About this Workshop

In this class we’ll alternate between painting the portrait and the nude figure alla prima (wet into wet) and the techniques used to create a fresh, direct response to our subjects.  There will be a painting demonstration and lots of class time for students to work from live models with a different pose each day. The focus will be on economy of brush strokes, simplifying the head/figure and seeing it in terms of basic shapes and planes described by light and shadow.  We’ll also talk about basic concepts like proportions, value, color mixing and paint application. This approach helps us to paint our subjects with greater understanding, expression and directness. 

The class will be particularly helpful for those who want to move from a tight painting style to a  looser, economical paint application.

material list

Brushes:  filberts, flats of varying sizes.
Avoid soft synthetic brushes and brights. For stiff synthetics David recommends Rosemary Ivory series or Silver Brush Bristlon series. For a natural bristle, any good quality manufacturer will do. (Robert Simmons, Tintoretto, Silver brush, Rosemary.)
NOTE:  Bring  at least 2 brushes which are ¾” and 1” wide 

Medium: refined linseed oil, but not cold pressed (NO STAND OIL)

Odorless mineral spirits for rinsing/cleaning brushes

Palette  AT LEAST 11 x 14 or bigger

Surface: Neutrally toned gray canvas or panel: panel/canvas  size range 
14 x 18 to 16 x 20 inches.  You can use Liquitex neutral gray #5
Please tone your surfaces before the class so that they are dry
NOTE: Students need 1-2 canvas/panels for each day of the workshop

OTHER
Rags or paper towels
Paint cups or old cans
NOTE: Bring jars or cans for your thinner at least 3” in diameter
Jar with lid for used paint thinner.

OIL COLOURS:

Titanium white
Cadmium red light or equivalent
Cadmium orange or equivalent
Burnt sienna
Yellow ochre
Alizarin Crimson
Ultramarine blue
Purple  
Cadmium yellow light
viridian green
Olive Green
raw umber

Meet David

David Shevlino studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (certificate ’84) and the University of Pennsylvania (BFA ’92) and the Art Students’ League of NY.  His work has been featured in national publications and he has exhibited his work throughout the US. He  teaches workshops in US and Europe.  He has also produced a series of instructional videos about his painting methods.

“My exposure to art began as a teenager growing up in NJ near NYC.  I began making trips to art museums in NYC when I was 15 and developed a love of traditional figurative painting. As a youth I found myself especially drawn to the old masters. Those early trips to the museum instilled in me a love of craft and a sense of where painting comes from.  For most of my artistic career I’ve tried to take what I’ve learned about traditional painting and mold it into something I can call my own, which presently means exploring the place between traditional figurative painting and abstraction.

https://davidshevlino.com/