Art Classes Offered by Rich

Below is a list of current offerings for art instruction. Unless otherwise noted, all classes are held in my studio, B4. Please contact me if you are interested in signing up. Additionally, if these times or days don’t work for you, contact me and lets see if we can work on other times. HIGHSCHOOLERS AND HOMESCHOOLERS: I am also working on schedules with some new students now. Contact me if you are interested in knowing more about getting involved in additional classes not listed below.

Oil Painting
(Uninstructed, ongoing) Tuesdays 3-6pm

Fees
$225 for 5-week session.
For an additional $25 per 5-week session, all painting materials can be supplied.

Drawing Class
(10 weeks beginning January 19, 2012)
Wednesdays 5:30-8:30p or, Thursdays 6-9p

The way we see the world shapes our world-view and how we approach life and our relationships. The ability to “see” is one of the most important aspects of creating a drawing. Developing the art of observation will be the principal aspect of this class. We will be learning to gaze at a subject, discovering relationships between shapes, looking for subtle shifts in light and shadow, composition, perspective and many other tools for creating an accurate rendering of any subject. With graphite in hand, we will be working on class projects, and will also be asked to follow-up each week in your sketch journal.

Fees
$300 for 10-week course.
$45 materials fee (Drawing pad, pencil set, kneaded eraser, text book)

Figure Workshops
(Uninstructed, ongoing) Thursdays 7-10p in Studio A4

Join us on Tuesday nights to draw or paint. We will usually begin with gesture warm-up poses for the first 25 minutes, then 25-minute long poses for remainder of night. Every 3 or 4 weeks, we do a single long pose all night. We start at precisely 7:01 so get there beforehand to set-up and do a meet-n-greet and get a cup of something to drink. Nude models. Drawing horses, drawing boards tables and chairs are provided. If you want to use an easel, bring one.

$15 if you drop-in. $60 for 5-workshop pass

My studio is located at

Studio Channel Islands Art Center
2222 Ventura Blvd, B4
Camarillo, CA 93012

Roadtrippin

Here is a gallery of a few photos I took while crusin’ up Highway 1.

Christmas Eve 4 – Follow-up

So, painting for 5 Christmas Eve services was not as hard as I psyc’ed myself out for. It actually got much easier each service. The thing that I was not figuring on was that there were three pastors preaching three different sermons at these five services. Each used the painting to illustrate the sermon point is a bit different way, and with different timing… But it all worked out well. Below is a photo of me about half way through the 4th service. The 3rd and 5th services were filmed and I plan to upload a highlights version when I get the DVDs.

When did you forget how to draw…?

On another website that I often read, the question was asked… “When did you forget how to draw? – How can we reconnect with our playful, creative, expressive element of our humanity?” I stopped actually drawing twenty years ago, when I got married. Life changes and new priorities caused me to leave behind a very creative gift that God built into my being. We often put pressure on ourselves, or live up to outside pressures to conform to standards that are unnatural for us, in order to be “accepted” in society… in our social circles… in our families… in our church. I went through a time of self-discovery about 6 or 7 years ago when I was struggling in my marriage and church and business. Life was full of stress and I felt like I was bending in ways that I was never meant to bend. Being the flexible person that I am, I stayed bent up for a long time. Then… I began to draw again – and paint. I started dreaming what being an artist would look like. I began to be around people that were like me… creative ones with pent up desires to explore the universe of non-conformity. As an artist, I can get my innerlife out on a piece of canvas for others to absorb… and to reflect on. There is a natural God-given ability in us all to be creative and to draw outside of the lines that society has drawn around us. I want to dream the Dream and draw… and paint… and sculpt these dreams to share with others. I have come to realize that the final piece of work is not the purpose of the art… for me, it is the process of creating that has the most affect on me and my thinking and even my being. A final painting is a recording of the process. It reminds me that we are all in process. When a painting is done, then it takes on a life of its own, beyond the process. It is able to speak directly with others in a different language than I could ever speak in. Having started drawing and painting again has been life changing for me and my family. Now, I want to help others find the artist with-in and remember how to draw again.

“There is beauty in everything… you just have to find it” ~Geo. Gallo

Life Drawing

So at the start of this year, I decided to find a local life drawing group. I did find a couple of them but they were in the mornings. I have a day job, so it would not be possible to attend the weekday one, the other is on Saturdays, which is often busy. So… I decided to start my own group. The Thousand Oaks Figure Artist Guild was born. We started out at the Thousand Oaks Community Gallery and have settled into Studio 316 on Thousand Oaks Blvd. Sometimes we start with short warm-up poses, and move into a single long pose for the night… other times we have some 25 minute poses and change up things. Painting and drawing both. Last week I took in my laptop and decided to draw with my Wacom digital drawing tablet. It was interesting. Above are some examples of the sketches and paintings I have done over the past months, including one digital painting. If you are in the area, feel free to join us on a Thursday night. Go to our Meetup website to get more details.