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Guest Newsletter
VOLUME 6 ISSUE 5 M AY 2 0 1 0
LESSON - ENVELOPES
You can simplify any complex shape by drawing an envelope around it using straight lines. The basic envelope has between three and six vertices. After you This month we've been working on have drawn this basic envelope, you can further refine it to give the shape more a new website, and updating the definition. WELCOME!
glossary. We'll let you know as soon as its ready.
STEP ONE
This month's lesson is an important drawing technique that relates to the triangulation technique (described in the video on my website). To practice it, I highly recommend you work from the model. When I cannot find a live model, I generally use a great little tool called Virtual Pose. It has 3D models you can rotate on your computer to draw from. For those of you who like to paint the figure I strongly recommend you take Steve Perkins' sculpture class June 14-18 in New York. You'll learn more about figure and portrait painting in one week than you will in a year of painting courses. I've taken Steve's class twice now and plan to take it again as soon as I can find the time. After taking his class, I'm convinced that to paint the figure or portrait well, you need to be able to sculpt it. You can contact Steve directly at [email protected]. Barry John
Start with three to six points.
STEP TWO
Break each line into two, to create an envelope of no more than 12 points.
STEP THREE
Continue to refine the envelope, breaking it down into more and more points.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT DRAWING
Remember the old adage: you can only paint as well as you can draw. Drawing is very simple as long as you know and practice a few key techniques. To learn all of the useful techniques that I have discovered during my career, such as triangulation, envelopes, and left/right brain switching, see the Drawing building block.
www.VirtualArtAcademy.com
Guest Newsletter
VOLUME 6 ISSUE 5 M AY 2 0 1 0
ITEMS OF INTEREST
From El Greco to Dalí. The Great Spanish masters Museum of Art, Musee Jacquemart-Andre, Paris, France March 12–August 1, 2010
CALLING ALL ARTISTS
CONNECTICUT PASTEL SOCIETY Renaissance in Pastels 2010 Deadline: July 7th, 2010 Contact: http://www.ctpastelsociety.com/ pdf/CPS_Ren_2010.pdf STAMFORD ART ASSOCIATION Faber Birren National Color Award Show Deadline: July 17th, 2010 Contact:http://www.stamfordartassociation.org/pdfs/FaberBirren10.pdf RICHESON SCHOOL OF ART The Richeson75: International Figure/ Portrait Competition
For the first time ever, the Musée Jacquemart-André presents a group of paintings never before exhibited in France. The exhibition brings together works from different periods and various artistic movements. It offers a fascinating aesthetic and artistic journey. Displaying these works side by side reveals the continuities and breaks with tradition that have marked the evolution of Spanish art. On exhibition are fifty masterpieces and more than twenty-five great masters, brought together through the sure and discerning taste of a great collector, present a remarkable overview of creative art in Spain over the last four hundred years. You will see works by El Greco, Sorolla, Picasso, Miro and Dali. http://www.musee-jacquemart-andre.com/en/jacquemart/177-events/?displayType=DetailALaUne&eventId=509 National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland July 31st – October 17 2010 Impressionist Gardens will be a major international exhibition of around 90 works including loans from collections around the world, and will be the first ever to be devoted to this subject. The famous names of Impressionism will be well represented, with fine examples by Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Manet and Sisley. The exhibition will also examine the continued significance of the Impressionist garden to the generation of artists working immediately after the Impressionists, such as Cézanne and Pierre Bonnard. http://www.nationalgalleries.org/whatson/exhibition/5:368/9312/
Deadline: May 30th, 2010 Contact:http://www.richeson75.com/prospectus/r75figport10.pdf CATHARINE LORILLARD WOLFE ART CLUB 114th Annual Open Juried Exhibition Deadline: July 1st, 2010 Contact:www.clwac.org/eventprospectus10/ 2010page1.pdf
PLEASE TELL A FRIEND
I rely heavily on word of mouth recommendations to spread the word about my courses, so it would be very much appreciated if you tell your artist friends about us, and put links to www.virtualartacademy.com on any art forums you participate in. I would appreciate it if you could spare a few minutes to write a few words about my painting courses at any of these review sites: • • xomreviews xmarks reviews
Thank you! Barry
www.VirtualArtAcademy.com
Guest Newsletter
VOLUME 6 ISSUE 5 M AY 2 0 1 0
THIS MONTH’S SPECIAL OFFERS
This month we are offering the Drawing package at a special discount that will expire at the end of the month. To take advantage of them, click the Buy Now button for the item you want to buy, and enter the appropriate coupon code below. Get the Drawing package for $79.95 instead of the regular $90 price (click on the image to view more about brushwork).
DOCUMENTARIES AND BOOKS OF INTEREST
VIRTUAL POSE
IMPORTANT: USE THIS COUPON CODE 56301 LIVE WORKSHOPS WITH BARRY IN 2010
There is still one place left on my five day workshop in Tuscany (June 28 - July 2). You can find out more about it on http://tuscany-painting-workshop.blogspot.com/
The Virtual Pose series is the only book of its kind to feature models posed in action or motion scenes in addition to traditional stationary poses. It comes with a PC/MAC compatible CD-ROM so you can rotate the model to any view you like, and you ca zoom in on every image for more detailed designs. The images in the book and accompanying CD make working with models simpler and give you the same results as working with live models. Buy it from the author
JOAQUIN SOROLLA
SPECIAL REUNION SHOW
There is a special reunion show, which includes 10 of Barry’s paintings, at Galerie Plein Aire in Carmel, California. The show will run until the end of June.
Joaquin Sorolla was one of the greatest natural painters. His style marked by luminous colouring and vigorous brushwork earned him a considerable reputation throughout Europe and America. This monograph, written by the artist's great granddaughter, provides an overview of his work including an illustrated chronology. Buy it from Amazon US Buy it from Amazon UK
WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE SAYING
“Thank you very much for the art course I just purchased from Virtual Art Academy. I am very happy with my purchase and have been reading and re reading the course materials. I absolutely love the videos. I like that I could download them to my computer to watch again and again. Barry has a wonderful *common sense* way of teaching that I find easy to follow. He makes what can be *overwhelming* subjects for me, very interesting. I work in pastels and watercolours, but find the information goes across the board for the most part. I am not signed up for his full program, and only able to purchase portions of his course, but what I have purchased are like wonderful gifts guided by the angels of artistic teaching. I was happy to have had Barry cross my pathway of learning.”.........Paula, Canada, March 26, 2010 Become a member now to meet other students on our online campus and get samples of our course materials.
www.VirtualArtAcademy.com
Guest Newsletter
VOLUME 6 ISSUE 5 M AY 2 0 1 0
THIS PAGE FOR ENROLLED MEMBERS ONLY
LAST MONTH’S ASSIGNMENT
Last month’s assignment was mop and rigger paintings. The idea was to show you how to vary the amount of detail in your paintings and also how using a large brush can simplify and at the same time strengthen your work considerably. Thanks for everyone who tried this assignment I know you all learned a lot. To help you, I've summarized some of the common problems I saw you were having and posted it on the Online Campus. Click on Last Month's Lesson on the Main Menu tab in the online campus to learn more. Regards, Barry John
MONTHLY UPDATE VISUAL MUSIC & POETRY UNIT 6
Painting Critique: Caroline De Bassano
Some of my students have asked me to critique some Sargent paintings so they can organize a museum visit to see his work in person. To help them, I plan to produce some updates to the Visual Music & Poetry course unit 6 over the next few months. Here is the first of the critiques. I greatly respect Sargent and think you can learn a tremendous amount from looking at his paintings. Hope you enjoy the critique! Download this month’s update to learn more about critiquing a master painting. These monthly updates are free for full members. To become a member please go to our member sign-up page.
THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH
THE BUILDING BLOCK™ APPROACH TO LEARNING
THIS MONTH’S ASSIGNMENT
Click This Month's Lesson on the Main Menu tab in the online campus to participate in this month’s assignment and share your work with other Virtual Art Academy students. Working with other students will help motivate you! To join the online campus and become a full member go to our member sign-up page.
You may have wondered what is the idea behind the course Building Blocks, so let me explain my philosophy. I believe that becoming a good painter is nothing to do with having a natural talent, and that most people have an intrinsic ability to produce a decent painting. Having said that I also believe that you need a foundation of basic skills, and that anyone who does not develop these skills will never be able to produce a good painting (unless by pure chance!). I spent a lot of time working out what all these skills are and then classified them into groups. I ended up with nine groups - the nine course Building Blocks. If you develop at least some basic skill in each of these nine Building Blocks (which needs work, just like anything else that is worthwhile), then your paintings will show a lot of improvement, even if you think you don't have a natural 'talent'. And if you want your paintings to get even better, all you need to do is improve and hone your skills in each of these nine Building Blocks. So now you know! www.VirtualArtAcademy.com
VOLUME 6 ISSUE 5 M AY 2 0 1 0
LESSON - ENVELOPES
You can simplify any complex shape by drawing an envelope around it using straight lines. The basic envelope has between three and six vertices. After you This month we've been working on have drawn this basic envelope, you can further refine it to give the shape more a new website, and updating the definition. WELCOME!
glossary. We'll let you know as soon as its ready.
STEP ONE
This month's lesson is an important drawing technique that relates to the triangulation technique (described in the video on my website). To practice it, I highly recommend you work from the model. When I cannot find a live model, I generally use a great little tool called Virtual Pose. It has 3D models you can rotate on your computer to draw from. For those of you who like to paint the figure I strongly recommend you take Steve Perkins' sculpture class June 14-18 in New York. You'll learn more about figure and portrait painting in one week than you will in a year of painting courses. I've taken Steve's class twice now and plan to take it again as soon as I can find the time. After taking his class, I'm convinced that to paint the figure or portrait well, you need to be able to sculpt it. You can contact Steve directly at [email protected]. Barry John
Start with three to six points.
STEP TWO
Break each line into two, to create an envelope of no more than 12 points.
STEP THREE
Continue to refine the envelope, breaking it down into more and more points.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT DRAWING
Remember the old adage: you can only paint as well as you can draw. Drawing is very simple as long as you know and practice a few key techniques. To learn all of the useful techniques that I have discovered during my career, such as triangulation, envelopes, and left/right brain switching, see the Drawing building block.
www.VirtualArtAcademy.com
Guest Newsletter
VOLUME 6 ISSUE 5 M AY 2 0 1 0
ITEMS OF INTEREST
From El Greco to Dalí. The Great Spanish masters Museum of Art, Musee Jacquemart-Andre, Paris, France March 12–August 1, 2010
CALLING ALL ARTISTS
CONNECTICUT PASTEL SOCIETY Renaissance in Pastels 2010 Deadline: July 7th, 2010 Contact: http://www.ctpastelsociety.com/ pdf/CPS_Ren_2010.pdf STAMFORD ART ASSOCIATION Faber Birren National Color Award Show Deadline: July 17th, 2010 Contact:http://www.stamfordartassociation.org/pdfs/FaberBirren10.pdf RICHESON SCHOOL OF ART The Richeson75: International Figure/ Portrait Competition
For the first time ever, the Musée Jacquemart-André presents a group of paintings never before exhibited in France. The exhibition brings together works from different periods and various artistic movements. It offers a fascinating aesthetic and artistic journey. Displaying these works side by side reveals the continuities and breaks with tradition that have marked the evolution of Spanish art. On exhibition are fifty masterpieces and more than twenty-five great masters, brought together through the sure and discerning taste of a great collector, present a remarkable overview of creative art in Spain over the last four hundred years. You will see works by El Greco, Sorolla, Picasso, Miro and Dali. http://www.musee-jacquemart-andre.com/en/jacquemart/177-events/?displayType=DetailALaUne&eventId=509 National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland July 31st – October 17 2010 Impressionist Gardens will be a major international exhibition of around 90 works including loans from collections around the world, and will be the first ever to be devoted to this subject. The famous names of Impressionism will be well represented, with fine examples by Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Manet and Sisley. The exhibition will also examine the continued significance of the Impressionist garden to the generation of artists working immediately after the Impressionists, such as Cézanne and Pierre Bonnard. http://www.nationalgalleries.org/whatson/exhibition/5:368/9312/
Deadline: May 30th, 2010 Contact:http://www.richeson75.com/prospectus/r75figport10.pdf CATHARINE LORILLARD WOLFE ART CLUB 114th Annual Open Juried Exhibition Deadline: July 1st, 2010 Contact:www.clwac.org/eventprospectus10/ 2010page1.pdf
PLEASE TELL A FRIEND
I rely heavily on word of mouth recommendations to spread the word about my courses, so it would be very much appreciated if you tell your artist friends about us, and put links to www.virtualartacademy.com on any art forums you participate in. I would appreciate it if you could spare a few minutes to write a few words about my painting courses at any of these review sites: • • xomreviews xmarks reviews
Thank you! Barry
www.VirtualArtAcademy.com
Guest Newsletter
VOLUME 6 ISSUE 5 M AY 2 0 1 0
THIS MONTH’S SPECIAL OFFERS
This month we are offering the Drawing package at a special discount that will expire at the end of the month. To take advantage of them, click the Buy Now button for the item you want to buy, and enter the appropriate coupon code below. Get the Drawing package for $79.95 instead of the regular $90 price (click on the image to view more about brushwork).
DOCUMENTARIES AND BOOKS OF INTEREST
VIRTUAL POSE
IMPORTANT: USE THIS COUPON CODE 56301 LIVE WORKSHOPS WITH BARRY IN 2010
There is still one place left on my five day workshop in Tuscany (June 28 - July 2). You can find out more about it on http://tuscany-painting-workshop.blogspot.com/
The Virtual Pose series is the only book of its kind to feature models posed in action or motion scenes in addition to traditional stationary poses. It comes with a PC/MAC compatible CD-ROM so you can rotate the model to any view you like, and you ca zoom in on every image for more detailed designs. The images in the book and accompanying CD make working with models simpler and give you the same results as working with live models. Buy it from the author
JOAQUIN SOROLLA
SPECIAL REUNION SHOW
There is a special reunion show, which includes 10 of Barry’s paintings, at Galerie Plein Aire in Carmel, California. The show will run until the end of June.
Joaquin Sorolla was one of the greatest natural painters. His style marked by luminous colouring and vigorous brushwork earned him a considerable reputation throughout Europe and America. This monograph, written by the artist's great granddaughter, provides an overview of his work including an illustrated chronology. Buy it from Amazon US Buy it from Amazon UK
WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE SAYING
“Thank you very much for the art course I just purchased from Virtual Art Academy. I am very happy with my purchase and have been reading and re reading the course materials. I absolutely love the videos. I like that I could download them to my computer to watch again and again. Barry has a wonderful *common sense* way of teaching that I find easy to follow. He makes what can be *overwhelming* subjects for me, very interesting. I work in pastels and watercolours, but find the information goes across the board for the most part. I am not signed up for his full program, and only able to purchase portions of his course, but what I have purchased are like wonderful gifts guided by the angels of artistic teaching. I was happy to have had Barry cross my pathway of learning.”.........Paula, Canada, March 26, 2010 Become a member now to meet other students on our online campus and get samples of our course materials.
www.VirtualArtAcademy.com
Guest Newsletter
VOLUME 6 ISSUE 5 M AY 2 0 1 0
THIS PAGE FOR ENROLLED MEMBERS ONLY
LAST MONTH’S ASSIGNMENT
Last month’s assignment was mop and rigger paintings. The idea was to show you how to vary the amount of detail in your paintings and also how using a large brush can simplify and at the same time strengthen your work considerably. Thanks for everyone who tried this assignment I know you all learned a lot. To help you, I've summarized some of the common problems I saw you were having and posted it on the Online Campus. Click on Last Month's Lesson on the Main Menu tab in the online campus to learn more. Regards, Barry John
MONTHLY UPDATE VISUAL MUSIC & POETRY UNIT 6
Painting Critique: Caroline De Bassano
Some of my students have asked me to critique some Sargent paintings so they can organize a museum visit to see his work in person. To help them, I plan to produce some updates to the Visual Music & Poetry course unit 6 over the next few months. Here is the first of the critiques. I greatly respect Sargent and think you can learn a tremendous amount from looking at his paintings. Hope you enjoy the critique! Download this month’s update to learn more about critiquing a master painting. These monthly updates are free for full members. To become a member please go to our member sign-up page.
THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH
THE BUILDING BLOCK™ APPROACH TO LEARNING
THIS MONTH’S ASSIGNMENT
Click This Month's Lesson on the Main Menu tab in the online campus to participate in this month’s assignment and share your work with other Virtual Art Academy students. Working with other students will help motivate you! To join the online campus and become a full member go to our member sign-up page.
You may have wondered what is the idea behind the course Building Blocks, so let me explain my philosophy. I believe that becoming a good painter is nothing to do with having a natural talent, and that most people have an intrinsic ability to produce a decent painting. Having said that I also believe that you need a foundation of basic skills, and that anyone who does not develop these skills will never be able to produce a good painting (unless by pure chance!). I spent a lot of time working out what all these skills are and then classified them into groups. I ended up with nine groups - the nine course Building Blocks. If you develop at least some basic skill in each of these nine Building Blocks (which needs work, just like anything else that is worthwhile), then your paintings will show a lot of improvement, even if you think you don't have a natural 'talent'. And if you want your paintings to get even better, all you need to do is improve and hone your skills in each of these nine Building Blocks. So now you know! www.VirtualArtAcademy.com
