watercolor & gouache class section 1:
What Makes a Good Photo?
Section 1 Part 1:
Introduction and Inspiration
Get your intro to the class as a whole, learn more about my background as an educator, and what systems we will be grounding into as artists over the next six weeks or longer!
Section 1 Part 2:
photographs and composition
The foundation of any good image that we hope to make a painting is composition. You’ll learn some clear rules for shaping your images, how to position your body, and the impacts of different angles and light.
Section 1 Part 3:
editing your images
Using an iPhone I’ll walk you through some basic editing principles that are universal to any app or program: cropping, contrast, exposure, shadows, temperature, and tint.
Section 1 Part 4:
why we sketch first
To go deeper with composition means spending lots of time drawing and studying shapes. Look carefully at shape and build the structure for your paintings by learning this thumbnail drawing technique
Section 1 Part 5:
sketching with notan
You’ll learn an excellent, and slightly more intermediate practice of creating a Notan study with your thumbnail. Notan is a word from Japanese that conveys a balance of light and shadow. With our compositions we don’t only want shape, we also want clear values to help us make forms. Notan is a great way to achieve this!
Section 1 Part 6:
assignments
Here I reveal your first homework assignments. Please make time to do them during the next week or several weeks before you begin your next section. Because we work from photos in this class, getting the practice of crafting your own and making thumbnails is incredibly important.
STUCK ON SOMETHING?
If you are feeling stuck, frustrated, or longing for feedback, you can always book a tutoring session with me. We can work together for one session or over the course of a few months depending on your needs!