Art Is…on the West Coast

Art Is…Petaluma Inaugural West Coast Retreat

The philosophy of “Art Is…You” is to create a moment in time where artists, whether they be faculty or students, can come together to share in their passion for creativity. To create, self nourish, replenish personal creative resources and to nurture not only individual souls but the souls of those around them. Whether creating something is part of your daily routine or indeed the closest to creating has been using a glue stick – there is something for everybody.

In 2011, Art Is…You will celebrate its 5th anniversary

Behind the Face

We will create a mixed media background using a variety of techniques, developing a perfect 8×10 backdrop to add a mixed media portrait to. I will deconstruct the drawing of a face to make it doable by everyone. Behind the face we will explore ourselves, through journaling. Our ‘thoughts’ will then be covered up by the face we create as we work on a self portrait of sorts that anyone can do. I provide full support for all skill levels in this class, offering a variety of ways to add a face within your comfort zone.

Class Kit-$10-payable to instructor at beginning of class includes:

• 8×10 hardboard premium artist panel
• Collage fodder you won’t find anywhere else
• Charcoal pencil
• Blending Stump
• My favorite white gel pen
• Sequin waste
• Wooden stick tool

Students Should Bring:

• Water container
• Palette
• 2” chip brush (or other cheap wide brush)
• Paint Brushes, assorted

All other paints, mediums and materials supplied by the instructor

The Art of Pursuing Portraits

Self Portraits Journal Style using Conte Crayon

Creating a self portrait can be intimidating if you’re not accustomed to drawing faces. The KEY is to remember it doesn’t have to be an exact replica of your face. You are creating the ‘essence’ of you, not a mirror image, and this workshop is intended to help you do just that.

You will learn some simple techniques that teach the tonal values of shading and be able to create a self portrait that reflects the inner you by combining journaling and drawing as we practice sketching and creating pages in a Moleskine journal using Conte Crayon, pencil, and a kneaded eraser. When you get comfortable with the technique we will move on to create a final piece on 140lb hotpress watercolor paper that you’ll be proud to frame.

Class Kit-$15-payable directly to instructor at beginning of class

Includes:

• Moleskine Paper backed Sketch Journal
• Matchbox set of Conte Crayons
• Blending stump
• Kneaded eraser
• Creating Faces booklet by Pam
• 9×12 sheet of hot press watercolor paper
• Students Should Bring:
• Favorite sketching pencil(s)
• Photo copy of a picture of them, sized to fit nicely on a 9×12 substrate

Shades of Grey “Colorized”

A unique variation of my ‘Shades of Grey’ online workshop

Creating art within the Shades of Grey provides a wonderful opportunity to explore shading, tonal values and see your art in a new way. We will explore the varying shades of grey using both Faber Castell Brush Tipped Artist Pens and graphite pencil in varying shades, and spending time creating solely in the grey tones, working on shading, values and various was to create ‘texture’ with pens. Then we will go a step further when and begin to add color in the form of paint and water soluble crayon to create journal style artwork that’s only limited by your imagination!

Class Kit-$12.00-payable to instructor at the beginning of class

• Strathmore Bristol Smooth 5.5 x 8 journal
• 3 pencils, in soft, medium, and hard graphite
• Blending stump
• Kneaded eraser

Copies of previous work for inspiration, if desired

One set of Faber Castell Pitt Brush Artist Pens Manga Shades of Grey

Information on this set: Manga, Set of 8 — Faber-Castell Manga markers are recommended by leading Manga artists for their performance and range of colors. Waterproof, smudgeproof, lightfast, archival-quality ink contains a high proportion of pigment. Set of 8 includes five markers in five shades of gray with brush tip, one black brush tip, one black medium brush tip, and one black superfine tip in a durable plastic wallet. A leaflet provides helpful hints and advice on getting started.

Creating Color Book Journal

Reusing your own artwork in your journal pages helps you get the most out of the time you put into creating art. By making copies of previous journal pages and other art you’ve created, you continually have a great stash of collage fodder right at your fingertips! You are able to revisit your art in a totally new way and create pages that are uniquely your own. We will use black and white copies of work and other black and white journal fodder to create a color book style page that we will build on with paint, pens and water soluble crayon, completely reinventing the original work.

Class Kit-$10-payable directly to instructor at beginning of class

• Strathmore 140lb Cold Press Visual Journal
• Copies of some of my own journal pages
• Special collection of journal fodder you won’t be able to get anywhere else!
• All paints, mediums and other workshop materials are provided

• Paint brushes, assorted
• Water container
• Palette of some sort (can be a paper plate)
• Black and white copies of your own artwork
• Black marker (permanent)
• Graphite pencil

Date: Thursday, September 22, 2011
Location: California
Register Here