Painting Birds & Butterflies in Flight, December 22 & 30
In this two-day class, we will use vivid colors and brushwork to capture the essence of birds and butterflies in flight. We will go in-depth into the many applications of brushwork and palette-knifing to create texture, movement, crisp detail, and atmosphere. Painting movement and getting the sense of believable flight will be key.
Other topics such as drawing, anatomy, value, color harmony, and composition (or how a butterfly sits in the composition as a whole) will be discussed. For this reason, it is recommended that you bring a still-life painting or portrait in to class that you are willing to work further on. If this is not a possibility, you may start a new painting from scratch.
Teresa will be demonstrating her "sticker" method, in which she analyses paintings in her studio that are mid-way to being complete and adds compositionally helpful or narrative-driving flying objects to balance out her work. By adding birds and butterflies in flight, she will demonstrate how greater movement and color balance can be created, even late in the game, for all paintings. This method will allow you to work in a "stream of conscious" manner, intuitively placing things from your imagination successfully into your works, as though you were a fiction writer fixing a plot, and not a slave to nature.
Before the class meets, it is recommended that you begin collecting your own treasure trove of butterfly and bird in flight close-ups. Reference photos will also be provided for you to use during the class.
The class will take place over two days, December 20 & December 30. By spreading the class dates out like this, students will have ample time to work on their pieces in between live instruction sessions.
Painting Birds & Butterflies in Flight, December 22 & 30
A 16x20" canvas or thereabouts should be a good size.
Supply list- This list is what Teresa Oaxaca uses herself. Please feel free to substitute any colors you find too troublesome to acquire. It is optional to have the same materials for this course.
Brushes
Filbert, flat of Round. It is recommended that you acquire a “full set” (sizes 1-12) range, or skip every other size if you want to bring less brushes to class.
Paints-
Ultramarine Blue Green Shade (Natural Pigments (or any ultramarine blue from Old Holland or Michael Harding or another brand of your choice)
Chromium Oxide Green
Viridian
Lemon Ochre (or any Yellow Ochre)
Chrome Yellow Primrose (or a cadmium Lemon Yellow)
Lead Tin Yellow Dark (not necessary, just my favorite)
Cadmium Orange
Pozzuoli Red (a fancy name for red iron oxide pigments. Try looking for Venetian Red or English Red too)
Rose Madder (or Alizarin Crimson, our Permanent Rose)
Cypress Umber Raw Dark (or a raw Umber)
Lead White (or Titanium white, Flake White Replacement)
Bone Black (“Ivory Black” No one makes paint from natural Ivory anymore, it's just a fanciful name)
Cadmium Red instead
Cerulean Blue
French Sienna
Mediums- Age Refined Linseed Oil, Stand Oil
Canvas Support- One stretched and primed linen canvas (or panel), size up to you.