Monday, November 23, 2015

New class! Light & Color with Devin Cecil-Wishing


Starting this January, GCA will be offering a new, ongoing Saturday class: Painting Light and Color with Resident Artist and Instructor Devin Cecil-Wishing. 

We recently spoke with Devin about this new offering:

Ive been wanting to put together a class like this for a long time and have been thinking about the best ways to organize a class which takes the concepts of modeling light and form and combines them with a practical way of approaching color.  Lots of students who go through the cast drawing program still find that they struggle with transferring those skills over into color painting.  In this class my aim will be to show students that color can be approached in just as logical and methodical a way as we approach value in our drawings.

By discussing the mechanics of light and looking at why we see what we see, students will begin to understand that each fluctuation in hue, value and chroma is the result of a very specific set of circumstances in our lighting conditions.  By identifying exactly what causes something to look the way that it does, we will be able to much better figure out how to depict it in our paintings.

Well begin by briefly discussing some basic color theory and students will go through a handful of color mixing exercises specifically designed to get them thinking of color as a series of relationships rather than an arbitrary set of individual observations.  Once students have completed these exercises we will quickly move into a series of simple still life paintings.  By keeping our subject matter simple well be able to focus our attention on the color relationships, form modeling and light effects so that students can learn the concepts and then easily apply them to any subject matter that they want.


While we go through these simple still life paintings students will also be learning how to physically construct a painting.  Time will be spent talking about underpaintings, general paint handling, materials and mediums, different painting surfaces, dealing with seams and edges and how to go through the entire process of making a finished painting, from the very beginning right up to the final touches and varnishing.

The beauty of understanding light is that it applies to any subject matter that the artist wishes to paint.  In addition to discussing light and color mixing well also be looking at how some of the old masters handled color relationships in their paintings and how these concepts can be applied to things like portraits and figures.

As students become more advanced in their understanding we will discuss painting different types of surfaces (glass, metal, fur, skin, velvet, etc.) and how each of these surfaces interact differently with their light source.

If you are new to painting, this class will serve as a great introduction to modeling form in full color but it is my hope that even more advanced artists will benefit by gaining a deeper understanding of light and color.

GCA is offering a special, introductory rate for this class, available only for those who sign up before December 1st for the winter session that runs 8 weeks: January 9 - February 27th. To sign up or view class details please click here.

Friday, November 20, 2015

Raina Dai wins Second Structure Prix

"This superb drawing by Raina Dai displays a clear articulation of the four curves of the spine, an excellent and truthful proportional system and a perfect balance of line and tone. The rendering of the halftones presents her confidence and mastery of hatching. There is a sensitivity and subtlety to how she has described the anatomical subforms on the shoulder and gluteal area. She has successfully captured the contemplative and thoughtful pose of the model." 
Critique by instructor Colleen Barry.

This is the second time the Structure Prix has been awarded in the spirit of inspiring healthy competition among peers as inspired by weekly cash prizes at the Academy Julien in Paris during the 19th Century. 
Kevin Müller Cisneros won the first prize in October 2015. 

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Announcing the 2015 Limbo Competition Winners!


Congratulations to core program students Jessica Artman and Savannah Tate Cuff for their first and second place win in this year's Thanksgiving Potluck Limbo Competition! Thanks to Katie Whipple and Liz Beard for a remarkable job holding the poles. Thanks to Eric Kerke for his unaparalleled DJ skills while simultaneously competing. Not since the Connor deJong era has this dual-role been attempted. And to everyone else, thanks for sharing your home-cooking and for eating it!


Alexandro Berrios and Kevin Muller-Cisneros

Jessica Artman folks!

Tsultrim Tenzin

Addison Xu

Savannah Tate-Cuff, Studio Yogi

Theo 

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Tony Curanaj Exhibition Opens November 19!


Come see new paintings by Tony Curanaj tomorrow evening at Joshua Liner Gallery!

Tony Curanaj: Echoes and Endeavors
Opening Reception: Thursday, November 19, 6-8pm.
Joshua Liner Gallery
540 West 28th Street, NY, NY
(between 10th & 11th Avenues)

The exhibition will be on view November 19 - December 19.


Jumping Jack Flash
Oil on Linen
2015
8.5 x 6 inches

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

A Hearty Congratulations to the Portrait Painters!

Bringing our live, three-day alla prima portrait painting competition to a close on Friday night, judges Jacob Collins, Travis Schlaht and Edward Minoff awarded First Place to Patrick Byrnes
Second Place to Kristin Nikitin and Third Place to Danny Ferland!

Also, within minutes, Elizabeth Zanzinger sold two paintings.

All sixty paintings will be on  view at Eleventh Street Arts through November 20th by appointment by emailing: eleventhstreetarts@gmail.com. Come see the real works, nothing else compares! The paintings are for sale.

Over the next week of each artist's favorite competition portrait will be posted on Instagram.

Thank you to all ten artists for journeying to GCA and sharing your talent and persistence! Thanks to our judges mentioned above. Sam Hung did an amazing job hanging the exhibition, thank you, Sam! Thank you to Jessica Artman for photographing 20 portraits each evening! The competition monitors kept the order and humor - thank you to Allison Parker, Arthur Haywood, Kelly Foss, Eric Kerke and Noah Offitzer and to Dale Zinkowski who hung the backdrops! Thanks also to Justin Wood and Colleen Barry for setting the poses. Thanks to Justin Wood, Brendan Johnston and Sam Hung for welcoming the coffee stand to the lounging quadrant of their shared studio. Finally, thank you to our six models who shared their unique faces with us radiating their humanity into a four-hour sitting.

Scroll down to enjoy the twenty portraits from the third and last day of the event! The real artist names are revealed below.

Next up GCA competition sneak peak .... a five-day figure drawing competition in early June.

Day 3 - Morning


By Double Rainbow...Elizabeth Zanzinger

By Jean de Daumier-Smith...Patrick Byrnes
First Place Winner
By Lightning....Jennifer Gennari

By Mahlstick...Evert Ploeg

By Mama Quilla....Leeanna Chipana

By Muffin Top...Brendan Johnston

By Prudent Hans...Kristin Nikitin
Second Place Winner

By The Badgerhound...Michael Davis

 By The Outlier...Dominique Medici

By The White Gibbon...Danny Ferland
Third Place Winner

Day 3 - Afternoon 

By Double Rainbow...Elizabeth Zanzinger

By Jean de Daumier-Smith...Patrick Byrnes
First Place Winner
By Lightning...Jennifer Gennari

By Mahlstick...Evert Ploeg

By Mama Quilla...Leeanna Chipana

By Muffin Top...Brendan Johnston

By Prudent Hans...Kristin Nikitin
Second Place Winner

By the Badger Hound...Michael Davis

By The Outlier...Dominique Medici

By The White Gibbon...Danny Ferland
Third Place Winner

Friday, October 23, 2015

Presenting ... Competition Day 2 Portraits!


Dear Reader - The painters are finishing up their sixth and final painting right now! Join us tonight, October 23 from 6-9pm at the competition awards party and opening reception of 10 x 6: Portrait Sketches. View all sixty portraits completed during this live, three-day painting competition. Works are for sale and will be on display at the adjacent Eleventh Street Arts through November 20th by appointment.

The real artists names will be revealed tonight!


Day Two - Morning Pose

By Double Rainbow

By Jean de Daumier-Smith

By Lightning

By Mahlstick

By Mama Quilla

By Muffin Top

By Prudent Hans

By the Badgerhound

By The Outlier

By The White Gibbon


Day Two - Afternoon Pose
By Double Rainbow

By The White Gibbon

By Jean de Daumier-Smith

By Lightning

By Mahlstick

By The Outlier

By The Badgerhound

By Prudent Hans

By Muffin Top

By Mama Quilla