VIRTUAL WORKSHOP
Automatic/Expressive Drawing

Students explore mixed media as they create works on paper in this dynamic and experimental workshop for students of all levels. The beauty of gouache and its potential for vibrancy and rich, matte tones is introduced and put into practice. Paper and its seductive surface quality and versatility as a substrate is used in a variety of ways to create collaged and multilayered imagery. Students produce multiple works on paper and discover new skills through prompts and exposure to materials, with both abstraction and the figure as options for subject matter.

Bring the face and figure to life with the transparency and immediacy of watercolor. This extremely expressive media can also be highly controlled. We work from life as well as photographic sources in this deceivingly direct paint medium. With daily demonstrations and a series of simple and accessible studio exercises, students develop skills controlling resoluble colors, reserving and pulling back highlights and maintaining brilliant and delicate tones that are unique to water-based media. We focus on capturing the essence of the portrait and figure through taking time to look and record what we see.

Observe nature with fresh eyes, letting time slow to examine the wild world closely. Investigate nature firsthand, using magnifying loupes to inspect subjects, contemplating life, growth, decay, and regeneration. Using the natural world as source material, we read, discuss, observe, and embark on a painting journey. The emphasis of this workshop is thinking about painting as process and movement rather than fixed form, depicting nature with paint without needing to reproduce observations in a literal way. Melding abstraction and representation, students discover and produce depth, allowing an image to float to the surface. We learn to develop form, mix color, and consider composition, all inspired by what we see around us.