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Open 12-5 Thursday - Sunday
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ARTS BENICIA CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS To enroll for classes, click here: (You will need class name, start date, instructor name and tuition amount) |
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________________________________________________ Figure Drawing Open Studio These ongoing sessions allow artists to challenge their drawing skills while developing a better understanding of human form and movement. The three-hour session begins with short poses for warm-up gesture drawings that gradually increase in length to 20-minute poses. The professional artists' models are from the Bay Area Models Guild. Bring your own drawing materials; a number of easels are available for use. Register for all six classes or drop-in.
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________________________________________________ The Human Figure / A Visual Dialogue “In teaching, we often neglect to sponsor passion as a discipline. Instead, we offer up the deadly diagram, supposedly to be fertilized later by experience. Later is too late.” ~Rico Lebrun This course is designed to cover formal principals, concepts, and techniques employed in drawing the human figure. Students can expect an extremely rigorous and demanding course of studio work. Once certain basic skills and concepts have been understood we will move into unchartered territory, i.e. expressive mark-making, experimentation with different tools, materials, and methodology-processes of abstraction, etc.( In short, risk-taking). Work done in class will be based on direct observation. Focus will be on process over product. Individual and group critiques will be conducted. The goal is to enter figure drawings with confidence, ease, and agility....and to have some serious fun. Students will leave the studio exhausted, but rewarded. E-mail instructor at mark@markeanes.com for supply list.
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Mark Eanes is currently an Associate Professor of Art at California College of the Arts (CCA). "... a writer sometimes needs to be able to just stand and gape at this thing or that thing- a sunset or an old shoe-in absolute and simple amazement." - Raymond Carver One day at the local thrift store in Sitka, Alaska, I came across a remarkable pair of old work boots--the kind used by fisherman in sub-zero degree weather. I found myself staring at these boots in absolute and simple amazement. For the next two weeks I executed a number of large charcoal drawings. I was reminded of the time I was in Amsterdam, fresh out of college, standing in front of Vincent Van Gogh's painting of work boots, choking back tears. How, I asked myself, could I be so moved by this small painting of such a humble subject? The answer lies in the fact that art, at its very best, is transcendent-- and its ability to move us and transport us is undeniable and inexplicable. I believe that most artists, myself included, aspire to create work that will ultimately touch the viewer in some way. |
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________________________________________________ Introduction to Photoshop So you want to learn Photoshop. Great! What do you want to learn? Do you want to use Photoshop to create original artwork? Or do you just want to make your travel photos look better? Even if all you want to do is prepare images of your personal artwork to post on your web site, Photoshop is an invaluable tool. Photoshop is an extremely powerful and complex program. You can’t learn it in an afternoon. Happily, you don’t need to. You just need to learn how to do what you want to do. This three hour workshop can’t teach you everything about Photoshop. What we will do is cover the basics – Tools, Layers, Cropping and Resizing, using Text, and Saving images. Beyond that, the workshop will be guided by the students, i.e. what you want to learn. Students are invited to bring one or two of their own images on CD or flash drive for Peg to play with, and demonstrate the magic of Photoshop! Note – This is not a hands-on workshop. Students do not need to bring laptops, just plenty of paper for note taking.
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Peg Jackson ran a successful portrait studio in Morgan Hill for more than twenty-five years, photographing children, babies, families and pets. She took her first Photoshop class in 1996, replaced her medium format film camera with a digital Nikon, and never picked up a film camera again. Peg has taught innumerable classes and workshops on retouching techniques and portrait enhancement for professional photographers (who – like artists – are predominantly right-brained), and continues to write monthly Photoshop tutorials which are published in the Focal Point, a monthly e-newsletter for Northern California Professional Photographers. Life (as in mid-life!) has taken Peg in a new direction; designing jewelry, living in Benicia, and working at Arts Benicia. |
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________________________________________________ Beginning Sumi-e: Ink Wash Painting When your eyes get tired, what do you do? It is said that by looking at something green in the distance your eyes feel refreshed. Something organic heals your tiredness and soothes your stress. Sumi-e is a good way of refreshing your mind like meditation. Sumi-e classes introduce you to the fundamental techniques of sumi-e or ink wash painting, the unique form of Asian art that has produced some of the world’s finest masterpieces of ink painting. Originating in China and having its spiritual basis in Zen Buddhism, this form of expressing nature’s colors through shades of monochrome, black ink has been popular in China, Korea and Japan for many centuries. In this session you will learn to do brush painting including the following: calligraphy to practice basic brush strokes, use of sumi-ink and also watercolor, further techniques for using bamboo brushes. After practicing these skills, you will complete “shikshi” (Japanese art board edged with gold colored trim) to hang in a frame or a scroll.
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Fumiyo Yoshikawa was born in Kyoto, Japan. Since 1983, she has studied and practiced Japanese style painting and has taken part in many art exhibitions throughout Japan at major art museums and galleries including the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum. She has taught drawing and painting both in Japan and abroad to people of all ages, from children to seniors. She has introduced Japanese art and culture to people from diverse backgrounds through her teaching and demonstrations at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum, Colorado Mesa University and The Japan Society of Northern California, to name just a few. |
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________________________________________________ A Remarkable, Peaceful Journey Part Six A six week program working with others on varied techniques, playing with layering, collage work, and fabric… mixed media. This class works on so many levels, for those that do not know how to begin and those that need a place to play and gather new mixed media techniques…a perfect spot to hang out with like-minded folks and get reconnected with your creative self. The goals of the class are to be comfortable creating collages, learning to work with glues, paper, paint, fabric and beeswax. At the end of the six weeks, every student will have at least one finished project. If you are a new student or a returning one, I will continue to challenge you with more mixed media projects by introducing new mediums to play with….the fun never ends!! For an updated supply list contact Lorri-Marie at lorrimarie@sbcglobal.net
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________________________________________________ Secret Compartment Books Workshop Who doesn’t love a secret place to hide the little treasures of life? In this two-day workshop, you will create your very own ‘Secret Compartment Book’ using an old book and some mixed media techniques. You must be careful though, my experience is, once you make a secret compartment book, you will get hooked! This is a two day work shop and you will start two altered book projects and have the skill level and confidence to complete as many secret compartment books as your heart desires. Class will start promptly at ten, break for lunch at noon, play again until three. We will get messy, we will be creative and we will play!!! For an updated supply list contact Lorri-Marie at lorrimarie@sbcglobal.net
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My code name is ‘Winging It’ because that is how I create relationships, life and artwork. I very seldom have a plan, and when I do, I have no idea how I am going to get there. There is a freedom in ‘not knowing’ because then there are no rules that I have to follow. I am a self-taught artist, and eleven years after I began my journey, I find myself in my studio every chance I get. Cooking and cleaning have been pushed aside with playtime being the most important. I love spending time with other women artists. I find them juicy and full of inspiration. My life is fuller than I ever could have imagined…and I love to playing with others!!! |
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________________________________________________ Chinese Paper Cutting Jiali Christensen provides a wonderful opportunity for people to learn about Chinese history, arts & culture. Beginning Chinese Paper Cutting is a fun class that introduces people to the peaceful art of paper cutting that dates back thousands of years in Chinese history. This class allows students a unique hands-on experience in which they will be able to choose from a variety of pictures and create a special piece of art they can take home and enjoy. Also students will have a chance to ask questions and explore their curiosities about China's history and culture. This is a great class that's sure to put a smile on your face.
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Jiali Christensen was born in 1968 in Jilin Provence in Northern China. She comes from an art background with her two brothers educated in Chinese painting and character writing and her father a Chinese history teacher. She studied accounting in college and earned her degree. After college, she was an accountant for a large car factory for 13 years. In 2006, she came to the U.S. Since her arrival, she has taken the time to focus on her love for art. She practices Chinese Paper Cutting, Chinese Doll Making and Traditional Chinese Brush Painting. |
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A Fresh Approach to Traditional Watercolor Painting Now is a great time to escape the mid-winter blues with a colorful and fun filled approach to finding the artist within you. We will review basic watercolor skills, using dramatic transparent watercolor techniques including glazing, washes and color theory. We will explore the elements of good design and composition and we will inspire the artist within each of us with a look at subject and content. Each class will begin with a short demo and end with a friendly critique that will inspire you to see your work in a new way. Class is open to students at all levels. I will work with students individually. A suggested supply list will be available or you can bring any materials you are comfortable with.
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Sandy Imperatori received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University). She was awarded one of the first undergraduate degrees in Graphic Design in the country. Sandy worked at the Johnson County Community College in suburban Kansas City where she helped create one of the first community college “in-house” graphic design studios and earned national awards for her illustrations and graphic work. In 1984 Sandy relocated to northern California and began painting with Pam Glover and a group of Bay area Plein Air painters. She has been painting full time, teaching and showing her work for the past 27 years throughout northern California. Her favorite subjects are western landscapes “Nothing compares to the excitement of the moment when I am ready to paint. The colors speak to me and the images and shapes begin to appear. In those first exhilarating moments, when I begin to put paint on the paper everything seems possible”. |
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________________________________________________ CANCELLATION AND REFUNDS: Early registration is encouraged. Our instructors need adequate time for preparation and purchase of materials. Minimum enrollment must be met at least one week prior to the first day of class or there is a possibility of cancellation. No refunds will be given after a week before class begins. If enrollment is insufficient and the instructor cancels a class, your fee will be refunded or transferred to another class of your choice. Classes cannot be prorated. |
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________________________________________________ To enroll for classes, click here: (You will need class name, start date, instructor name and tuition amount)
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