Workshop drawing by Carol Katz

I’ve heard it said again and again that when you take a workshop, don’t expect to take away too much, maybe at best a few little tricks or oil painting techniques. Anyone who’s had that experience simply didn’t do their homework. My workshops are hugely different; they’re about transformation. My goal to change the way my students look at the world and think about making art. Carol Katz took my drawing workshop in New York last summer. (See above.) This is what she had to say about her experience:

A lot of people think they can’t draw. They think you’re either born with the ability to draw or you’re not and you can never learn. In reality, it’s something that can be taught to anyone with the right teacher and method. Just as a musician needs to learn the notes and the language of music, an artist needs to learn the language of art.

Through years of school, my teachers never seemed to offer the kind of art education that I knew I was missing. I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for, but I knew I would know it when I found it. I took drawing, figure drawing and painting in college and for years after in many different schools, always searching for the education that eluded me – until I took Marvin’s painting class and drawing workshop.

I never seemed to be able to get beyond a certain level in my drawing. However, in one week Marvin’s drawing workshop brought me to a level that I’ve been striving for my whole life. It is by far the most awesome drawing course – and I’ve taken countless – and as an artist, I can honestly say it was a game changer for me and a life changing experience. I’ll continue to study with Marvin because I believe the sky is the limit studying with one of the most gifted artists and teachers around.

Class painting by Jane Cronk

Jane came to my class after a five-year hiatus from formal painting instruction. Her progress since September has been breathtakingly stunning. Nothing is more exciting to me than to witness these transformations.

This summer I’ll be leading three Oil Portrait Painting Workshops. They’ll take place in Cleveland, Atlanta, and New York City. I’ll also be conducting a Portrait Drawing Workshop in New York as well. These are appropriate for portrait artists of all levels, from experienced to aspiring.

The dates are as follows:

New York Portrait Drawing Workshop: June 3-7

Atlanta Oil Portrait Painting Workshop: June 10-27
Cleveland Oil Portrait Painting Workshop: July 15-27
New York Oil Portrait Painting Workshop: August 5-16

For more info please click on any of the above.

I will also be attending two information sessions at the School of Visual Arts on May 6 & 7, 2013. If you’re interested in meeting me and finding out more about my workshops here are the times and locations:

Summer 2013 Fine Arts Information Session – May 6, 6:30-8:30 PM
133/141 West 21st St. Room 602C, New York City.

Summer 2013 Illustration Information Session – May 7, 6:30-8:30 PM
209 East 23rd Street, Room 311, New York City.

Call the office of Continuing Education at 212-592-2050 for more info about the info sessions or about any of my New York offerings.

Hope to see you this summer and help you change your game!

The post Marvin Mattelson’s Teaching Schedule • Summer 2013 appeared first on Brush Aside.

Realistic Figure and Portrait Painting • FPC-2010-CE
Fridays • 12:00PM – 6:00PM • 12 sessions • Feb 01 – Apr 26
Register for the Friday realistic figure and portrait painting class.

Classical Portrait Painting • FPC-2348-CE
Saturdays • 10:00 AM – 4:00PM • 12 sessions • Feb 02 – Apr 27
Register for the Saturday classical portrait painting class.

The post Marvin Mattelson Continuing Education Classes at SVA in NYC appeared first on Brush Aside.

It would seem a most enviable commission–potentially career altering–based on Kate’s iconic status. That’s assuming, of course, all went according to plan. The potential for criticism was always lurking in the shadows, but I don’t believe anyone, particularly the portrait artist, Paul Emsley, ever expected the tsunami of negativism that ensued.

Legions have been quite forthcoming with opinions regarding what’s wrong with the portrait. I can’t recall such a stink ever made over another portrait. As negatively as the Lucian Freud portrait of Queen Elizabeth was received by the public, it was still seen as just a painting by some crazy artist. No such consideration this time, however. Wherever you turned, there was the portrait of Kate, larger than life, surrounded by a sea of vitriol.

Unless this is the first time you’ve read my blog, you would know that on the day of the unveiling I was interviewed by Kate Snow on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, regarding the subject of portraiture. They weren’t seeking a critique from me, just looking for a sound bite or two that could offer their national audience a little insight into the process. I stated that ultimately, as long as the artist and client were satisfied, a portrait should be considered successful. Anything beyond that is a bonus, so since both subject and artist proclaimed great satisfaction–Kate described the result as “absolutely brilliant”–that should have been it. Unfortunately, that’s not the way it went down, with Paul Emsley stating that criticism was “so vicious” he doubted whether there was any merit in the work.
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During my interview I was asked what makes a portrait successful. I answered, “A good portrait, in my point of view, makes you think you’re sitting in front of the person!” While I was showing a clip of the interview to some students the other day, they asked me, based on my criteria, how I felt about the portrait, so I thought I’d share what I told them with you, my readers.

Each semester I take my students on a tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, here in New York City, and break down a range of paintings by various artists, based on the principles I teach. I talk about what works and what doesn’t. Very few paintings are without some flaws. That doesn’t mean they’re not still great. I don’t critique to be mean-spirited, or to elevate my ego–I am far from flawless–but to help my students understand there are consequences to the choices they make. Forewarned is, after all, forearmed!

When I paint a portrait the reaction I am looking for is, “I feel like he/she is about to step out of the canvas and speak!” When viewing great portraits at the Met I see how strongly people respond to that very quality. With that in mind I’ll put in my own two cents worth and try to pinpoint what exactly went wrong here.

Illusionistic painting requires a certain degree of alteration; you need to deceive your viewer. In order to capture the feeling of space you must organize, edit and interpret information. To what end you make these changes is a question of intent. Intrinsically there is no right or wrong, but if creating an illusionistic reality is the goal, one needs to understand how the eye and brain function in tandem. You experience spacial depth through the mechanism of binocular vision. If you draw and paint exactly what you see, whether from life or a photo, your painting will look flat, because it’s on a flat surface, and binocular vision is taken out of the equation. I believe to create a dimensional illusion certain adjustments (based on tangential phenomena associated with binocular vision) are required. The bulk of what I teach is based on this concept.

A sense of structure is achieved by emphasizing planes, mainly through value changes–although it can also be achieved via hue and chroma shifts, or any combination of the three. Used in tandem with the juxtaposition of hard and soft edges a painting can seem quite spacial.

I have placed the reference photo used by the artist next to a reproduction of the painting. (Why anyone would ever post their reference photo online is beyond me, but being able to compare the reference to the painting is most useful.) In the photo, Kate appears thinner, younger, crisper and more dynamic. Looking at the painting, Kate appears much softer, with the exception of her eyes and mouth. This is a photographic technique called shallow depth of field. You set your lens to the widest aperture and focus on the plane of the eye. Everything in front of and behind the eye gets blurred, this draws your attention straight to the eye. Unfortunately this is not the way we humans see, so you wind up with a flat photographic look and not the illusion of three dimensionality.

By virtue of the softening, the structure gets lost. The side planes of her face are barely discernible, diminishing her bone structure and making her face seem wider. This makes her eyes appear small. The front planes of her lower lids seem lightened a bit which unfortunately emphasizes the lines and accentuates the bags. Her chin and jaw line are softened, but since the edge is uniformly soft, she appears rounder. The result: an older and heavier version of Kate.

The eyes are over modeled–this means the value range has been expanded–so they don’t sit back far enough in the socket, and they seem a bit glassy. According to William Bouguereau, the secret of great painting is having the smaller accents remain subservient to the large planes. In other words, each part needs to be in relationship with the whole. The eyebrows seem to have been painted more symmetrically than they appear in real life, and their shadows has been lightened at the expense of structure.

The nose, also the target of much scorn, has lost its aquiline character. The shaft has been widened, further flattening (and fattening) Kate’s appearance. It’s under modeled–meaning the value range is compressed–which pushes it back. The ball of the nose doesn’t project out due to the softening and deemphasizing of the wings of the nose. The highlights have been almost eliminated. Having the nose project forward is very critical because it indicates form. The mouth looks flat because contrast was lowered and overly sharp.

I think the way the face is placed and lit was less than ideal if spacial illusion is the goal. Thomas Eakins called light the big tool. I think there’s a major misconception that a true artist can make a great painting regardless of how the subject is lit.

With regards to the color, and this is a very personal thing, I feel the flesh is a little too monochromatic and neutral for my taste. The subtle hue and chroma variations present in human flesh can go a long way towards suggesting that there’s blood circulating under the surface. Again, I don’t really see evidence of this in his other portraits. To be fair I am evaluating this based on digital imagery. The artist told Hello! magazine that “half the problem is the portrait doesn’t photograph well.” (I don’t know of any artist who doesn’t feel the same way when seeing their own work reproduced.) The digital image is all I have to go on.

I believe the artist’s intention was to flatter the Duchess, but based on the public’s overall response, he didn’t succeed. Our appearance is based upon our skeletal structure, so the alterations ultimately flattened the form and downplayed her character. I find this a bit peculiar because Kate requested, and Mr. Emsley reiterated, that she wanted to be painted as her natural self. I also question the portrait’s scale. It’s an aesthetic decision, of course, but it’s my theory that people are put off by freakishly large heads, unless the painting is intended to be viewed at a distance. Call it survival instinct, because in nature larger creatures devour smaller ones. Another drawback of painting large-scale is it’s more difficult to step back, particularly if the artist paints sitting down, which I believe Mr. Emsley does.

When you paint in a classical manner, like Mr. Emsley or myself, you open yourself for potshots across the board. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is an maven when it comes to reality. Many so-called bona fide experts have chimed in, but I’ve heard very little with regards to the mechanics of what went wrong. According to The London Evening Standard, “He (Paul Emsley) was accused of making her seem a decade older than her 31 years, giving her ‘hamsterish’ cheeks and a look as ‘soundless and smooth as an undertaker’s makeover’, while others described the portrait as ‘catastrophic’ and ‘rotten’.” But saying that her nose isn’t quite right or her eyes are strange is just stating the obvious.

Personally, I don’t think the artist warrants the terrible, vicious and insulting response he received, nor did he deserve to be vilified and eviscerated. The majority of portraits out there are far worse than his. Critic Michael Flood McNulty stated that Kate’s painting is, “Truly the worst royal portrait ever.” Perhaps he’s the worst critic ever, because the majority of those done in the past century are horrible. I tried to discuss the reasons behind the most often cited complaints. What I pointed out were subtleties, not gaping holes, but under a microscope, even the tiniest misstep can appear the size of the Grand Canyon, or should I say, Buckingham Palace? I think the artist handled the paint with great ability, but unfortunately technique alone can’t carry a painting. There’s so much more to a portrait than surface. The decision-making process, relative to intent, lies at the heart of all great painting.

So this begs the question, who’s at fault? I believe the responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of Kate. She picked the wrong portrait artist, because I don’t believe Paul Emsley’s intent is ever to create illusionistic realism. Unfortunately, based on the public’s reaction, that’s what they were expecting, and unfulfilled expectations lead to upsets. What he did here–enlarging her head, flattening the form and accentuating the texture–is what he always does. It was very effective for his portrait of Nelson Mandela and won him the coveted BP prize for his portrait of Michael Simpson. Mr. Emsley is using a classically styled technique to express modern sensibilities and I think that’s what attracted Kate, who was an art history major. Next time she should choose an artist who’s capable of integrating a contemporary sensibility with a classical illusionistic reality, assuming her goal is a great portrait, not a great controversy.

Until next time…

The post A Royal Fiasco appeared first on Brush Aside.

A commenter, responding to my recent post On The Quest For Excellence, said their New Year’s resolution was to be a better artist. They cited the following quote:

That which we persist in doing becomes easier – not that the nature of the task has changed, but our ability to do has increased.

Ralph Waldo Emerson:

I know Emerson was a brilliant guy but, big picture in mind, I think he missed the mark. Yes, it’s true, you will get better through repetition, but if you do something badly and you practice and practice, you’ll get better at doing it badly. Which begs the question: how do you to learn to do it well?

If you’re being objective (a huge part in the quest for success, IMO) you first identify the problem and then come up with the solution. However, it’s easier said than done, because, had you had that knowledge, there wouldn’t a problem in the first place. Therefore, you need to look outside yourself to expand your capabilities. This where a good teacher comes in.

At the height of my illustration career (Time Magazine covers, movie posters, national ad campaigns, etc.) I realized that I wasn’t satisfied with the quality of my paintings; I spent the next ten years studying, one day a week, with John Frederick Murray, a former student of the legendary Frank Reilly. Everyone thought I was crazy because I was “so good” but I wanted to be so much better. Reilly’s teachings allowed me to fill in many gaps in my approach. Having been self-taught, up to that point, I was amazed to discover that Reilly’s methodology synced perfectly with mine.

My former student Martin Wittfooth, one of today’s hottest young painters, was mentioned last week in People Magazine. Comedic actress Kaley Cuoco stated that she had recently purchased a large painting of Marty’s. When he first came to study with me, he was having modest success with his gallery work, but he too wanted more. He signed up for my Friday class and came every week for three years. Above you can see a recent painting of his and below, you can read what he had to say about his experience.

Marvin Mattelson’s technique and teaching philosophy have been an invaluable asset to my own understanding of painting. A tremendous amount of the knowledge and experience that I have acquired in this class greatly informs the way that I paint in my own time as a full time professional artist, regardless of what subject matter I choose to depict. Everything from the best choice of materials, to a thorough understanding of color, to the handling and application of paint and the achievement of compelling realism is covered in Marvin’s method, and in a manner that is extremely easy to absorb and process. The method allows for immense personal development for an artist at any stage in the game. In the various classes I have attended throughout my studies and my career, I have never witnessed such great strides of advancement in well-rounded skills as in the students in Marvin’s class. I am grateful to count myself among them.

It really has been a hugely transformative experience for me, and I wish that more aspiring artists who had the chops to progress with their painting discovered his class. I do make a point to tell anyone asking about my portraits or just painting-advancement to consider signing up.

Martin Wittfooth

I’ll be teaching two continuing education classes for upcoming winter/spring semester at The School of Visual Arts in New York City. These classes are open to everyone, not just full-time students. Realistic Figure and Portrait Painting, Fridays from noon to 6pm, starting Feb. 1, and Classical Portrait Painting, Saturdays from 10am to 4pm beginning Feb. 2.

On Tuesday September 15 there will be a Continuing Education Information Session for students interested in learning more about available courses at SVA. I’ll be in attendance, so if you’re in the neighborhood, please stop by and say hello. This information session will be held at 209 East 23rd Street, room 311, 3rd floor. Seating is given on a first-come, first-served basis. Session begins promptly at 6:30 PM.

You can read more about my portrait painting and figure painting classes and workshops here.

The post How To Be A Better Artist in 2013 appeared first on Brush Aside.

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Tonight, January 11, 2013, I’m being interviewed by Kate Snow for the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. It airs at 6:30 Eastern Standard Time. Please check your local listings.

The interview lasted 25 minutes and during that time I painted the above color study of Kate from life. It’s for a piece about the unveiling of Kate Middleton’s first official portrait. The entire segment will be lasting about a minute and a half so if you want to see me, don’t blink or go to the potty.

This all took place at The School of Visual Arts, in the studio space where I teach my classes and workshops. Kudos to them for getting it together at the drop of a hat.

All this happened today and Kate (Snow not Middleton) left a few minutes ago to edit the piece. It was pretty awesome and she seemed to genuinely like the portrait, especially the eyes, so I gave her the painting. The mouth was the most challenging aspect since she had to keep talking the entire time she interviewed me. It was tough because the lights were glaring in my eyes and I had to mix colors more from feel than visually. All things considered, it turned out better than I ever anticipated so I’m quite pleased with it. For 25 minutes worth of painting I think I did a credible job. I would have liked having more time, but, you know what they say, that’s show biz!

Until next time…

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There’s a book by Malcolm Gladwell on that very subject called “Outliers.” It’s an interesting take on the subject. Very entertaining. He basically claims that being in the right place (parents, environment, etc.), plus being given the appropriate opportunity, and lastly, putting in the proper amount of time (10,000 hours) are the key components to becoming a huge success. He makes a good case, citing people like Steve Jobs and the Beatles—plus others—as examples. What he doesn’t seem to take into account, in my opinion, is that many fitting his criteria fall far short, while others, seemingly outside of his archetypes, are able to achieve greatness none the less. Ultimately his book is a cookie cutter explanation which offers few tangible solutions of how to get there from here.

My take on the matter offers a far more practical blueprint. I believe that my criteria, although geared towards the arts, can be adapted to any career choice or endeavor, from athletics to business to science. So please feel free to share this blog post with anyone you think it can help. It’s based on my own life experience and has proved instrumental in helping many of my former students achieve their dreams.

I think that in order to be successful, one needs to be in possession of the following four traits:

Number 1: Talent.
To me, talent is the most overrated of the four. It’s a popular belief that it alone insures success. As a teacher with 40 years experience, I can assure you, this is very not true. Many precociously talented people fall far short. My most talented student ever isn’t currently employed in any creative capacity, and is not even tapping into his great talent as a hobbyist. The myriad of distractions, which life has to offer, has kept him from manifesting his tremendous artistic potential. Conversely, I had another student, with minimally apparent skill, who become a most impressive painter. I’m not saying that talent is meaningless—it’s impossible to succeed if you have none. therefore, in the grand scheme of things, I consider it’s worth in the quest for success to be about 5%.

Number 2: Hard Work.
My aforementioned student, the one with with minimally apparent talent, achieved success because he worked his butt off, bringing in a finished painting each week, while his classmates put most of their energy into making excuses. Similarly, when Bouguereau entered the Academy he was rated last in his class, but thanks to his legendary work ethic, he eventually won the highest honor, the Prix de Rome. He went from last to first. Rarely does anyone achieve great success without working hard. Since hard work is at least twice as important as talent, it gets a rating of 10%.

Number 3: Objectivity
It’s far more important than the previous two, because you need to cast a critical eye inward if you truly want to be great at what you do. If you actually think you don’t need to improve then why aren’t you successful already?

It’s easy to make excuses, but in order to get better you need to determine your weaknesses and turn them into strengths. What exactly is it that you need to work on? Is it your overall design sense (sometimes referred to as picture-making), achieving unity, drawing hands, establishing color harmony or something else? It may be one thing or it may be many. It may not even be seemingly art related, but pretending that a problem doesn’t exist won’t fix it. See, if you think you’re already great, what can you possibly do to get better? When you acknowledge that a problem exists, you give yourself a chance to change it for the better.

Being self critical is very tough. None of us like to be criticized. We tend to get very defensive when told that we are lacking or somehow screwed up. Very few realize that the knowledge and experience responsible for our achievements to date are the very same things keeping us stuck. If you want to fulfill your potential, you need to be ruthless regarding your self analysis and the truths you hold to be self evident.

Objectivity requires not only a look inward, but also a look outward. With regards to the big picture, where exactly do you fit in? What traits allow others to be successful while you fall short? Are they more talented, do they work harder, do they charge less money, are they better at networking, are they less ethical? The list can go on, ad infinitum, but the bottom line is, if you just stand there hoping that things will serendipitously turn around for you, you are powerless?

If you can muster the strength to be self critical you can begin to move forward. What’s the worst that can happen? Maybe you discover that you’re not willing to do what’s necessary. That can be a very good thing. Get out of the game and find another better suited for your unique set of talents and abilities, and put all your energy into that.

To me objectivity is much more important than the previous two traits because no matter how talented and hard working you are, if you don’t focus your energy appropriately, you’re going nowhere. With that in mind, I rate objectivity at 33%, approximately twice the importance of the other two.

Now if you’re keeping score, the previous three when added up total 49%. So obviously we still need to account for an additional 51%, or what I consider to be the most important factor in achieving one’s goals. But as important as it is, without talent, hard work and objectivity, it alone falls far short of 100%.

Number 4: Perseverance
The most critical aspect of achieving greatness is never giving up! It is pretty obvious, when you surrender, you’re out of the game. Interestingly, most people cite fear of failure as the reason they give up. That’s pretty ridiculous, if you think about it, because once you’ve given up, failure is all but guaranteed. Personally, I believe fear of success is the main reason people pack it in. Being successful means giving up your comfort level, your reasonableness and your excuses, because once you succeed you need to keep working even harder to keep succeeding. It never gets easier. Life is an incline. Either you are moving forward or you’re sliding back.

So if you truly aspire to become all you can be, this blueprint can come in very handy. Take a look at where you are now and begin the journey, one resolution at a time.

I wish all of you, my readers, great success and a happy, healthy and successful new year!

Until next time…

The post On the Quest for Excellence appeared first on Brush Aside.

On the days I teach (at the School of Visual Arts in New York City) I spend about 25 minutes commuting each way on the Long Island Railroad. Sometimes I try to read, but it’s a frustratingly inadequate amount of time. It feels like the minute I get settled and into the flow, they’re announcing my station. So, since I can’t really do any serious reading, I tend to gaze out the window and listen to my music. As each scene merges into the next, my thoughts do too. Occasionally, an idea for a blog post pops into my head, but up ’til now I haven’t been able to use my travel time productively.

When I launched this blog over the summer, I could devote time to it because I was off from teaching and wasn’t spending a chunk of each day commuting. I was creating posts at what seemed like a pretty prolific pace (for me) and most importantly, I loved doing it. However, since school started up this fall, I’ve been super busy and haven’t had the time to put anything together. I’m not interested in posting random thoughts just for the sake of posting something, but between my commissions, my teaching schedule and my family life, I haven’t had a minute to spare. Not that I’m complaining, mind you, these days it’s great to be busy, but still, it’s very frustrating because I was really into it. I also want to create a book about my approach to painting, so I thought working on this this blog would be a great way to polish my writing skills.

I was looking forward to the start of the fall semester because, first, I love teaching, and secondly, I knew that the interactions between my students and myself could be a great spawning ground for interesting topics. Ironically, when starting this blog my main concern was that I would run out of things to say, but it never occurred to me that the main issue would be a lack of time.

So, for the past several months I’ve tried to come up with a way to use my commute productively, but up to now I haven’t been able to work out a workable solution. I need to be able to create something that is ready to be uploaded. Jotting down ideas doesn’t cut it, because I still don’t have the time to convert them into something postable. I tried typing on my iPhone, but for anything more involved than texting, it sucks. The screen is just too tiny, and being right-brained, I need to see everything I’m writing, not just a sentence or two. By nature I’m a tinkerer; its how I paint and how I write. I like the process of tweaking and evolving so I need to keep scanning back over what I’ve previously written.

Using a laptop also didn’t work. The train is very cramped and there wasn’t room to open a laptop and comfortably access the keyboard. No place to put my elbows! Plus, I’m already so anchored down with supplies and books, I don’t need to add additional weight. I also checked out the iPad, but, unfortunately, there wasn’t enough wiggle room for it either.

Then, suddenly, the technology gods spoke to me. The other day I stopped by Tek Serve, a New York store that specializes in Mac sales and service. As I entered I saw a display featuring the new iPad Mini. As soon as I picked it up a hallelujah chorus rang out and a beam of light descended from the heavens. (Okay, maybe it was the sound system playing Christmas music and a strategically placed spotlight.) But none the less, it was the perfect size, giving me the ability to type away without disturbing my neighbors without adding any significant weight, and I can comfortably scan the page as I write. My prayers have, after all, been answered.

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George Washington:

The Arts and Sciences, essential to the prosperity of the State and to the ornament of human life, have a primary claim to the encouragement of every lover of his country and mankind.

John Q.Adams:

I must study politics and war, that my sons may study mathematics and philosophy…in order to give their children the right to study painting, poetry, music and architecture.

Abraham Lincoln:

I presume, sir, in painting your beautiful portrait, you took your idea of me from my principles, and not from my person.

Franklin D. Roosevelt:

Every time an artist dies, part of the vision of mankind passes with him.

Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy:

I see little of more importance to the future of our country and of civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist. If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him.

Aeschylus and Plato are remembered today long after the triumphs of Imperial Athens are gone. Dante outlived the ambitions of thirteenth century Florence. Goethe stands serenely above the politics of Germany, and I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over cities, we too will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit.

There is a connection, hard to explain logically but easy to feel, between achievement in public life and progress in the arts. The age of Pericles was also the age of Phidias. The age of Lorenzo de Medici was also the age of Leonardo da Vinci. The age Elizabeth also the age of Shakespeare. And the New Frontier for which I campaign in public life, can also be a New Frontier for American art

The life of the arts, far from being an interruption, a distraction, in the life of the nation, is very close to the center of a nation’s purpose- and is a test of the quality of a nation’s civilization.

We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.

Lyndon B. Johnson:

Art is a nation’s most precious heritage. For it is in our works of art that we reveal to ourselves and to others the inner vision which guides us as a nation. And where there is no vision, the people perish.

Gerald Ford:

Music education opens doors that help children pass from school into the world around them – a world of work, culture, intellectual activity, and human involvement. The future of our nation depends on providing our children with a complete education that includes music.

Bill Clinton:

Music is about communication, creativity, and cooperation, and by studying music in schools, students have the opportunity to build on these skills, enrich their lives, and experience the world from a new perspective.

Barack Obama:

In addition to giving our children the science and math skills they need to compete in the new global context, we should also encourage the ability to think creatively that comes from a meaningful arts education.

The future belongs to young people with an education and the imagination to create.

Until next time…

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Realistic Portrait and Figure Painting at the School of Visual Arts

Once again the fall semester is upon us. I teach two classes at the School of Visual Arts in New York City each fall and spring. A large number of my students keep coming back. It’s a diabolical plot to entice them to return semester after semester, by making sure they experience incredible progress in their artistic development. Then they’ll continue to register again and again and again. (Sinister laugh!)

All kidding aside, my teaching is effective because I don’t merely teach tricks, techniques and/or dispense rules. My goal is to transform the way my students think about painting, through a contextual approach.

A number of my students teach at the school. One such faculty member is Lori Hollander, who teaches jewelry making. She is a recent addition who has really flourished utilizing my methodology and thought processes. She started the above portrait–which she emailed to me yesterday–this past spring semester. At the end of the semester Lori took some reference photos of our model, Dustin, because she wanted to take her portrait to a higher level of refinement. I was so excited when I saw the completed painting. I’m posting a detail to give you get a sense of the intensity she achieved. It’s just brimming with life. I’m so proud of the great progress that Lori has made.

Realistic Portrait & Figure Painting runs 12 Fridays from 12:00 PM ’til 6:00 PM. Click here to register or get more info.

Realistic Portrait & Figure Painting runs 12 Saturdays from 10:00 AM ’til 4:00 PM. Click here to register or get more info.

For those interested, the classes start next Friday and Saturday, September 21st & 22nd 2012.

Until next time…

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