Your phone takes photos that give you information about a subject — but not insight. A solid understanding of colour and the various arrangements that can bring your photo and your painting to life can elevate your paintings to a new level. Hesitating about what colours to use is one of the biggest hurdles when painting. This session will demystify colour choices available to you.

 

We will focus on all things colour and cover things like:

 

• dominant and subordinate colours

• how to overcome the usual colours for objects

• the various colour schemes and their effects on your subject

• the beauty of colour harmony

• how colours react with each other

• why greys are an important part of the colour choices you make

 

Hopefully, by the end of the session you will be a “confident colour chooser” and your paintings will be over on the “fab” end of the colour spectrum

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Full Day Session: Lose the Details June 2

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As artists we have all done it at one time or another: we painstakingly render things exactly as they appear in the photo: that path, that house, those flowers, those rocks.

 

Are we painting or copying what we see? Paying so much attention to detail results in a tightness to your artistic expression. Your finished painting may not be overly “painterly” but you’re not sure how to make it different. This hands on workshop will be a chance for you to paint your familiar subject and approach it with a loose freshness and creativity.

 

Over the time we spend together we will cover things like: 

 

• the magic of hard and soft edges

• atmospheric perspective in any subject (not just landscapes)

• the power of suggestion

• negative space noise reduction

• making the photo reference work for you instead of you working for the photo

• the beauty of colour harmony

 

You will be astonished at how leaving out the details can make a beautiful painting.