Learning From Karen Dennyschene's "Paint and Sip"
In June and July, I attended two art classes in Somerset West to pick up new painting skills, meet fellow artists, and get out of my creative and emotional slump. In this blog post, I'll share my experience and the lessons I learned at my first art class.
Paint and Sip hosted by Artjamming
My first class was a 2-hour session on the 15th of June at Lourensford Estate, given by Karen Dennyschene, an established and successful artist. From graphic designer to fine artist, Karen's style is bold, colourful, and spontaneous, as can be seen in her portfolio. The class was called "Paint and Sip", one of the many classes hosted by ArtJamming, and the vibe was a fun afternoon class for adults.
The Ballerina
Karen's painting of a ballerina (as pictured above) was our subject for that lesson. We used acrylics as our medium.
Karen had her work on display for each student to reference on an easel, as well as a photograph of her artwork for each of us. She demonstrated the first step by spreading the background color with her palette knife onto my canvas, and I eagerly followed suit.
After quickly drying the background with a hair dryer, we moved on to drawing the figure. Karen provided each of us with an enlarged photocopy of her painting, which we used to trace onto the canvas using carbon film. This technique is a valuable tool for artists who want to enlarge their sketches and transfer them onto a larger canvas.
With the general outline traced, we began painting the figure's skin. Karen encouraged us to use loose brushstrokes and even incorporate some of the background into our work. She gave feedback and guidance at every step.
Next up was the ballerina's dress. We applied one layer of pink followed by another layer of white using a palette knife. Each student could decide how saturated they wanted the pink to be.
Karen returned to my canvas to demonstrate how to be more loose while controlling the palette knife. I was grateful for the extra attention since I rarely use a palette knife in my work.
The final step was to outline the figure with a darker grey using the palette knife, and voila! We had created our own ballerina painting.
Lessons Learned
- Incorporating spontaneous strokes into my work using a palette knife
- Using enlarged photocopies of my sketches and copying them onto any canvas size using carbon film
Conclusion
Attending art classes is a great way to feel inspired, learn new techniques, and talk to professional artists.
In my next blog post, I'll share my experience from my second art class and the lessons I learned there. Stay tuned!
My Ongoing Work
I'm currently working on my third painting in oils of a wolf. Check out the work in progress!
