Atelier
I've been chewing on teaching some classes based on research I've been doing about renaissance painting techniques. What I'd like to do is a series of classes taking students through the different skills learned by a painter's apprentice. I could see the series running something like this:
Drawing:
1 - introduction to drawing basic 3 dimensional shapes; shading and perspective
2 - drawing more complex shapes; still life and landscape features, principles of light
3 - drawing the human figure
Design
4 - priciples of layout and design for the renaissance painter; Pythagorean harmonies
5 - color theory; symbology, light, warmth and coolness
6 - create the design; figural studies, color studies
Painting
7 - basics of paint and supplies; tempera, oil colors, how they're made, what they're used for, brushes, panels, canvas
7.1 - maybe how to make oil paint. Maybe not, it's often toxic and requires a lot of expensive supplies
7.2 - maybe goldwork; it's not something I really want to teach and is much less common as we get into renaissance painting
8 - preparing the ground; gesso/priming, design transfer
9 - basics of painting; brushwork, glazing, scumbling, grisaille, imprimatura, etc. I'll probably use acryllics for this. They have a lot of the same properties as oils, but dry faster and are less toxic.
10 - basics of painting; starting the background
11- working the paints; adding lights, darks, and mid-tones
12 - finishing; details, glazes
Obviously, this would take several years to go through. I could see doing some of the design classes as open groups, but the hands-on classes would have to be smaller. In theory, I could take a group of gifted students through 1-3, 4-6, or 8 & 10-12 in a day, but they'd really need a lot of practice to get comfortable between the steps, so I don't know that any one group would be comfortable going through all three/four classes that way. To run true to period practice, the students would take 8-12 twice. The first time to copy a master, the second time to paint their own design.
Also, my imagination has been tickled by vittoriosa 's idea of doing classes in persona. That might be worth exploring, too. I think it would add a nice flavor to the atelier.
Does this sound like a series that people would be interested in? I can see folks being loosely interested in the design aspects, but don't know that a lot of people are willing to put in the years of practice it will take to learn to draw and then to learn to paint after that.
Drawing:
1 - introduction to drawing basic 3 dimensional shapes; shading and perspective
2 - drawing more complex shapes; still life and landscape features, principles of light
3 - drawing the human figure
Design
4 - priciples of layout and design for the renaissance painter; Pythagorean harmonies
5 - color theory; symbology, light, warmth and coolness
6 - create the design; figural studies, color studies
Painting
7 - basics of paint and supplies; tempera, oil colors, how they're made, what they're used for, brushes, panels, canvas
7.1 - maybe how to make oil paint. Maybe not, it's often toxic and requires a lot of expensive supplies
7.2 - maybe goldwork; it's not something I really want to teach and is much less common as we get into renaissance painting
8 - preparing the ground; gesso/priming, design transfer
9 - basics of painting; brushwork, glazing, scumbling, grisaille, imprimatura, etc. I'll probably use acryllics for this. They have a lot of the same properties as oils, but dry faster and are less toxic.
10 - basics of painting; starting the background
11- working the paints; adding lights, darks, and mid-tones
12 - finishing; details, glazes
Obviously, this would take several years to go through. I could see doing some of the design classes as open groups, but the hands-on classes would have to be smaller. In theory, I could take a group of gifted students through 1-3, 4-6, or 8 & 10-12 in a day, but they'd really need a lot of practice to get comfortable between the steps, so I don't know that any one group would be comfortable going through all three/four classes that way. To run true to period practice, the students would take 8-12 twice. The first time to copy a master, the second time to paint their own design.
Also, my imagination has been tickled by vittoriosa 's idea of doing classes in persona. That might be worth exploring, too. I think it would add a nice flavor to the atelier.
Does this sound like a series that people would be interested in? I can see folks being loosely interested in the design aspects, but don't know that a lot of people are willing to put in the years of practice it will take to learn to draw and then to learn to paint after that.