As a practicing painter you may have heard the quote, “Value does all of the work, but color gets all of the credit!” Though this is true, in this workshop Bridget hopes to help students discover that color does a whole lot of work, too. The workshop will start with color definitions, discussion of the color wheel, and color-mixing exercises you can work on to improve your color seeing. Then students will advance to the practical application of these skills by painting a “block-in” of color notes for a simple still life. The second and third days will focus on understanding how the color of the light source affects your subject. Students will paint a still life under a warm light source and then paint the same still life again the following day under a cool light source to study color temperature. If you are intrigued by color and would like a few more tools to think about practical application of color in your work, Bridget would love to work with you. Some understanding of value will be helpful as value will be discussed, but the focus of the class will be on color.

Start your child drawing at The Atelier Studio Program of Fine Arts where they will learn methods for seeing and drawing with information our adult students learn! This program, specially designed for children, moves them through steps to learn how to draw realistically, starting with cartoon characters and progressing to more complex illustrations. This course can be continued just as our adult classes, with students working at their own pace to improve their skills. The use of markers, colored pencils, and paint will be introduced as well as working from a still life. LIMIT 10 children.

Materials: see supply list on website

Two-week portrait studies

This six-week course will have one model for every two weeks giving students the opportunity to work on studies or alla prima paintings. Demonstrations by the instructor will show various ways to start a block-in. Topics such as accurate proportions, perspective, values, and capturing a likeness will be addressed. Students can draw or paint. Color and technique in oil will be covered for those who choose to paint. This is appropriate for all skill levels. Beginners can practice, and those who are advanced can create finished alla prima portraits. This class may be taken by students age 15 and up.

Materials: medium or soft vine charcoal, kneaded eraser, sandpaper block, 11" x 14" or larger charcoal paper, and drawing board (all available at The Atelier’s store). Painters: If you are experienced, bring what you have, including paper towels and a large container with a cover for your Gamsol. If you are new at painting, be prepared to draw the first day and we will discuss what you will eventually need.

This class is designed for both beginning and continuing students wishing to learn the basics of traditional watercolor. Composition, value, color mixing and design are taught in an atmosphere of helpful and friendly critiquing. Students learn techniques by doing copies of instructor and other master artists' works. They then apply those techniques to their own works from nature. This class will be taught online via Zoom. Upon registration and payment for the class, the instructor will email a supply list and other print-outs to you before the class begins. Lessons will be emailed prior to each session so you will have them available to you as you are watching the demonstration and working along with the instructor.

For Art Collectors and Artists

Whether you want to educate your patrons, document your legacy, or appraise your own collection, this workshop is designed to help you get started. Joy will present a lecture on managing your art collection, it will provide an overview of the platform and resources that she utilizes in her art consulting business. You will take away a comprehensive plan to move forward with tools to protect your assets, document your collectibles, and be prepared in the event of a disaster. Being a collector herself, art appraiser, and advocate for artists, Joy has been involved in all areas of art collecting, managing collections, as well as being an interior designer and custom picture framer for over 35 years. She works with art institutions as a liaison to provide training to her clients in the documentation, preservation and conservation of collections.

This new class was designed with your learning in mind. We will talk about all things figure drawing! Students will use graphite pencils to draw the figure. Lecture and demos will accompany drawing time to give the student a strong foundation from which to work. The class information will build systematically. For the first few classes, students will work from a new pose each night with emphasis on accurate proportion and a strong start. Poses will progressively lengthen from 2-4 nights as students learn to render the figure with a step-by-step approach. Topics covered will include gesture, bone structure and skeletal anatomy, accurate shape building, perspective, and understanding how light falls on form and form rendering.

Life drawing is at the core of any serious program of fine arts. In these classes, students draw from the figure in pencil, charcoal, including an option of painting. Each drawing or painting is created over a period of sessions, developing the student’s eye for accurate gesture, proportions, and anatomy. With a single sustained pose, students will have the option of either taking one drawing/painting to a high degree of finish or completing several drawings from different positions around the model.

One-day still-life studies

This class will be focused on one-day oil studies of still lifes in color. The student will begin each class with a quick 20-minute sketch of the still life in paint. The remainder of the day will be focused on color mixing, application, and manipulation of paint on the canvas using brushes or palette knives. Each week will be a new still-life setup in order to study new textures, colors and shapes. Studies, especially done in color paint, are the basis of all finished works. This class attempts to give the student more confidence in applying paint to a surface, relieving the fear of making mistakes in paint by making those mistakes and then correcting them. Only through experimentation with application of paint on the canvas do we learn to create different effects. We will also focus on quick adjustments to value, color, and drawing with differing brushes and mixing color on the palette or directly on the canvas. Some experience in drawing is recommended as much of the class will be in paint application and not perfection of drawing skills. All levels are welcome! This class will not be focused on completing a refined, finished piece but for practice, exploration and fun! This class will use only oil paint and not other mediums. Email Cassandra Ronning at cassandra.ronning@gmail.com for questions and suggested supply list.