Our second trip in three years to Rocca Calascio was another mix of great company, the cucina divina of Abruzzo, sublime vistas and the gracious hospitality of all at the Rifugio della Rocca.
My sincere thanks to: Ludovica, Roberto, Daniela, Spass, Victoria, Kristin, James, Ruby, Mo and Oliver!
Pictures and video below.
Cheers,
Tim
In the Spring of 2014, the focus of Saturday morning’s portrait painting class was a series of three portraits with the model Andreina Mehtab. Each began with a study of a sphere using multiple layers of paint over a varying ground color—one the natural color of the canvas, one an Earth orange mixed from Venetian Red and Terra Gialla and the last a darker ground—a process that was then repeated for each portrait.
Two truisms emerged:
The gallery below shows a start and subsequent evolution. There is a simplicity and economy in the start of the portrait that is lost over time. The one benefit to a promising start is that it may inspire you to keep pushing. It did for me, and, at the end of the course, I brought Andreina into my own studio to try and bring the work to a satisfactory conclusion. This too proved to be more of a challenge than I had anticipated… but good to revel in the fight as much as the result.
You can see the final result on my website.
The hit of the summer was the painting workshop that took place over two days this past August in Georgetown. Masterfully organized by Maureen Murphy, the venue and on-site location were perfect and the audience couldn’t have been more enthusiastic and gracious. My sincere thanks to all who participated: Maureen, Sharmila, Anne, Loraine and the model Carol. A special thanks again to Maureen for all she did to put it together. Let’s do it again!
A video summary of Gina and Michayla’s three-week summer school experience in Rome in 2013:
Elisabeth had started with me in a group painting class, but it was clear from the start that some basic drawing was needed. We decided she’d come for some private drawing in studio. Here is a look at her work. The first drawing was our starting point. The rest was done over the course of 8 lessons. Well done, Elisabeth!
I had never taken art classes before and I felt very nervous when I started. I wanted to take private lessons so that I could focus on the basics of drawing. Tim is an excellent teacher, he explained things clearly, at the right pace and he knew when to intervene and when to just let me get on with it. I really love the sculptural approach to drawing that Tim teaches, it’s very dramatic. The classes were a lot of fun and I surprised myself with how much I progressed. I’m looking forward to continuing.
—Elisabeth F.
A look at the work from Caravaggio Part I – Flesh Illuminated and Velazquez Revisited – Painting alla Prima.
Complimenti a tutti pittori e pittrici! Ci vediamo a Settembre… Cheers, Tim
My thanks to Rossana, Nadia, Franco, Paolo and Amel for a grand expedition. Though careful steps were planned from lesson to lesson, it was always amazing to see the diversity of interpretation and execution.
There were several key technical discoveries:
Perhaps the greatest strategic lesson was developing an awareness of the “hierarchy of the whole;” despite details, keep variety in the service of unity.
Below: some candid photos followed by a series of each student’s painting.
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