now, and I recommend it.  :-)  To Order: http://mysite.verizon.net/davidshevlino/dvdpage.html

embedded by Embedded Video

YouTube Direkt

Related posts


Painting demo - David Kassan

2010 June 28
by Cindy Procious

This is sick (that means good, if you’re not hip to Generation Y lingo…). Check out this video - David Kassan painting a portrait on the iPad, with the program Brushes.

He calls it finger painting.

embedded by Embedded Video

Related posts


Webcast Series - Dorian Vallejo

2010 June 24
by Lisa Gloria

Come join Dorian Vallejo in his studio for a 2-hour q&a session with a brief demonstration from life!  Sunday, 6-27, 12-2 EST.  http://artstudiosecrets.com/premium/dorian-vallejo-live-webcast-06-27-10-registration/

Related posts


Webcast Series - Portrait painting demo with Mia Bergeron 6-19-2010

2010 June 16
by Cindy Procious

5705322Join us on Saturday, June 19th, from 12 noon (EST) to 5 pm - for five - count ‘em - FIVE full hours of portrait painting goodness - a start-to-finish demonstration from life by Chattanooga, TN artist Mia Bergeron. Mia will be painting at Art Warehouse, in Chattanooga, TN. If you live in the neighborhood - for pete’s sake, go see her in person! If not, we’re happy to be able to bring her to your own studio.

Sat. June 19th 12 noon - 5:00 pm. (EST) - that’s 4:00 pm (GMT) - click here to convert to your time zone: Time zone converter

Cost: $20

Click here to register: Mia Bergeron Live Webcast 06-19-10 Registration

embedded by Embedded Video

Related posts


Still Life Workshop - June 19-20

2010 June 8
by Lisa Gloria

Still time to register!  http://artstudiosecrets.com/onsite-workshops/oil-painting-workshop-still-life-june-19-20-2010/

Related posts


Webcast Series - Dorian Vallejo 06-27-10

2010 June 7
by Lisa Gloria

Next in the webcast series - Dorian Vallejo!  Please join us and Dorian for a 2-hour live broadcast on June 27, 12-2pm EST.  There will be a q&a session as well as a drawing demonstration.

Click here for more info: http://artstudiosecrets.com/premium/dorian-vallejo-live-webcast-06-27-10-registration/

We’re so excited about the upcoming webcasts too - through the end of the year we have some tremendous artists who’ll be inviting you into their studios to peek and chat!  Stay tuned!

embedded by Embedded Video

Dorian Vallejo Brief  Bio:

Born in New York City on March 1, 1968, Dorian Vallejo’s passion for drawing came at an early age. Inspired by his father, the fantasy artist and illustrator Boris Vallejo, Dorian had pencil in hand by the age of three and was working as a professional illustrator before reaching college age, regularly producing covers for Marvel Comics and numerous paperback novels. Today, he is one of the country’s most accomplished and versatile portrait painters creating everything from traditional commissioned oil portraits and sketches to pencil drawings and intimate life portraits.
Dorian attended Parsons and received his BFA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan where he studied with Steven Assael, Max Ginsburg, Irwin Greenberg and Marvin Mattleson. He also spent considerable time in Europe studying the works of the great masters. Before becoming a full-time portrait painter, Dorian considered different areas of specialization but was deterred by the growing influence of computers in the art world. Realizing he would always be more comfortable with a palette of oil paints and a north-facing studio, Dorian completes many of his paintings and drawings from life, capturing the essence and energy of his subjects in a personal sitting. When time or distance makes this impossible, however, Dorian will photograph his subjects, using a life-sized enlargement as the basis for the portrait. Dorian’s commissions range from the scions of industry to average citizens.

Related posts


Ponder - Why Is It Hard Part 3

2010 May 25
by Lisa Gloria

I was just reading Stapleton Kearns’ blog post and the letter from the outraged artist at the beginning made me think of another thing that trips us up: we don’t know what other people really think.

If you’re not selling, there’s a good chance that the advice and feedback you’re getting falls into two categories. Neither of them is really pleasant, and so they’re usually disguised almost into pointlessness by the giver. So we don’t hear the feedback, maybe for years, until the selfsame realization is made by ourselves.

The two feedbacks are this, and you have to listen for them: your technique is inadequate, or, nobody cares.

Technique is definitely something one can improve… Especially if one is aware that they’re being told to improve. But many times this feedback is nestled so deeply in the bosom of cushioning statements like, “wow great effort!” that you can’t even hear it. You have to train yourself to listen bravely, even ruthlessly, for the cues. 

Then again, after about 90% of technique is achieved, only other artists will even know it’s there.  Circling endlessly around finer and finer points of technical excellence is a good way to avoid content, meaning, and impact.  Possibly forever.  The last few times I’ve been to the Art Institute of Chicago I’ve looked again at the technique of some famous paintings to realize: they only used enough technique to get the job done.  No more, no less. There are errors in paint handling and drawing that, if you posted some of these master works on popular internet art forums, you’d get chewed out like crazy.

The other secret message from the peanut gallery is: nobody cares.  This one is very slippery, because I tend to think that inspiring connections and empathy through something you produce is not entirely in your conscious control.  In other words: some people just won’t ever have it.  Now that’s a terrifying thought. 

In Stapleton Kearns’ blog post, a gallery owner responded to the artist’s complaint by advising that artists should remember that the buyer buys things for themselves, and artists should paint things they want.  I think that’s part of it, but still a bit mollycoddly because it assumes that if one were to turn their attention to the buyer’s desires, one could paint something the buyer would like.  But…  what if not?  What if, no matter how hard one tries, nobody will care what you do?

This second sort of advice is at the root of a few of our perennial conversations.  For instance, where we talk about “not doing it for the money,” or “only painting for ourselves.”  On the face of it, both of those statements seem arrogant and self-entitled, but I think really they’re a pre-emptive avoidance of the idea that success is acceptance.  (But I guess if one delays that acceptance for 200 years, one can never be disproven in this lifetime.)  And acceptance is at least a little bit about who you are, how likable you are, how much charisma you have, and how much care and empathy you can inspire in what you say and do.

Like the anonymous artist in Stapleton’s blog, I’ve been mystified at some of the folks getting paraded around on litters, and it’s easy to point to sophomoric errors in drawing, paint handling, etc.  And to point out their storied upbringing or other unfair advantages: a marketing juggernaut, a stroke of luck here or there.  But I don’t compete with them anyway.  In the relative anonymity of my circle of competition, it’s easy to look around and realize, “oh hey, she just seems *interesting*, ” or “wow, he seems *likable.*”

Like that Stapleton guy.  He seems pretty likeable too.

Related posts


WORKSHOP TOMORROW

2010 May 21
by Lisa Gloria

Last chance, sign up now if you want in…  Virtual workshop tomorrow, accessible from any computer anywhere in the world. Alla Prima Oil Painting from life. The peonies are in bloom! http://artstudiosecrets.com/workshops/workshopdemo-alla-prima-from-life-0510/

We have upgraded our software and now have a private stream here on the site with no ads, and some pretty snazzy streaming software for the resultant videos that I’m excited to share with you.  Better, faster, stronger - that’s our motto!

Related posts