Congratulations to GCA Scholarship winners!

by Dale Zinkowski

Fourteen core students won scholarships towards their continuing studies in 2016-2017! Faculty had conducted end of year critiques and awarded the prizes to students for their outstanding work as well as their exemplary commitment to rigorous and disciplined study. Scroll down for a collection of artwork by the winning artists.

We are honored and grateful to the ongoing generosity of the Morris and Alma Schapiro Fund, The Alfred and Jane Ross Foundation and the Anders Larson-Toich Memorial Scholarship in supporting the growth and development of the following artists. 

Block in

Savannah Tate Cuff - $5,000

Rubin Gabeau - $2,500

Cast Drawing

Diana Carino-Buitrago - $5,000

Emily Denise - $2,500

Cast Painting

Mackenzie Swenson - $5,000

Kathryn Kincaid - $2,500

Rachel Li - $2,500

Figure Drawing/Painting

Kevin Muller Cisneros - $5,000

Sandra Sanchez - $2,500

Kelly Foss - $2,500

Sculpture

Rubin Gabeau - $2,500

General Excellence

Arthur Haywood- $2,500

Dale Zinkowski - $2,500

Addison Xu - $2,500

Tsultrim Tenzin - $2,500

A Monthly Figure Structure Prix
One full time core student working in Colleen Barry's 3^rd and 4^th year Figure Structure class will win a $200 prize at the end of each five-week pose. Colleen Barry and a rotating member of the faculty pick the drawing that most exemplifies the artistic integrity, aesthetics and principles emphasized in the class. This school year’s first winner will be announced shortly after October 10^th on social media. Colleen also writes a critique of the winning drawing on our blog.

We also offer scholarships for our Winter and Summer Drawing Boot Camps and our Summer Boot Camp for Teens. Last year's winners will be announced when we launch our next competitions. The Winter Boot Camp Scholarship Competition will open on October 10^th. The Summer Boot Camp Competitions will open in the new year.

Support our Artists
GCA is committed to keeping tuition affordable and to maintaining an ideal student to instructor ratio in all our classes from full time to part time to workshops. Consider making a donation to support the exceptional, unique training we are proud to provide. Keep us in mind for upcoming #givingtuesday and year-end email campaigns. To make a gift today, click here.

by Diana Carino-Buitrago

by Savannah Tate Cuff

by Emily Denise

by Kelly Foss

by Rubin Gabeau

by Rubin Gabeau

by Arthur Haywood

by Kathryn Kincaid

by Rachel Li

by Kevin Müller Cisneros

by Sandra Sanchez

by Tsultrim Tenzin

by Addison Xu

by Dale Zinkowski

Resident Artist Spotlight: Justin Wood

photo of Justin Wood painting at GCA by Samira Bouaou/Epoch Times
for a feature written by Milene Fernandez in print & online here.

Justin Wood is a GCA Resident Artist, a Core & Part-time Program Instructor and a graduate of Water Street/GCA. He is also a new father to his son Ben born this past April. This past summer he had a solo exhibition: Arranging Nature: Still Life Painting at Collins Galleries in Cape Cod. You can view the e-catalog here. All of the paintings featured were completed while in residence at GCA.

One of his newest paintings, Greek Satyr, is currently on view in the Eleventh Street Arts pop-up exhibition, New Arrivals. Justin discusses his process and inspiration for the painting below. 

This painting is centered around a plaster copy of a Greek Satyr. In Greek mythology, satyrs were depicted as men with horse tails and ears. They were associated with Dionysus, the God of wine and fertility. The attributes of satyrs include wine, drinking horns and flutes. These mischievous creatures were typically seen drinking and dancing. 

Drawing and painting from the plaster cast is a fundamental part of atelier training. In addition to serving as a valuable training tool, their aesthetic quality has inspired many artists from the past and present to include them in their paintings. I loved working from the cast as a student and I love finding ways to include them in my still lifes. 

I make a precise line drawing of my composition on paper where proportions and placements are decided upon. After the drawing is complete, I transfer it to my canvas. 

Using white, brown, and black, I begin the underpainting working area by area. It is useful to begin in the background and then move forward.

As more parts fall into place I begin to see the composition take shape. One of the difficulties of finishing one part at a time is the lack of context. It's important that I'm conscious of what part of my value range I need to operate in for any given area. 

With the underpainting complete, I judge the value structure and modeling of the objects in relation to each other. If no revisions need to be made I am ready to begin the color layer or layers. 

I finish the picture using the same procedure as in the underpainting (back to front, area by area), the only difference being the obvious addition of color.

Over Columbus Day Weekend, October 8 - 10, Justin is teaching a workshop on Underpainting and artists of all genres (still life, figure, portrait, landscape), skill levels, and degrees of experience are encouraged to take this workshop as solid underpainting skills are crucial to meaningful expression. To read a more in-depth description of the workshop and to sign up, visit our website here.

Follow Justin on instagram and check out his website.

This Friday: Trekell Art Supplies comes to GCA!

The Trekell team is coming back to GCA! This Friday, September 30th, join us at 5:15 in the GCA lounge. Trekell will be bringing their wonderful professional artists materials, telling us about their products, and demoing some of their materials.  And, participants that stay for the whole presentation will have the chance to take home some fabulous new art supplies! Join in and learn more about this great company.

Trekell Art Supplies Presentation

Friday, September 30th

5:15-6:15 pm 

Upstairs in the GCA lounge 

Resident Artist Spotlight: Anthony Baus

After Marco Ricci "Carpriccio with Ruins"
Anthony working at the Palazzo Altemps in Rome

Anthony Baus is currently an Instructor in GCA's Core & Part-time Programs, and a continuing Resident Artist. He spent the past school year in Italy courtesy of the Alma Shapiro prize. Upon his return in June he was back in the studio piecing together narratives from the ancient world soon to make their way to the canvas. He is currently working on a capriccio to be exhibited this coming March in the Art of Architecture exhibit at Eleventh Street Arts. 

Over Columbus Day weekend, Anthony will be teaching an Architectural Ink Wash Workshop at the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument located on Manhattan's Upper West Side in Riverside Park. The Beaux Arts structure provides the perfect subject for all skill levels. Anthony has written a preview demo of his process below.

New York is full of great architecture and one of my favorite spots to draw is the Grand Army Plaza at Prospect Park in Brooklyn. The plaza features a triumphal arch that is dedicated in memory of union soldiers who fought in the Civil War. The arch is complete with figural sculptures, low relief and a coffered vaulted ceiling. To complete the composition elements were added to the foreground to aid in the removal of this structure from a particular time and place. These elements, inspired by the Plaza's existing environment, include figures in admiration, a toppled lamp post and sinking blocks strewn about a muddy terrain. 

The paper is white Artistico 140lb hot press. I toned it using Sennelier brand colored inks, Burnt Sienna, Raw Sienna and Grey. The tone is slightly warmer in temperature and the value is light but dark enough to use white chalk highlights. I begin with pencil, blocking in the structure general to specific keeping in mind its placement in the composition. As the block-in progresses I implement a diminishing scale in red pencil to aid in the perspective.

After the block-in is complete the shadows are washed in with a medium value over the entire page, giving a sense of the composition and the overall light effect. I’m sure not to make this initial shadow value too dark. Values are built up with subsequent passages, because with wash there isn’t any room for error.  A slightly greener wash is used for the bronze sculpture groups and white chalk is added to the sky to separate the background from the middle ground.

When the initial layer is dry, details and texture are added using slightly darker warm and cool mixtures. I generally use cooler washes in the background and warmer towards the foreground. The building is the main subject and will have the broadest range of values.

Again the paper is left to dry and I’m continuing to build up the values and textures. The arch is pushed back into space by making the foreground dark and compressed in value. Some details can be discerned but not so much that they compete with the detail of the arch. I go back into all areas of the composition, clarifying edges and details where necessary. 

To read more and sign up for Anthony's upcoming workshop, click here. Anthony will also teach an Academic Figure in Perspective workshop in our Winter Drawing Boot Camp, January 23 - 27, 2016. The workshop will be posted and registration will open on October 10th.

Anthony is also the latest guest on The Suggested Donation podcast hosted by Tony Curanaj and Ted Minoff, listen to the episode here!

Alumni Spotlight: Emilie Lee

Emilie Lee at work in her studio with her puppy, Honey.

For seven years Emilie Lee lived in NYC, four of which were spent studying as a full-time student at GCA, and the next three years as an Instructor. When we moved to Long Island City, she helped launch our Artist-in-Residence program and taught weekly classes in landscape painting. Last year she moved back to her home state of Vermont where she's thriving in the great outdoors and raising a new puppy. Emilie and I chatted about what she's been up to.

How would you say your life as an artist and the work you create has changed over the past year?

After struggling in New York for so many years, I now feel like I'm living a pretty dreamy life. I have a large well lit studio space in Burlington's South End Arts District, an eclectic neighborhood that is home to hundreds of artist studios. We have an art supply store and a hardware store in my parking lot, and it's a 10 minute walk to the beach, 3 breweries, downtown, or my apartment! I spend about 10 hours a week teaching classes and the rest of the time I am working on commissions, studio projects, or exploring the beautiful local scenery and painting outside. I've been impressed with the level of enthusiasm for the arts in Vermont and it seems I'm not alone in choosing to relocate -  I've met at least ten other artists who've recently moved here from NYC! 

Emilie & Honey living the dream.

As far as my work goes, I've been doing a lot of small plein-air paintings purely for my own pleasure, and in the studio I am working on a series of big paintings inspired by my time in the Montana prairie, these are for a solo show coming up next year. 

I made a conscious decision earlier this year to take a break from relying on my paintings to pay my bills because the pressure of constantly producing new work was making it impossible to find time to finish my Praire paintings. I've put more energy into developing my teaching career by offering a combination of workshops, private lessons, weekly classes, and my new job as an adjunct faculty in the game art and animation department at Champlain College. 

I've found that teaching is incredibly energizing and rewarding - being able to share what I love to do with others who feel the same way is so much fun and I always learn something from my students.

In March 2016, Emilie traveled to the four corners region to participate in the upcoming Convergence Film being released by 3 Strings Productions.

You've immersed yourself in a wide variety of environments these past few years talk about some of your discoveries and the paintings you created.

When I was in New York, I was completely focused on learning as much as I could from the GCA community. I just wanted to hone my skills. In 2014 I started to feel very restless in New York, so I planned a big project that would get me out of the city. I proposed and raised money for my own artist residency at a remote conservation area in Montana called the American Prairie Reserve and I spent 5 weeks exploring and painting there. 

Immersing in Montana's great plains. 

My experience working with wildlife researchers and others involved in the effort to conserve this landscape had a big effect on my work. I gained an intimate understanding of the ecology and history of this place and it helped me feel engaged with my subject on a much deeper level. 

One of Emilie's landscape studies in the prairie.
 She encountered a variety of grasses, sage brush, greasewood, juniper, wildflowers and cactus.

The prairie seems so vast and empty at first, but the more knowledge I gained, the more it opened up to me as a rich and beautiful place. I'm still working on these paintings in my studio, but after this I plan to continue working on projects where I can learn and collaborate with conservationists. 

Praire Dog Hole, 10"x10", oil on panel, 2015.

Another recent project was a commission last summer on Appleton Farms, the oldest continuously working farm in America! Sustainable agriculture practices ensure that these 133 acres provide protected grassland, forest and wetland habitat for wildlife in the area. Visitors can wander the network of public trails or take part in their public programming in addition to buying fresh produce, milk, eggs, cheese and meat. 

Appleton Farms plein-air study, 9"x12" oil on linen panel, 2015.

It's located 20 miles outside of Boston in Ipswich, MA and my client was an art collector who lives near the farm. I was tasked with spending a day exploring the farm and making plein air paintings, that my client could choose from. When they picked one, I went back and did a careful pencil study on location. 

pencil sketch done on location at Appleton Farms, 14"x20", 2015.

A detailed pencil sketch can be extremely helpful in the studio, and I often make written notes on my sketches about colors, value relationships, or even less tangible things like emotions that are triggered or artists I am reminded of. Anything that will help me recall that state of inspiration once I'm back in the studio. 

Final painting of Appleton farms commission, 18"x11".

Back in the studio I developed the final painting using my sketches and plein air paintings as reference. I enjoy the process of working without photos, it forces me to use my imagination and problem solving skills, and it's easier to infuse the painting with a unique soul of its own. There are so many reasons to work from life rather than using photos, but I love what happens when I am under pressure from limited time and the ever changing light conditions outside. I am forced to be completely engaged with my process and make quick, confident decisions. 

There are a lot of similarities to how I feel when I am rock climbing. When I trust my intuition and make bold moves, there is no time for doubt and I am capable of things I didn't know I had in me!  

To view more of Emilie's work check out her website and instagram.