Expressive Portraits

The course will begin with the basics of proportion and placement of the features of the face, and will progress beyond replicating a photograph.  We will cover four different approaches to creating an expressive and unique portrait.  The first 2 weeks will cover the foundations of portraiture using pencil.  We will progress from here to include understanding different mediums through a variety of approaches, including:

• ​Optical blending

• ​Subtraction

• ​Gesture

• ​Chiaroscuro

• ​Mixed-Media/Collage

• ​Arbitrary color

Timeline

Week 1

• Introduction, materials, structure of the course

• Understanding placement of the facial features and proportions

Week 2

• Proportions continued

• Profiles

Week 3

• Mark-making

• Gesture

Week 4

• Lighting the portrait and references

• Understanding value

• Building value with watercolor

Week 5

• Optical Blending

Week 6

• Mixed Media and the portrait

Materials (not included in course)

• Watercolors

• Brushes

• Pens

• Pencils

• Eraser/kneaded eraser

• Watercolor pad

• Sketchbook

• Water

• Tape 

• Mixed-Media Supplies: modge podge, markers, tissue paper, found objects

*New* Sketchbook Travel Workshops in Partnership with Context Travel!

I’m thrilled to be offering a series of seminars through a well regarding educational tourism company, Context Travel. We just launched the dates and opened registration and can’t wait to work with this new audience. The roster, beginning in March, is below:

Bohemian Paris Through a Perspective Lens, March 7th 5pm EST

Florence’s Duomo Through a Birds Eye View, March 14th 5pm EST

Rome’s Trevi Fountain Figures, March 21st 5pm EST

Capture the Color of La Boca, Buenos Aires, March 28th 5pm EST

The Stowaways - An Untravel sketchbook series

It’s Official! The ‘Stowaways’, a virtual travel sketchbook course has been launched!

Saturdays, February 20 - March 27 from 9am - 11am PST

A virtual 6-week art and culture course for young artists ages 8 - 12.  Students will learn to quickly draw iconic buildings, cafe scenes, and people from 5 different countries.  Join us as we travel to France, Italy, Japan, Argentina, and the USA.  Learn about Parisian cultures and icons, Florentine history and use of pattern, Kyoto’s shrines and gardens, the flamenco and colorful buildings of Buenos Aires, and the history of skyscrapers through isometric perspective in NYC.  Each session will be recorded and sent in follow-up to the class.

A sample of the curriculum is below:

Session 1 - Foundations

• Intro

• Expectations

• Materials

• Foundation for drawing perspective

Session 2 - Paris, France

• Intro to Parisian culture

• Paris Icons

• Food and cafe life

• 1-pt. Perspective drawing of a cafe scene (drawing exercise)

Session 3 - Florence, Italy

• Intro to Florentine history

• Duomo di Firenze facts

• Food and Italian life

• Pattern and isometric perspective - Duomo Firenze (drawing exercise)

Session 4 - Kyoto, Japan

• Post WW2 history

• Shinto shrines

• Food and restaurants

• Gardens and temples (drawing exercise)

Session 5 - Buenos Aires, Argentina

• History of Argentinian port

• Flamenco and food

• Emphasis on color in La Boca region (drawing exercise)

Session 6 - New York City, USA

• Immigration to America - a history

• The Statue of Liberty history

• Notorious pizza and bagels

• Emphasis on people and skyscrapers in midtown (drawing exercise)

Launching a New Untravel Series for Kids Called "The Stowaways"

Stay tuned! I am converting my Untravel sketchbook workshops into a 6-week series for kids ages 8 - 12. We will be virtually visiting 5 countries with a launch into the cuisine and culture before we learn to draw iconic images from these locations in our sketchbooks. The course is geared towards budding artists with an overall goal of learning to draw from observation, perspective, and cultural appreciation. It will be fun!

A few sample locations are below from Argentina, Tokyo, and Canada

The Benefits of a Study

Below are (4) studies - one completed onsite in Montmartre of 2018. I have taken a pen and wash quick sketch and translated this into new works with varying temperature, mood, and style. The last of which was an oil-based study. I think that the latter captures the mood and ambience of those historic streets, but the energy of the earlier sketches are unique ad even more interesting.

Let's Sketch Santa Cruz!

Sketchbook Studies for the Untravel Workshop

Scanning Montmartre for cafes and iconic architecture

Untravel Workshop Series Goes to France, Argentina, Greece, and California, USA

Don’t you miss traveling? In this four-part workshop series, you will virtually visit a different location each week, learning to visually translate your experiences and relive the age of travel from your own home. You will learn how to quickly sketch and capture an environment with the use of photos. These skills can be applied to your future travel plans, or find new ways to appreciate the space and environment around you. Each class will have its own emphasis, and will build upon the previous session, though you can take them separately. There will be time at the end of each class for a happy hour and share of the progress everyone has made. This will be a great opportunity to build community and share the love of travel with your fellow peers.

You can find the full itinerary below:

Paris, France (emphasis on architecture) - January 14th, 6  - 8pm EST REGISTER HERE

Santorini, Greece (emphasis on people and architecture) - January 21st, 6  - 8pm EST REGISTER HERE

La Boca, Argentina (emphasis on color) - January 28th, 6  - 8pm EST REGISTER HERE

Mendocino Coast, California (emphasis on composition) - February 4th, 6  - 8pm EST REGISTER HERE

This class is intended for beginning and intermediate learners 16+.

Materials

• Sketchbook or watercolor paper 90lbs. +

• Watercolor paper

• Pencils (2H)

• Eraser

• Pens (water soluble and permanent)

• Watercolor brushes (flat, thin, and big)

• Painter’s tape/masking tape

• Board or cardboard for a hard surface

• Water

• Cup

• Straight-edge

Demo and Figure Drawing Flash Sale

Accessible original art for sale. All of the following pieces will be made available for $75 each and are on paper at 9” x 12”. They were created for demonstrations and figure drawing study and range from pen and ink to watercolor, acrylic, and pastel.

Sketch Crawl Through Prague and Buenos Aires!

Registration is Open!

LET’S GO TO PRAGUE AND BUENOS AIRES!

Come travel with me as we go on a sketching tour of four exciting locations. I will teach you the basics of quickly sketching from a photo (provided), while providing tips on how to tackle architecture, people, color, and tone.

This is meant to be a FUN and vicarious travel experience which will give you the skills to sketch live once travel opens up again. 2 dates and cities are below. $5/class.

Sketch Crawl through Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday August 20th from 6 - 8pm PST

Sketch Crawl through Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, August 29th from 10 - 12am PST

Materials required:

Pen, pencil, erasers, sketchbook, and watercolor set

Faultlines of a Saint: Financial Advice

http://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Faultlines-of-a-Saint-Financial-Advice/503347/2304582/view

This is a new extension of the previous series. Sage-like wisdom, financial advice, and pastoral landscapes collide.
Faultlines of a Saint: Financial Advice, 24" x 32.5" x 2.5", oil on panel.

Keywords: portrait, sage, saint, text on painting, Contemporary Painting, financial advice, irony, landscape

Faultlines of a Saint: Saint Charlie of the Universal

Oil on Copper with image transfer

http://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Faultlines-of-a-Saint-Saint-Charlie-of-the-Universal/503347/2295107/view

Continuation of the Faultlines of a Saint Series

Faultlines of a Saint: Six Hands, After Patinir

http://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Faultlines-of-a-Saint-6-Hands-after-Patinir/503347/2295104/view

South Bay Contemporary Juried "Fresh"

Very excited to announce another Faultlines of a Saint piece was awarded the Best of Show 1st place.  This show was curated and awarded by LA Art Critic Mat Gleason.  Check out the link below:

http://www.southbaycontemporary.com/exhibitions-1.html

Review on EasyReader News:

http://www.easyreadernews.com/88355/mat-gleason-curates-fresh-south-bay-contemporary-year-ago-none-existed-work-2014/

The Totem arrives...

This new piece was somehow created amidst moving to another state.  

"Totem", oil on brass, 23" x 20" x 3".

In this work, I wanted to create an ambiguous image of figures (men) either pulling each other down or possibly hold another up to create a totem or something bigger than themselves.  It was created with strong references to religious visual narratives

Shemer Art Center

I will be teaching a concept development workshop for mixed media at the Shemer Art Center in Phoenix, AZ. November 14 - 16th.

All Levels
Friday 6pm - 8pm
Saturday & Sunday 10am - 3pm
11/14/14 - 11/16/14
3 sessions
$140

I will review concepts in contemporary art and guide you through exercises to help build a strong concept in your art. Register below:

http://www.shemerartcenter.org/programming/event-registration/

South Bay Contemporary

Flying Abbey has a piece in the juried show, "Fresh" at the South Bay Contemporary gallery. Opening November 8th - December 28th and juried by LA Art Critic Mat Gleason.  Join Mat for a curator's walk through November 23rd from 2 - 4 pm.  Very excited to show alongside these artists.

https://www.facebook.com/events/707394172685761/

More Metal Baby!

Three new pieces coming into the world on the glorious copper surface...

Paint meets metal

Grace Under Pressure.  Oil on copper sheet mounted to wood panel, 13" x 9".

This marks a new body of work.  I am lucky to have inspiration for this one.  This started as an experiment on copper sheet.  I wanted to work with the oil medium with a more aqueous approach and started to experiment with diluting the pigment with turpentine.  This process, oil pouring, requires a certain "controlled chaos" approach.  I found that I really had to work with the medium when and how it wanted to work.  I ordered more copper sheets and can't wait to started poring my layers!

You can take the cat out of Moscow but......

This was a wonderful subject and client to work with.  I was fortunate to have 2 cats with strong personalities set against the backdrop of Moscow.  One was described as the Proletariat, while the other was Bourgeoisie through and through.

24" x 24" oil on panel.