Workshop with Diane Tesler

March 17, 2014 - Happy St. Patrick's Day

This past weekend I attended an outstanding workshop with Diane Tesler.  I will include a link to her website.  She has upcoming workshops, one at the Torpedo Factory in gouache and the other in oils.  This second one is in Indiana  for 5 days. There are accommodations near her studio and she even provides lunch and dinner.  I loved this workshop. 

Our workshop was in the glorious color-filled studio of Betsy Glassie of LibertyTown Arts Workshop.  It was wonderful to be in the midst of her art. 

We painted almost non-stop and had a very informative critique.   She provided so much information for each person that was valuable for everyone.  One of the reasons I like workshops is that you learn from the other artists and share in their experiences. 

NOTES:  ( a lot of this is from memory so you know what that means)

Start each painting with a drawing using a large format.  Diane recommended 14 x 17 in sketchbook.   Rather than doing small  thumbnails, use the entire surface.  Then once you have a drawing, make the decision about how you want to crop the drawing.  Her point was, don't limit yourself by deciding the size and the edges first. 

Spend enough time on the drawing to fix proportion problems.  Make sure things are lined up using plumb lines and comparisons. 

Have you ever seen one of these?  It was a big help.  You can buy them online.  Diane had some extras for us. 

To help with angles I discovered a useful tool that belonged to my Dad.  Diane was explaining how you could make this tool and it made me realize how I could use this tool which I already had, but didn't know how to use. 

Adapt the canvas size to the way you have cropped your drawing.   


Once you are satisfied with you drawing, then draw with a mixture of Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna (or some equivalents to make a black color) with Gamsol.  Tone your canvas first with this mixture.  Use a paper towel to pull out the lights. 

This is the painting I did on the second day. (Big for me - 16 x 20)  It is not finished, but you can see the wash that I used.  I concentrated on Maddie and will finish the background later.  I think I am ready to do a painting of Hannah now. 

Link to Diane's workshops: http://www.dianetesler.com/



Will add more info tomorrow, I'm too tired to include everything now.

Tomorrow or soon, info on painting skin tones and a few other things