with David Ginsberg and Christine Mitzuk

In imaginative art (be it a posthumous portrait or fantasy art) a photo reference is incredibly useful. Your limitations may be funds, space, or having someone to pose for your project. For example, you need to paint an historical picture but only have static head reference, you need to have someone flying but you can't defy the laws of physics, or maybe you need to paint a special effect.

In this workshop we will design pictures by sketching, exploring what's possible through imagination, and then work with a professional photographer to get excellent photo reference based on those plans. The focus will be on visual storytelling, working through compositions, exploring ways to evoke emotion, a sense of time and place or special effects through light/value design in sketches, and character. We will discuss props and costuming. Working with a professional photographer, we will translate the sketches to get excellent photo reference that you can use to complete your picture in your own time.

You'll gain tips and tricks about how to know what kind and how much reference you need. We will cover pictorial as well as legal considerations, what kind of reference is available to artists, and ways to shoot your own reference by either working with a photographer who has the ideal gear, or using what you have available if you have budget and/or time constraints. Questions welcomed!

The first 3 days we will be at The Atelier for the lecture and sketching/planning the pictures. Students will then have 5 days to gather props, costume pieces, and someone to pose (or they can pose themselves).

The following weekend, we will be at David's photo studio for photoshoots based on students' sketches.

• Lecture at The Atelier: Friday, June 5, 9:00am-12:00pm
• Workshop sketch and planning phase: Friday, June 5, 1:00pm-4:00pm, and Saturday–Sunday, 9:00am–4:00pm
• Photo studio phase: Saturday–Sunday, June 13–14, 9:00am–4:00pm.

with David Ginsberg and Christine Mitzuk

Lecture and demonstration only. See full workshop here.

This is a 3-day weekend workshop where we study ideas and plan pictures that can grab and captivate our audience. We'll be exploring composition through generating copious amounts of thumbnail sketches; refining, changing, and enhancing our ideas through drawing; and, finally, developing a large loose sketch, based on the previous explorative sketches, to take home for a finished painting.

Fundamentals of composition, value, and picture design are stressed throughout. This is where we discover who we are: marks on paper, with the barest minimum of lines, will flush out and flesh out an idea that lingers just beneath our awareness. As students progress from thumbnails to sketches, we'll also touch on when and how to use reference. On the third day Greg will demonstrate color comps, and students will begin to explore rough color sketches to aid them in the development of their picture beyond this workshop.

Much frustration and head-scratching ensues while we struggle to do our best, but Greg hasn't had a student yet that hasn't come away with an epiphany or two about their work. And we'll have lots of fun in the discovery process. Come with no fear—you're in good hands.

This listing is for the lecture/demo only. See also: Composition for Visual Impact (Full Workshop)