Good morning, all you runaways, problem children, and latchkey kids! It’s Tuesday and class is once more in session. As we near the end of our class project, and the semester, The Tutor hopes that you’re feeling as plucky as he is about your paintings.
Last week’s homework assignment was to complete your painted still life, but there is still one more important task to apply to our work before calling it a day. So, before the paint dries and the dye sets, The Tutor invites you to view Lesson XIII: Signing Our Work:
Kudos for completing another lesson, class! This week’s homework assignment is to sign your painted still life.
Before dashing off to scribble your John Hancock on the bottom corner of your canvas, keep in mind that the way you sign your artwork is not necessarily the same way you sign your checks.
As artists, our signatures act as our calling cards, our stamps, our branding. As such, our sigils can be as important, if not more important, than the work itself. Consider this before you apply your seal of completion.
This seal also becomes part of the painting itself, so choose your colors and placement wisely. Do you want your signature to be bold and aggressive, or mysterious and elusive? This artistic fingerprint is a window into who you are as an artist.
Sign, sign, sign away, students, and join me again next week as we wrap up our semester together!
The Tutor has noticed that class attendance is waning. This is to be expected. With most courses, once students have settled into a routine, they become lax in their efforts. The Tutor wants you to know that this will not do. Not in this class.
To reward those of you who have been diligent with your attendance and class participation, and to give those of you on the fence an incentive to commit to the program, The Tutor invites you to watch the following PSA:
That’s right, class; The Tutor is going to a host a live event featuring YOUR artwork! The gauntlet has been thrown to all you dabblers, dawdlers and dalliers. Will you accept The Tutor’s challenge? Do you have the courage to create and have your work shared?
Everyone who gets their grind on now and completes all of the homework assignments will have their artwork displayed in The Tutor’s Gallery. Those of you who have fallen dreadfully behind in class should use this opportunity to start creating now. More details on The Tutor’s Gallery will be available shortly… so stay tuned!
In the meantime, let’s get on with this week’s lesson. I give you Lesson VIII: Back to Front:
Commendations, students, you’ve completed another class! This week’s homework assignment is to paint the background of your still life drawn in Lesson VII.
Unless you are using watercolor paints, it is generally a good idea to apply a light wash of color over your entire image surface. This is to replace the stark nature of the naked canvas with atmospheric tone. When doing this, be sure to sufficiently thin your paint so that it is transparent enough to not obscure your drawing. You may wish to test the opacity of your paint on a piece of scrap paper.
If you are worried about messing up your drawing during these painting phases, I recommend you photocopy your drawing before beginning to paint. This photocopy can be used to reapply the drawn image at a later time with the transfer technique we learned in Lesson IV.
Once you have completed the color wash, begin painting the background elements of your still life. Start with the most receded elements, and then work your way forward. For example: if your still life is a bowl of fruit on a table in front of a curtain, begin by painting the curtain, then move your way to the table, and then paint the shadows on the table. Do not paint the actual subject(s) of your still life yet.
Since our still life’s background will serve as a stage for the main subject(s) of our work, it is not appropriate to riddle this backdrop with a lot of detail. Too much detail may distract viewers from the subject(s)… so keep your background loose and expressive. Detailing will come later, so focus more on mood and lighting for now.
I’m excited to see your progress by next week’s class, students. See you then!
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