Two Workshops This Weekend!

The first one I am giving is a Pastel Still Life workshop sponsored by the Pastel Society of Southern California. This will be in Redondo Beach on Saturday 25th January from 10.30 - 4.30pm. Students will have some fun with color and composition. Cost $70. 310 920 2184 for more details

The second one will be presented by me and Steve Mirich at the Maxwell House in Pasadena for the California Art Club on the theme of Advancing Your Art Career: the Artist's Toolkit. Find out how the selection of art materials serves to create the final painted result. This will be on Sunday 26th January from 12 noon - 3pm. Cost $25 CAC members, $30 non-members. 626 583 9009 to register.

Power of Art

Getting ready for the Redondo Beach Art Group's big show in August. Originally it was held in October in the local power station on the upper turbine floor. Last year we converted a disused restaurant for the 3-day event. A lot of work! Here's some pictures being considered for the show.

Hosted a great workshop on Saturday 12th April with the Mid Valley Art League in Temple City. The theme was "Using Photography to Make Better Paintings."

I discussed some of the technical aspects of lenses and distortion, working without flash, ISO, shutter speeds and printing out b+w plus color prints to start the painting. Do a freehand thumbnail to get the hang of the image to edit and make your own.

Try drawing on the final paper or canvas with a paintbrush, and not a pencil!

Interpreting the shadows used to make the photo is especially important as the print is made with 3 color inks and black.

I am doing a demonstration in pastel tonight for the Corona Art Association. Again the subject will be the interpretation of color from a photo.

MVAL Pastel Painting Demonstration

Saralyn Lowenstein invited me to give a pastel painting demo to the Mid-Valley Art League in Arcadia, (in the Los Angeles area.) It was a simple Christmas theme still life. I started out will a basic charcoal drawing and gradually added in colour, emphasizing tonal value, relative warm and cool colours, then stressed highlights. It was a wickedly wet evening and I appreciated the very warm reception from the members. Mark Wood took the photographs and we raffled off the painting at the end of the demo.