final notes..!

MY DEARS:

It has been a pleasure getting to know all of you this month.  The show last night was great; everyone was commenting on how impressive all of the work was.  Keep in touch and keep adding to the art burrito!!
And remember, as the great Vossdawg once said, everything in life is just a shirt.
Have a wonderful rest o' summer!

<3 Allie & Abby

In-class Paintings in Progress

Alejandra Fernandez

Sonia Aparicio

Rachel Hresko

Zoe Palmer

Mayya Agapova

Ellie Budzinski

Holly Petre

Kyara Lewis Davis

Amy Hong

Beatriz Wink

Connor Crable

Amanda Knutila

Laura Zapatas

The End is Near!

I hope everyone had a great time in New York.  Be sure to return to MOMA and the Met soon if you didn't get to see everything.  The Richard Cerra and Alexander McQueen shows at the Met are not to be missed. If you have any pictures from the trip for the blog, be sure to email them to precollegepromotions@gmail.com!

With only a week of Pre-college left (and only three days of studio class left), your final paintings are hopefully well on their way to completion. Everyone has improved so much from the first day (think back to those still lives from class number one - it's as if they were done by completely different people!) Compositions have become more dynamic, there is a stronger range of values, color has been considered more thoughtfully; all in all, some really great work has been created.  Try to remember all of the things we've learned as you work on your final paintings, both in class and out.  Soon you'll be back home (on a normal sleeping and eating schedule) so while you're still here, bring it! Make work that you're really proud of. You guys ruuule.

Also, Wanda wanted to lend some inspiration for finals week (bum bum buuuuum). Remember to get enough sleep and to eat healthy!

July 12 OH, PIZZA!

It's time for color painting time!!!

Just

remember some things we talked about today when you're working on paintings in the future:

-knocking out areas of value with one stroke (BOOM! moments)

-foreground, middleground, background

-aerial perspective (things in the foreground have more contrast and sharper edges than things that are farther away)

-COLOR+VALUE, don't get crazy with color and forget that value is more important to your painting!

-the painting should STILL arrive as if out of a fog-- there is no area of the painting that is unimportant! Make sure you are relating colors and values to the entirety of the painting instead of focusing on just one area, such as the figure.

-skin has tons of colors in it! If you want to start with a base color for skin, try cadmium red, sap green, and titanium white

7/11 Big Slurpee® Slideshow

George Bellows

Bellows' paintings are great to look at for active compositions and energetic brushstrokes.  The second piece, which you might have seen at the Hirschhorn on Saturday, activates the large, black background by throwing in the smallest hint of red and green in the doorway near the lefthand edge.  Bellows captures the energy and violence of the boxing event in the way he has painted the piece.

Cézanne

The views of Mount St. Victoire by Cezanne can essentially be simplified to a single warm hue and a single cool hue.  Although they are nearly equal in intensity and saturation, the cooler colors tend to recede while the warmer hues pull forward. Keep this in mind as you work on your warm and cool paintings in class today.

Edward Hopper

Hopper is a great artist to look at for conveying space and creating dynamic compositions.  His paintings always evoke a specific mood.

Rembrandt

It's Rembrandt. He's just a boss in every way. Master of light.

John Singer Sargent 

And again. Just a master, suckas. The painting on the bottom, Madame X, we will be seeing next week in New York at the Met.

Wayne Thiebaud

Cake! As seen at the National Gallery.  Thiebaud uses thick brushstrokes that feel like icing (but don't eat them). Up close, there is a great deal of intense color in his line work and shadows. There is also always importance placed on rhythm and repetition.

Titian

Euan Uglow

A figurative painter from England.  Great to look at for the structure of the human body within a space.  Breaks the human form into a series of geometric planes.

Velázquez

Another painting you can see at the Met on Saturday. Be sure to take a closer look at the hands and face.

Rábid Squirrél

Monochromatic Painting

Mark Tansey

Ashley Wood

Richard Diebenkorn

Elizabeth Peyton

& some more paintings by Peyton... these are in color, but they are great examples of quick, direct painting.  Each brushstroke describes a specific plane or shape while still reading as simply paint. Strong compositions with lots of energy and movement.