Has the book on painting been closed?

[Michele Rushworth]

...drop the class and spend those 15 hours a week painting from life and good reference photos when I do not have a model in front of me?

Sounds like a good idea to me.

Whenever I take a class I make sure I have a very clear idea of what the instructor will be teaching, as well as a clear idea of the kind of work they themselves are capable of. I wasted years and lots of dollars "studying art" at the University level learning how to talk about art but nothing at all about how to paint realistically.

I won't get into distinctions about what is "good art" and "bad art". I like to look at all kinds of things in varying degrees of realism. What I like to paint myself, though, makes up only a very narrow subset of all the art education that is available out there. You may have to take an out of town workshop to get some solid realism instruction.

[Patricia Joyce]

Ah, and that is where my hard earned dollars are being spent now, just sent in my reservation for and made my airline reservations for "Hot Atlanta" with Marvin! I will not be participating with oils, but to avail myself of his lectures, demonstrations and teaching of others, I am sure will advance my own abilities. January can't come fast enough! And this is also why I am considering dropping the class, to spend the time doing monochromatic studies from life. I can't do both, attend this class and paint from a model, there are only so many hours in my week...

Thanks for your encouragement Michele!

[Marvin Mattelson]

Hang on there Pat. As Mighty Mouse used to say, "Here I come to save the day! " Seriously, I would advise you to just concentrate on drawing. Set up still life's with one strong light source and focus on getting the right shapes and values. These are the two most important things in painting. I would suggest charcoal as a medium since it handles closely to paint in many ways.

I would highly recommend getting the book of Charles Bargue's Drawing Course which is available from the Dahesh Museum, located in New York City. This book reproduces the plates designed by Jean Leon Gerome to teach drawing principles to students at the French Academy. These are the very principles I champion in my teaching. This will help prepare your drawing for painting purposes immensely.

I also recommend reading Harold Speed's books on drawing and painting (available from Dover Books.) These will get you up to speed and thinking in the basic right direction.

I made the non-painting participant status available as an option because I felt that half a loaf is better than no loaf at all, but I would suggest you consider upgrading, if at all possible, to get the very most out of the workshop and me. Being able to paint with me there, to answer questions and offer advice, would make a big difference. I understand when you factor in the cost of the supplies this basically doubles your costs but I think if you can swing it, it would pay off in the long run. Either way, I'm confident you'll find the experience to be far more satisfying than the class you're taking now. You will be juiced!

[Patricia Joyce]

Mighty Mouse, My Hero!!
I think the only way I can show up in Atlanta is as a non-painter, I don't have the courage to show up with my paint box. But, don't worry, Marvin, my plan is to make this my "introduction to Marvin" workshop. Hopefully it will be the first of several workshops with "the Mighty Mouse"!!

I do have the Bargue book, ordered it as soon as I heard about it and I love using it. I have a notebook filled with drawings from the book. I have not considered Speed's book but will look into it. Thank you for the suggestion.

The worst and the most I can hope for in January is that I will be there, watching you paint, and the other students, DYING to be painting myself!! I really plan on being "juiced"!

[Michele Rushworth]

Oh, bring your paints..... really!

[Patricia Joyce]

Are you going to be there Michele? I am so tempted, but apprehensive, I have NO experience painting except for the three simple paintings I have done in this class (will soon be posting the finished "Girl with a Pearl")

[Michele Rushworth]

No, I won't be attending. I'm still trying to assimilate the information I've gathered from classes, videos and books from many different instructors over the past year or two. Perhaps in another year I'll sign up for more classes. Fortunately we have the Seattle Academy of Fine Art here which teaches great realistic painting so I don't need to travel so much.

But back to you... what do you have to lose by bringing your paints to Marvin's class? You'll learn more if you dive right in.