Autumn leaves
I have started teaching my art classes with Coventry Adult Education and can say I am throughly enjoying it! My 1st class started last Thursday where I demonstrated how to paint a wood land scene in acrylics. The group also painted along and have produced the 1st part of the scene using different size brushes and painting techniques. We will finish this piece tonight and they will have an effective painting to add to their portfolios.
For the second part of tonights lesson I am planning to think about colour and colour theory. This is always a bit of a 'grey' area with artists, some of whom don't bother to look into and choose to paint instinctively. Of course this is a great way of painting and I do use this method in my work, but to actually sit down and look at colour and what colours do when they next to each other is an eyeopener!
What colour shall I use? How do I make that colour? How do I make brown? ( I get asked this a lot), Why paint in layers? What is A Tertiary Colour? There are many questions we as artists come across when painting and over the next week in my acrylic class we be hopefully answering some of them.
Knowledge of colour enhances a painting, using dynamics from the colour wheel can bring out objects and make them more important, make our eyes go to that area in the painting. Colour theory is a tool and having a palette* that you like to work with (a collection of colours) is an important part of developing a 'style'.
*'A palette ' is known as colours which an artist prefers to work with, mine tends to be blues, greens, pinks, reds. I see myself as a peacock and peacock colours are what I am attracted to. As we develop in painting our own palette becomes apparent in our work.
So this evening I hope to introduce my students to colour and take them on a happy journey where fear disappears and confidence grows. When you really look at an object you can start to really see what colours are part of its make up, this can only enrich the work and make it more believable. Try it, look at something properly, not just see it but look, its amazing what you really really can see.
Information on my art classes:
Exploring Acrylics Thursday evenings 6.45pm - 8.45pm at Southfields Old School, Coventry, CV1 5EJ.
Painting with Texture in Oils and Acrylics Fridays 1pm - 3pm at Cheylesmore Community Centre, Coventry, CV3 5JX. This course starts on the 15th October. Enrolment for both classes are on the Adult Education web site, see below.
Or you can ring Adult Ed 024 7697 2515