Today's workshop at The Hermitage in Ho Ho Kus, N.J. was a ton of fun and I got a lot of positive feedback! Thank you to everyone who participated and to Ms. Julie Zier for making this possible. It was wonderful to meet everyone and to share the joy of painting en plein air at this beautiful and historic location.
Many people asked if we'll be doing this again and I think we'll try to do it again in the fall. I will be in Florence from the end of June until mid-August but check out my EVENTS PAGE to stay connected with upcoming workshops. I also recently created a TESTIMONIALS PAGE with feedback from previous students from my classes and workshops. As a teacher, I am very passionated about sharing information and encouragement; I'm so proud of all of my students. Have a wonderful weekend and I'm so glad everyone enjoyed this workshop! Keep painting!
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For my spring semester watercolor class, I decided to do a mastercopy demonstration of Johannes Vermeer's (1632 - 1675), Het Straatje (The Little Street). The original is an oil painting and hangs at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
I started off by drawing accurate proportions for the buildings. In hindsight, I should have spent more time on the drawing stage because my proportions are off and my building is tilted. Buildings and structures require more precision when drawing. After my pencil work, I began painting the sky and then moved on to paint the buildings section by section. I always try to work each layer from general to specific; many of the details were done in the final session. I also used gouache to achieve certain effects such as the mortar between the bricks. I learned several things over the course of this project. I'm usually a very fast painter which serves me well when working en plein air; but this painting required patience and a discerning eye. I've worked on it since March and yet I still see so many things to add and improve. The brickwork alone is an endless pursuit. I'll keep working on it here and there and I'm planning to frame it some day. This mastercopy is allowing me to really appreciate the fact that Vermeer was a brilliant painter with a mind-boggling level of skill. Thank you to everyone who attended both of my presentations yesterday at the Old Schoolhouse Museum. It was great to share my journey with all of you. And it was especially nice to see some of my previous Ridgewood teachers. It was really touching and a special moment for me.
To anyone who purchased prints: first of all, thank you so much for your support and please note that they are a standard size of 8.5" X 11" so you can easily frame them. I worked with Ridgewood Press to create this high quality art prints. I also recently re-opened my SHOP PAGE which will have prints for sale and some original works too. A few people asked about my upcoming plein air event at the Hermitage on May 18th - we are almost at full capacity for the event so if you are interested then I suggest purchasing tickets soon. We weren't sure how many people would sign up, but it's gotten a lot of interest. I'm looking to schedule more workshops soon either before or after my summer trip to Florence; I'll be gone for 6 weeks and will return in mid-August. 2024 has been a lot of fun so far and I can't wait for what's next! I can feel a little hint of spring in the air lately and it's got me excited to start teaching again. I always enjoy my semesters at the Ridgewood Community School and I'm always happy to see new and familiar faces.
This time around: I'll be teaching Drawing for Beginners, Watercolor for Beginners, and Watercolor Level 2. Also, last semester I presented a lecture about my summer in Giverny; this was a very popular program so we're bringing it back around for this spring semester. I wasn't able to teach the drawing course last semester and it's filling up quickly so if you're interested in it then I suggest registering asap. Classes begin on Monday, March 4th and there's still time to register, which you can do online: https://rcs.ridgewood.k12.nj.us/brochure__registration or by calling 201-670-2777 Looking forward to another great semester! |
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