Date: Tuesdays, October 31-November 28, 2023 (no class November 21)
Time*: 9:00-11:30 AM Pacific Time, 12:00-2:30 PM Eastern Time
Level: All
Medium: All – Nicholas will demo in oil
*International Students: Clocks change one hour back in the USA on November 5. The UK & EU change clocks on October 29. Therefore, class time on October 31 is 4:00-6:30 PM London Time. November 7-28 class time is 5:00-7:30 PM London Time. Please be aware of the time change when registering for this class.
Painting still lifes is an easy way to start painting form life. You have a subject that sits still in consistant conditions. This is a perfect opportunity to concentrate on the fundamental aspects of painting.
In this workshop you will learn how to create still life paintings that are not just studies, but finished paintings. Find out how to set up, bend and exploit reality in order to take your still lifes to the next level. This same process can be used regardless of the subject, so it is a good fundamental base for painting from life.
You will cover design, composition, and focus and the various methods to make your painting support these larger concepts.
More specifically you will cover:
• the choice and setup of the still life.
• how to create a balanced and gripping design
• the choice of colours and how to mix them
• thinking about brushstokes and how they are placed and executed
• how to fix mistakes, or change direction in a painting
This workshop will be in oils but can be usefull regardless of the medium you use.
Nicholas O’Leary (1986) was born and raised in Gisborne, New Zealand and has been painting since childhood and exhibiting since his teenage years.
After graduating from the University of Auckland with a degree in Architecture in 2009, he moved as far away as one can from the sunny paradise of Gisborne, to Bergen, Norway. He still resides in Bergen where he can be found hiking in the spectacular mountains, amoungst the fjords or along the rugged coastline with his easel strapped to his backpack in often challenging conditions.
He has studied with and painted alongside many artists along his journey, most notably with Odd Nerdrum in Norway.
O’Leary works largely from life whereby the observation of previously unnoticed subtleties are prioritised. The recognition of these subtleties allows O’Leary to bend physical rules in his paintings and challenge our perceptions of truth and deception, reality and fantasy.
The accumulation and manipulation of observations is not limited by a specific subject matter. He paints across the board, and has won international prizes in portraiture, figurative paintings, larger imaginative compositions, landscapes, cityscapes, and still lives.
He has exhibited internationally over the past decade in galleries including Museu Europeu d’Art Modern (Barcelona), Salmagundi Club, (New York), Principle Gallery (Alexandria/USA), Sugarlift Gallery (NYC) and Galleri Torekov (Sweden).
