Painting the Figure in Oil (2)

with Holly McWilliams

Tuesday June 22 and Thursday June 24,

5:30pm - 9pm

The female form is one of the most natural and beautiful subject matter that any artist could want to paint. Learn a system of how to accurately render the figure from a photo reference, transfer the image and then apply oil paint to achieve a believable three-dimensional form. We will be learning concepts of Chiaroscuro by applying dramatic value as well as incorporating a vignette to leave something up to the imagination of the viewer. The focus of the class will be on value in relation to color.

$130.00^+gst

Supplies not included

Call 403.258-3500 with questions or to register.

Supply List

Oil Paints:

Artist grade preferable (Graham, Gamblin, Windsor & Newton, Utrecht, Rembrandt)

Cadmium Red light
Anthraquinone Red or Alizarin Crimson
Cadmium Orange
Cadmium Yellow medium
Ultramarine Blue
Manganese Blue or Cerulean
Transparent Red Oxide
Manganese purple (Utrecht or gamblin) or Dioxanine Purple
Titanium White

Extras that are helpful but not necessary:

Pthalo Turquoise
Lemon Yellow

Brushes:

Please make sure that your brushes are adequate for oil paint and the hair is still long and flexable. Heinz Jordon hog hair flat are my favorites.

(Heinz Jordon) hog hair flat - One of each: #2, #4, #6, #8, #10, #12
2" hog hair hake brush
2 x white taklon 1/8" flat
Liner brush or small round #0 or #1

Drawing:

sketch book of any size as long as it is bigger than 8.5”x11”
HB or 2B pencil
White eraser and kneadable eraser
Package of vine charcoal

12x16 disposable palette or glass palette
Turpentine pot and Eco House turpentine (no hardware store turps please)
Walnut alkyd medium or Liquin

Canvas Sizes:

10”x20” (long and skinny)
10”x15” I’m looking for anything that is a longer rectangle, but not as long as the 10x20. If you can’t find this size, get anything that is close 8”x 8” ( smaller square)

About Holly:

Holly attended ACAD majoring in sculpture and painting. She has been instructing at Swinton’s since 2000 with a focus towards providing an enjoyable, positive and inventive learning environment. Holly concentrates on painting inspired by tradition. She also provides instruction in dance and pilates.

To see more of Holly's artwork visit her website: IndigoArts.

Artist's Statement:

For as long as Holly can remember, she has been drawn to expressing herself visually, recreating images she glimpses of her world in her mind, translating them into something she can see with her heart and then transferring those perceptions into a visual medium. Starting with innocent doodling as a child, her work has matured into moody, captivating portraits of people and places. She has always seen her environment through a very visual lens, perceiving vignettes and cameos of perfect compositions all around her - just waiting to be captured on canvas.

Like many contemporary artists, she is fascinated by the play of light on her subjects and landscapes - the interplay of contrast and context, shadow and illumination. However, influenced by French neo-classical artists such as David, Ingrés and Delacroix, her study of sculpture as well as being a dancer, she treats modern subjects with a classical touch that celebrates the sensuality of the body and the land.

She is interested in not only capturing the moment but what it feels like to be in that moment, giving a definite immediacy and tangibility to her work. She wants to provide a visual escape for her viewer where they can be swept up and transported, however briefly, to another place and time. "I want to close in on that moment of connection where nothing else matters but being in that moment - that 'just breathe' moment. That's why I love to paint people, especially dancers and musicians because I'm really into trying to capture the physical essence of what it is to be alive and have that energy go through you...the intensity of living is what really inspires me, in life and in art."

Holly teaches art and is also a professional bellydancer and teacher as well as a pilates instructor, all of which inform her work and her artistic vision. She lives in Calgary, Alberta and has her work in a number of collections, both corporate and private, in Canada and England. She is available for commissions.

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