Join Meadow Gist, as she teaches the subtle art of telling an entire story with one image. Learn the steps that go into a narrative painting; From research and gathering reference, to compositional work and storytelling cues and beyond. Learn how to take your skills and utilize them to pursue your ambitious ideas in order… Continue reading
One of the greatest gifts of sight is our ability to distinguish colors. The human eye can distinguish around 10,000,000 colors. This may be why the Impressionist movement had and continues to have a large following. The transition from black and white training can feel daunting. There are so many choices, so many variations of paint colors and formulas. Do we use viridian green or pthalo green? Opaque or transparent? What about limited or extensive palettes? How do we learn to observe color? With a plethora of combinations, it is wise to break our studies into small manageable portions. We will first learn some of the terminology of the color language, followed by simple color exer- cises, and graduating to more complex observations.
Welcome to Oil Fundamentals! In this course, learn all about the absolute basics of oil painting. We will discuss brushes, paints, surfaces, mediums and more. Later on in the Phase you’ll go through painting in pickout, burnt umber direct and Zorn palette. You will be painting a variety of subjects: animals, landscape, skulls, portraits, costumed… Continue reading
Join Robert Watts, Jeff’s father, as he walks you through a variety of illustrative scenarios and visual problem-solving solutions, using one of his favorite mediums, Gouache. Robert will lend insight from his 40 plus years as a commercial illustrator and fine artist, and use his eclectic and masterful skill sets to demonstrate how to put… Continue reading
Join Erik Gist as he delves into the essentials of perspective. The goal of this course is more than simply learning the techniques and geometry for creating a convincing illusion of three- dimensional space; It is about dictating how an individual perceives your image, how they enter and interact with the scene you have created.… Continue reading
This course will expand upon your portrait painting foundational skills, and introduce you to the loose style and expressive edge work of gesture portrait painting. These lessons will help you understand color and color mixing in a more instinctual way, as well as help hone your understanding of edge work and your ability to push… Continue reading
This phase will introduce you to several monochromatic palettes. This means you will not be venturing into the realm of color as of yet. Instead, monochrome will give you ample time to focus on more important concepts: manipulating edges and values in oil paint. You should start cultivating an acute awareness of value judgment and… Continue reading
Now, after grounding yourself in the foundation of portrait in oil, it’s time to open up your palette range a bit. First we will jump into the “Zorn” palette, named after famed Swedish painter Anders Zorn. This four color palette is truly amazing. You will learn to premix this palette, then Jeff will introduce you… Continue reading
In this phase we will be exploring the individual features in three palettes. We will work from both male and females and utilize photo reference as well as master studies. It is essential to Familiarize yourself with each feature from as many different types and angles as possible. This will prove very beneficial as we… Continue reading
Welcome to Quicksketch Fundamentals! This class will cover the basics that must be understood for the successful execution of figure quicksketch drawing. This course will approach figure quicksketch by breaking down the discipline into three understandable principles: Gesture, Structure, and Mass. By studying these three principles separately, students can then work to integrate them as a whole, and work their way towards mastering the art of quicksketch.
In this course, you will learn how our instructors use a variety of approaches and techniques to explore ideas in their sketchbooks. Follow Erik Gist, Lucas Graciano, and Robert Watts as they utilize a vast array of different media to explore preliminary thumbnails, dive into personal studies, work out character, monster, and environment designs, and… Continue reading
Basic composition, staging, and limited palettes will be the emphasis of this phase. The phase begins with one object rendered in each of the 3 palettes: Burnt Umber Pick-Out, Burnt Umber White, and Phthalo Blue Black and White. You will then work up to two (and ultimately three) objects. Instructor Jeff Watts will go over… Continue reading
You are now ready to study some of the key patinas you will need to paint in your artistic career. In this phase Jeff Watts has selected five of the patinas he has had the most calling to do in his career, as well as ones that were the most challenging. Watch in the following… Continue reading
In this course, Jeff will show you how to approach still life painting with shorter, more gestural techniques. This course focuses on the "direct" approach, and understanding how to paint wet into wet. Watch as Jeff teaches you how to add life and vibrance to your still life pieces by keeping a quicker pace and laying confident marks, all while learning how to navigate the common hurdles that await still life painters, such as color harmony, texture, and composition.
Welcome to Structural Figure Drawing! In this course we will expand upon Figure Drawing Fundamentals. At Watts, we typically have three different stages of building up a figure drawing: Gesture, Structure and Mass. This course will take the second part, structure, and expand upon it. The goal will be gain a more in-depth understanding of… Continue reading
In this course, Robert Watts will show you how to execute a studio landscape painting with a focus on structures.. Watch as Robert explains the differences between plein air painting and studio landscapes, and learn the importance of color studies and how to properly utilize reference in the studio. Follow along as Robert demonstrates these… Continue reading
This video showcases a longer-format still life painting. We will cover the tools necessary to embark on a more complicated scene. A cohesive theme can be formed with a basic arsenal of elements such as flowers, metals and glass. Other topics are discussed ranging from the supply of a still life "larder" to color comps. This video is a fifteen part exploration of a garden theme with roses, bird nests, and antique metal objects.