This 3-day workshop will focus on a “head-and-shoulders” oil study painted from a live model using a direct painting method.  We will use a single, long-term pose for the duration of the workshop which offers an opportunity for deep exploration of drawing and, importantly, of form painting. (i.e., three-dimensional illusionism).  The long pose approach allows participants a deeper dive into proper, relational “seeing” which is what truly creates and develops visual understanding (perception).  As the work progresses, Juan will discuss relevant aspects of structure, including anatomy and morphology (planes of the face and head) as well as the various rhythms of colour found in representational painting.  Brushwork and colour mixing/choosing are fundamental aspects of the workshop, too.

Direct painting borrows from the layering methods used by most of the Old Masters and 19th c. academicians, as well as from the alla prima or bravura schools that feature a largely wet-into-wet paint application. Thus, direct painting is really a “total” approach: a synthesis of techniques which allows for efficiency of execution, yet does not compromise any principles of quality, craftsmanship, or draughtsmanship that fine painting possesses.

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