Creating a Painting

Subject: Johnson Memorial Methodist Church, Huntington, WV

 



I recently completed a watercolor of the Johnson Memorial Methodist Church. This is another in a series of architectural subjects from Huntington. I have been photographing subjects around town for three years and am slowly working through them in paint. Huntington has a number of beautiful churches but I have found it difficult to find just the right angle or point of view to put on paper. To be honest, I have put the photos of this church aside a number of times - seemingly because it appeared to be so dark and stark. However the truth is I never really studied them. When I did, I found the the stained glass to be extensive and delicate. By moving around the facade I found a pleasing, balanced composition that gave the feeling of the massiveness of the structure without being stiff. I decided this would be the first of a church series.

As you can imagine I spent a long time with this work - about three weeks, off and on. The pencil layout was painstaking and required several days. Due to the shadows in the original photos I had to visit again at a similar time (7 AM) to re-photograph certain specific sections. It is during this part of the process that I begin to gain an appreciation for the structure in front of me. It is essentially a reconstruction - stone for stone and pane for pane. I begin to appreciate the design as a whole. Who laid it all out? How were horizontal and vertical sections chosen to advance or retreat in the facade? How was the stone chosen and where was it quarried? What stories do the windows tell?



There is also a larger context. Who was constructing these churches along 5th Ave? Were they local stonemasons? Were they all being built at the same time? Well, as you can see you have a lot of time to ponder while you paint.


Johnson Memorial Methodist Church
Ron Haeberle



After completing the drawing the next step was to work out the palette of colors. For this work the palette was limited and for that reason important. I had recently completed a pre-sunrise scene of tide pools at the beach and the reddish violet of the early morning light in that work was almost spot on. To be sure the work was consistent, I had to mix most of the paint for the entire painting in the beginning. The rest of the painting was relatively straightforward but tedious: constructing the windows, texturing the stonework and placing the shadows. A few final details and the job was done. This was a relatively large painting (for me), matting to 22"X28". This was necessary to develop the detail of the windows and stonework.

Having completed the painting I am now looking forward to tracking down some of the history of the building to answer some of the questions that arose during the painting / pondering process.

The painting itself has been matted and framed and submitted as an entry to the next West Viriginia Division of Culture And History  juried show which focus on historical structures in the state.



I am now off on another "project". It won't have quite so many little windows!

By Ron Haeberle

Renaissance Artist

It all Started with my Christmass Letter 2009

Saturday, December 18, 2010

The Bowersock's New Years 2011 Art Resolutions

Every year, every body we know has to mention their New Year's Resolutions during any holiday party or family get together. This year, we have decided NOT to talk about exercise....nor weight gain or loss....nor new and exciting exercise programs that make you sweat and feel miserable! We talked it over while eating Lemon Pound Cake along with hot chocolate with marsh mellows for breakfast yesterday and decided it was just foolish for us to make those kinds of promises. We will just break them and feel guiltier than we do now. We talked about the guilt and then decided that a glass of egg nog goes well with guilt.

Neither one of us felt much better, so we went back to bed and read awhile and took a nap...at 10:30 a.m. By 1 p.m. we found ourselves sitting on the couch in front of our warm fire in the Buck Stove with the Christmas tree lit and our little Snow Village all carefully arranged on the coffee table. While we were writing Christmas cards, we began to talk again about what New Year's resolutions we really want to make.

• We plan to let the Spirit of Christ's birth and the Christmas angel be our guiding light throughout the coming year.
• We are going to do some painting of the Snow Villiage that you see pictured here, glowing with the Angel light and find some of our youthful, innocent spirit through the art the we create from this inspirational village.
• We are GOING to draw, sketch, paint or photograph every day...something worthwhile everyday.
• We are GOING to clean up Bruce's studio.....again.
• We are GOING to catalog Bruce's 900 art books and shelve them by subject (ha ha ha).
• We are GOING to finish building the best "how to draw" website the world has every seen! This site will showcase Bruce and give insight to how he sees, draws, thinks, renders and paints. Visit him athttp://www.4artcoach365.com/ if you would like to learn to draw, buy a print, find out some of his favorite art books, blog, email, comment and share your thoughts on art.
• Bruce is going to learn how Facebook works and interact with you more often.
• Lil is going to act like a retired person and start doing art again often.
• We plan to take long walks and observe things around us, talk about positive subjects regarding art and how we can continue to hopefully inspire others to look for the positive, rather than negative.
• We plan to watch less news on TV and paint more.
• We have several art vacations on the horizon and hope to escape often to the beach to find our muse!

Have a very Merry CHRISTmas and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Bruce and Lillianne Bowersock

Renaissance Gallery Art: The Bowersock's New Years 2011 Art Resolutions

Renaissance Gallery Art: The Bowersock's New Years 2011 Art Resolutions: "Every year, every body we know has to mention their New Year's Resolutions during any holiday party or family get together. This year, we ha..."

The Bowersock's New Years 2011 Art Resolutions

Every year, every body we know has to mention their New Year's Resolutions during any holiday party or family get together. This year, we have decided NOT to talk about exercise....nor weight gain or loss....nor new and exciting exercise programs that make you sweat and feel miserable! We talked it over while eating Lemon Pound Cake along with hot chocolate with marsh mellows for breakfast yesterday and decided it was just foolish for us to make those kinds of promises. We will just break them and feel guiltier than we do now. We talked about the guilt and then decided that a glass of egg nog goes well with guilt.

Neither one of us felt much better, so we went back to bed and read awhile and took a nap...at 10:30 a.m. By 1 p.m. we found ourselves sitting on the couch in front of our warm fire in the Buck Stove with the Christmas tree lit and our little Snow Village all carefully arranged on the coffee table. While we were writing Christmas cards, we began to talk again about what New Year's resolutions we really want to make.

• We plan to let the Spirit of Christ's birth and the Christmas angel be our guiding light throughout the coming year.
• We are going to do some painting of the Snow Villiage that you see pictured here, glowing with the Angel light and find some of our youthful, innocent spirit through the art the we create from this inspirational village.
• We are GOING to draw, sketch, paint or photograph every day...something worthwhile everyday.
• We are GOING to clean up Bruce's studio.....again.
• We are GOING to catalog Bruce's 900 art books and shelve them by subject (ha ha ha).
• We are GOING to finish building the best "how to draw" website the world has every seen! This site will showcase Bruce and give insight to how he sees, draws, thinks, renders and paints. Visit him at http://www.4artcoach365.com/ if you would like to learn to draw, buy a print, find out some of his favorite art books, blog, email, comment and share your thoughts on art.
• Bruce is going to learn how Facebook works and interact with you more often.
• Lil is going to act like a retired person and start doing art again often.
• We plan to take long walks and observe things around us, talk about positive subjects regarding art and how we can continue to hopefully inspire others to look for the positive, rather than negative.
• We plan to watch less news on TV and paint more.
• We have several art vacations on the horizon and hope to escape often to the beach to find our muse!

Have a very Merry CHRISTmas and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Bruce and Lillianne Bowersock

Miniature Show: People's Choice Awards

People’s Choice Awards




Director Fern Christian Count the Vote

 People attending the 10th Annual National Miniature Exhibition were handed ballots when they came into the gallery to select what they felt were the best entries in this years Miniature Exhitition. There were to select works in two catagories: Most Elegant Entry and Most Creative Entry.

There were tons of worthy choices and it was hard to narrow it down to two.. But choices had to be made.


And counting the ballots was a much bigger job this year, due to the record number of people gracing our gallery with their visits.The stuffed to overflowing ballot box was finally opens and the votes tallied this week at The Renaissance Art Gallery by director, Fern Christian.



The voting was close, but choices were made.The final tally did reveal clear winners however.



Linda Rossin’s “Elegance in Motion”. The beauty of the rising flamingo captured the attention of the most guests for the Most Elegant Entry Award, while Sandi Worthington’s 1inch by 11 inch “Going To Water” won the Most Creative Entry Award.





Artwork Choosen by the Public,



Congratulations to both Sandi Worthington and Linda Rossin on their selection by the guest of The Renaissance Art Gallery for this year’s People’s Choice Awards.

End of the Show

Sad but true, this is the final week for the 10th Annual National Miniature Exhibition. It seems like we have been preparing for it forever! Then it was here, and almost before we know it, it is over.

People's Choice Ballots

We have been going over all the votes in the people’s choice box. The box has been emptied twice! This is the final week of viewing and voting, and it is kind of sad.

This has been a fabulous 6 weeks. The miniatures we have on our walls are outstanding. We have all enjoyed having them and showing them off.

Although the miniature exhibition is always a lot of work for the entire gallery, it is also about the most rewarding of our shows. Each year we welcome back old friends to our walls and become acquainted with new friends as they enter our show for the first time. Over the years we have watched as artists have matured and even taken a different directions. There are many who started entering our shows years ago. For many this was their first attempt at showing their artwork, but now we see them becoming known artists in this field, with collectors coming back year after year to see their entries.

There is always so much to say about the miniature show

The same is true with our quests at the gallery. Of course we invite back all those who have graced our gallery in the past, but it is also exciting to welcome people who have never been to The Renaissance Art Gallery. Even after nine years in the community, people come in saying “I never knew you were here!” Well, we are! And it is nice to be discovered at last! But it is also gratifying to have long time friends bring along their families to our miniature show. When people come back year after year, you know you are doing something right!


This year we had a great deal of success, thanks in no small way to the local media. They really rallied around this show, giving us the feature coverage we needed. Happily, that also meant publicity for deserving but until now less recognized local artists. That is always very satisfying. To help people discover a “new” artist.

"Sitting the Gallery is always much easier during the Miniature Show. There is so much more to talk about, and so many more visitors. As the weather gets colder and the teapot is kept warm, we all enjoy having people stop in and simply talk about art. With the miniature show there is always so much to say!


Another joy we have is watching children react at our receptions. They often don’t know what to expect, but soon overcome any shyness and get into conversations with other artists. They really show their love of art. Many even forgetting to get their cookie!

One more week and this, our 10th Annual National Miniature Exhibition will be a memory. The works will be taken down. Those works that sold sent on to their new homes, and other pieces returned to their creators along with our good wishes and thanks for lending them to us. Each and every one of them has been a joy and lightened not only the lives of the members of The Renaissance Art Gallery, but the many, many who viewed them on our walls.

It has been an active show

PS. The final totals for the People’s Choice will be announced next week!

The Tea Pot is On!

The kettle is on the boil.

Come in and visit with your favorite artist—if you don’t have a favorite artist, come in and get one!

Gallery hours are:

Friday & Saturday 12-4 pm, Sunday 1-4 pm

Studio hours Monday 10-Noon, Wednesday 1:00-7:30 pm and Saturday 10-Noon

Everyone at the Renaissance Art Gallery would love to have you visit us. With the bad weather coming, now would be an ideal time to stop in and become more familiar with the Gallery. Everyone is welcome to come in and browse or take advantage of our studio hours to work on your work art.

The Renaissance Art Gallery
900 8th Street, Suite #20
Huntington, WV 25701

Gallery (304) 525-3235
Appointments: (304) 453-3187gallerywv@yahoo.com

Open Entry Art Show

Open Entry

Hanging a Show

Each year The Renaissance Art Gallery holds three open entry art shows. Many people are not familiar with this term or concept. Because of the unique nature of The Renaissance Art Gallery’s Miniature Exhibition, the artwork is “juried” by size and media only. If it fits, it’s in.

While many shows only accept traditional miniature work we encourage a more free-range miniature. As much as we love traditional works we feel that contemporary styles can and should hang beside them.



Many show only accept traditional statuary and engraving and do not accept collage and assemblage works. We are rather fond of them. The more the merrier. And abstracts can be done in miniature!



The Renaissance Art Gallery looks for quality in the artwork we display. Most shows require artists to submit slides or digital files. With the work we encourage, that does not always work. And for artists new to showing their work, this process of jurying can be rather intimidating as well as confusing. For our open entry shows we do request that the artists either ship or come in with the actual artwork on the day(s) of submission.



For this reason, our three major shows, those we open to artists outside The Renaissance Art Gallery, are all open entry. The criteria for them are simple. The Miniature Exhibition is juried by size and media. The Spring Fine Arts show by theme, and the summer photography show, well, that one is really foot-loose and fancy free, it only has to start as a photo!



To go over what is required to participate in one of The Renaissance Art Gallery’s open entry shows.

You must be an adult artist, having reached your 18th birthday

You must live in North America

The artwork must be wholly your own, not done under the direction or in a workshop.

It must be original

No derivative works



Derivative works and works done in workshops under the direction of a teacher are not considered original works and cannot be submitted for entry in a judged show. This includes paintings done from photographs other than your own.



For collage and assemblage works, they cannot contain any copyrighted materials.

Reception for the 10th Annual National Miniature Exhibition

It was crowed—too crowded for a head count. People were standing at the door before 1:00 pm waiting to get in. these were serious art lovers!

Judy Taylor puts the finishing touches on the table





 The reception wasn’t supposed to start until 2:00 pm, giving us in theory an hour to get the coffee made, cake cut and in general make sure all our ducks were neatly in a row.

Good thing so much had been done ahead of time!

Gary Taylor and Bruce Bowersock go other infomation before reception.



Yes—most of our regulars were there, but we also had a good number of visitors who had never been to The Renaissance Art Gallery before. That is always satisfying to introduce our art to people who have had little exposure before.



Gary Greets the First guest.





We had one dignified older gentleman come in who has been doing miniature sculptures on his own for years, but has never been exposed to any other artists who also did miniatures, or to any kind of gallery and organized show before. He had read the preview in the paper and the invitation there and came into see others who work in miniature. It was a very rewarding experience for him, connecting with other local artists for the first time.



Six people attending the reception won a free art class. These will over the next few weeks will enjoy a very personal introduction to art.

Voting for the people’s choice award was strong but will continue through the end of November to allow those who did not get a chance to cast their votes to do so. It really was that crowded!

Working Up the 10th Annual National Miniature Exhibition



3 Onions,
Esther Marie Versch

 Now that the show is hung, you would think things would settle down, but that is just the tip of the iceberg for a show like this. Wednesday October 27, Director Fern Christian and Susan Tschantz worked at tagging the artwork by entry number, making sure the entry number matched the artist’s entry information.

Thursday gallery artist Gary Taylor was on hand to welcome and assist our juror, Marshall University professor Don Van Horn, Dean of the Fine Arts College.

Gary also did a bit of proofreading, Susan Tschantz can do many things, but spell is not one of them. And we are all grateful for Gary’s keen eyes!

Saturday, both before and after our figure drawing class (which went great) we started putting up the identification tags. Since the judging was all over except for the shouting, we can now mark whose is who’s with the miniatures.

Year of the Small, Really Small!

3 Small Pieces

This year that presents a special problem. This seems to be the year of the small, really small! Our miniature exhibition has always been restricted more on size than content, but this year we relaxed the limits slightly to reflect the National Society of Miniaturist and the world Federation of Miniature Artists, so really expected a few larger (for miniatures) works. The opposite seems to have happened. While one of our soapstone sculptures comes in right at eight inches, another is the smallest we have ever gotten, at half an inch by 2 inches. We did get a mixed media painting at less than an inch.

So while we have more pieces and more artist than last year, they actually take up less room! We have 3 tiny works of art on a small shelf.

This year we also have more three-dimensional pieces than last year. Some really interesting sculptures and several pots and stoneware pieces have been entered.

Lil Has Gone to London

Lillianne Bowersock

Lillianne Bowersock, one of our more active artists, has gone to London, English to visit her children and grandchildren. They presently live there, and Lillianne has not seen them in several years. Now that she has retired from her teaching job, she is taking the time to visit them.

The gallery will miss her, but all of the members of The Renaissance Gallery are happy that she has this chance to go, and know she will come back to use full of excitement because of her journey.

Lillianne came into the gallery all excited, and a little ashamed, She is deserting us just when the 10Th Annual National Miniature show is opening!

Oh well, we will solder on without her this year, but next year, Lil!

In a whirl, she had to get things organized, packed, etc. As she has several health issues to deal with, it did take some doing, but Lil is nothing if not resourceful!

So after a lot of rushing around, Lil made her flight.

Lil, being the outgoing, friendly person that she is, got into a conversation with her seat mate, who, as it turns our, keeps a blog.

I could not write a better, more flattering and honest a bio of this outstanding artist if I worked all night. It is something we tend not to write about ourselves, but it does not make it less true.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kari-stoever/720-saturdays-and-a-silve_b_772336.html

God's Fingers

Read this blog entry and see if you don't think Lillianne is an outstanding person, not just an outstanding artist.

We tend to think of people in terms of their art. She is an artist, a watercolorist, etc. or think about individual works. but you cannot forget that artists are people first. And have lives that should outshine their art.

Call for Submissions! 10th Annual National Miniature Exhibition!

After Seurat

Calling all Miniatures!

Entry dates for the 10th Annual National Miniature Exhibition is this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October 22, 23 & 24, 2010. Gallery hours are 12:00-4:00 pm. Fri & Sat and 1:00-4:00 pm Sunday. Bring in those miniature paintings, sculptures etcetera, etcetera,

Awards will be announced at a reception at the gallery November 7, 2010. 2-4 pm At the Renaissance Art Gallery. Exhibition will run through December 12, 2010.

Again this year there will be 3 extra awards, chosen by public. Our people’s choice awards allow those attending and participating in the show to be part of the process. In addition, there are several purchase awards to be given out this year also.





Charcoal on Purple



There is still time for artists to enter this show. The Miniature Exhibition is open to all Adult artists in the Tri-State Area. This is a nationally recognized show. Awards are cash and prizes. Submission dates are October 22, 23, and 24, from 12-4 pm Friday and Saturday and 1-4 pm on Sunday. Work should be brought into the Renaissance Art Gallery, 900 8th Street, Suite #20, Huntington, WV.

For more information you can download the prospectus at www.orgsites.com/wv/renaissance or come into the gallery and talk to one of our artists.



The Renaissance Art Gallery

Still life with 5 objects

900 8th Street, Suite #20

Huntington, WV 25701



Gallery (304) 525-3235

Appointments: (304) 453-3187

gallerywv@yahoo.com

www.orgsites.com/wv/renaissance



http://twitter.com/wvgallery

http://renaissancegalleryart.blogspot.com/

Gallery hours are:



Friday & Saturday 12-4 pm, Sunday 1-4 pm

Studio hours Monday 10-Noon, Wednesday 1:00-7:30 pm and Saturday 10-Noon

Size Matters, Working in Miniature



Finch done in Colored Pencil
Artist- S. Tschantz



Size Matters

Art schools tend to emphasize painting large. Large is good. Large is important. Large is impressive. For those of us who are self-taught, the tendency is for sizes we are comfortable and familiar, ea. we tend towards sizes that photos come in, 8x10, 5x7 etc. Or whatever is on sale at the local craft store.

But choosing the size is also a part of composition. So go small!



Small works can be surprisingly intimidating.





Sparrow done in Colored Pencil
Artist- S. Tschantz



How Do I Paint So Small?



Once you try a couple, you find it really isn’t that hard. With the correct tools and lighting it can be very relaxing. After the stress of painting large, there is a certain freedom in going small.

4x6 seems to be the most popular size, both with artists and with collectors. This seems to be small enough to be intriguing, and still allows the viewer to interact with the scene. Another plus-it is a standard size and relatively easy and inexpensive to frame.



Parkland Ink Wash
Artist - S. Tschantz



Making a Mark: The Big Drawing People Book Review

Making a Mark: The Big Drawing People Book Review

THE BIG BOOK OF DRAWING AND PAINTING THE FIGURE




As the instructor for our figure classes at Renaissance Art Gallery, I use this as a reference book. First of all because of the scope of the book, how other cultures depicted the nude, I likes to refer to this book during my classes to show how other artists have handled the same problems that we are tackling from prehistoric times until today. This is only one of the reference books I use. I try to introduce my students to as many Figure drawing books as I can so that they can become more knowledgeable and well-rounded as the course progresses.

This definitive book offers help with Drawing the Nude, and the author describes the representation of the human figure in prehistoric times up to the 20th century. The Nude: The Ideal and the Real is introduced in the next chapter. There has always been a desire to depict the human as a more idealistic form than it actually is. Next ,the author refers to the Canon, the basic proportions of the figure, to the modern idea of artistic anatomy. The Artistic Study of the Nude, where the reader will learn techniques, tips and tricks and will see pictured an artist sketching a live model is addressed next. Next, Choosing the Model, he talks of poses, lighting the model, etc. The Art of the Nude: Composition, an introduction to composing with the figure deals with the backbone of any drawing. Last, the reader will be introduced to Color and the Nude, the Process of Painting the Nude. This rounds out the entire 192 page book.

The Big Book of Drawing and Painting the Figure was published by Watson/Guptill Publications in 1995. You can probably purchase this book at Borders or on Amazon.com.

~Bruce Bowersock

The Artists of the Renaissance Art Gallery give this book 5 Stars.

Working on the 10th Annual National Miniature Exhibition

The entire Renaissance Gallery is working hard to make this the best International National Miniature show we have ever had. In honor of our 10th Miniature Exhibition, we want the widest audience, and the widest participation among local artists we have ever had.





This is important to us. We feel that our central location at 900 Eighth Street, Suite 20 in downtown Huntington WV in the Tri-state area makes us the best place to showcase local artists. The Miniature Show is fun! It is exciting to be in a nationally recognized show. And we have cash awards!

Size Matters!

Art schools tend to emphasize painting large. Large is good. Large is important. Large is impressive. For those of us who are self-taught, the tendency is for sizes we are comfortable and familiar, ea. we tend towards sizes that photos come in, 8x10, 5x7 etc. Or whatever is on sale at the local craft store.

But choosing the size is also a part of composition. So go small!

Small works can be surprisingly intimidating.

How Do I Paint So Small?

Once you try a couple, you find it really isn’t that hard. With the correct tools and lighting it can be very relaxing. After the stress of painting large, there is a certain freedom in going small.

Four inches by six inches (4x6) seems to be the most popular size, both with artists and with collectors. This seems to be small enough to be intriguing, and still allows the viewer to interact with the scene. Another plus-it is a standard size and relatively easy and inexpensive to frame.

Publicity

We have gotten a couple of nice write-ups in the local papers here in West Virginia but continue to have trouble getting noticed in Eastern Kentucky and Southern Ohio. Since The Renaissance Art Gallery is located in Huntington, WV right across the river from Ohio, and only miles from Kentucky it is a great place to artists to gather and party a bit. Celebrate being an artist. We always have a number of tv stations and reporters attending the reception, and they are always on the look out for fresh blood! And it is an easy show to get into. Simply stay with the size and media, and you are in!

It is also a great way to build an art resume. Something that is nationally recognized and outside the walls of academia, and is nationally recognized.

Are you going to be part of the 10th Annual National Miniature Exhibition?



http://www.cabellstandard.com/main.asp?SectionID=15&SubSectionID=15&ArticleID=2346



http://www.orgsites.com/wv/renaissance/index.html

Life Drawing Class - Fall 2010

Artist S. Tschantz

First Saturday

1st of 6 drawing days.

Figure drawing started last Saturday after the summer hiatus. It took a little effort to get things organized, but we made it.

It was good to get back to basic—real live drawing. First pose lasted a bit more than the scheduled 20 minutes. Time-boy forgot to set the timer at first! Since Time-boy is also lighting-man, this is understandable and forgivable. Lighting-man had to rush back to is own easel to start his drawings.

Thankfully the oppressive hot weather seemed to break by Saturday, so the gallery was comfortable. We still needed the little fan for Lynn, our model, but we were able to turn off our loud, stand alone air conditioner. One of the drawbacks of being in an old historic building is old pre-central air wiring!

Support and media

Interesting was the different approaches by the artists. Most use large sketchpads, spiral bound to keep the pages together, but not all. There were several newsprint pads as well as one artist who brought a box of full size drawing paper sheets. These sheets or pad were put on easels, but one artist brings a more manageable size pad, which gives her the freedom to walk around the room for just the right point of view. Since she works off a pad she can comfortably hold, she is not tied to one spot.

With this variety of formats is a variety of media. While everyone has an array of pencils, other media is also employed. There were charcoal pencils, vine charcoal sticks, pens, pencils, colored pencils and water media. One artist routinely “sketches” with watercolor washes.

Artist L. Helgasson

There are 5 more Saturdays in this fall session of figure drawing, and there are still 2 spots available to local artists. This session runs through Saturday October 30, 2010, ending the Saturday before the Miniature show.

Location:

The Renaissance Art Gallery is convenient for West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky and Southern Ohio, and all adult artists are welcome to one or more drawing sessions.

Class meets Saturday afternoon, 1-4 pm in the Exhibition Hall of The Renaissance Art Gallery.

The Renaissance Art Gallery
900 8th Street, Suite #20
Huntington, WV 25701

Gallery (304) 525-3235
Appointments: (304) 453-3187
gallerywv@yahoo.com
www.orgsites.com/wv/renaissance

http://twitter.com/wvgallery
http://renaissancegalleryart.blogspot.com/

Gallery hours are:

Friday & Saturday 12-4 pm, Sunday 1-4 pm
Studio hours Monday 10-Noon, Wednesday 1:00-7:30 pm and Saturday 10-Noon

Figure Drawing Fall 2010

On Saturday, September 25 2010, the first class of the fall Figure Drawing Class will be held at Renaissance Gallery will begin. It will meet every Saturday from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. through October 30, 2010. The course runs for 6 Saturdays, 3 hours each (for a total of 18 hours of drawing time!) Students are encouraged to bring whatever media they choose to work in. Students need to bring their own easel and their choice of materials. Some students have worked in watercolor, some in oils, some in charcoal; some in pastel...just choose the one you like. Bruce suggests that the drawing pad you choose should be no smaller than 18" X 24" for your larger studies. You may also want to bring a pad 9" X 12" for smaller studies or notes.

Bruce Bowersock is the instructor/monitor for this course. He will stress, as usual, the basic key points to look for and apply when drawing from the live model. The class begins with 10- one minute long gesture drawings so the students can warm up. While the model rests, Bruce addresses any questions or problems anyone might have, and then the class starts 5 -10-15-20 minute poses. The longest pose will be the 45 minutes.

During the breaks, free open discussion between students is encouraged. Bruce will bring reference books on anatomy. Bring refreshments of your choice, but the Gallery usually has coffee available.

The cost for the course $94.50 tax included, for a total of. A modeling fee is divided equally among the class.

Space is limited to 12 students. If the class is closed, there will be another one in Spring 2011.

Questions, call the Renaissance Gallery at 304-525-3235.

You may also email Bruce at:

bhbowersock@gmail.com

or call him at (304) 634-1418

The Renaissance Art Gallery
900 8th Street Suite 20
Huntington WV 25701

Gallery 304-525-3235
Appointments: 304-453-8137

gallerywv@yahoo.com
www.orgsites.com/wv/renaissance

http://twitter.com/wvgallery
http://renaissancegalleryart.blogspot.com/

Gallery hours are:

Friday and Saturday 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Studio hours- Monday 10-noon, Wednesday 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Renaissance Gallery Art: The Unfinished Nude

Renaissance Gallery Art: The Unfinished Nude

...Gary, Your Words...and Drawings ...Sing!

The Unfinished Nude

She's Mocking Me!

(Gary Taylor, Studio Drawing)

That nude young woman in the charcoal sketch on the easel is mocking me.

She thinks she's complete.

She thinks it's so easy to stop with those few strokes and lines and sweeps of charcoal.

I sketched her from life in one of my last sessions of figure drawing, taught by fellow gallery member Bruce Bowersock.

Her name is Melanie.

I think Melanie needs to be fleshed out -- well, not that way.

I mean, her flesh is pretty nearly perfect, as is, for a young woman.

Melanie's an active character. She's young enough to be my daughter.

She's demurely turned away from the viewer except for that knowing glance over her shoulder.

I'm looking for that. I want the viewer of my final artwork to understand that look. I want the viewer to see this whole, complete young woman.

She's not a naked girl. She's not a head-and-shoulders portrait.

She's a whole nude Melanie, kneeling, at ease, her face turned to look at something that interests her. She's not unaware of being looked at; she's simply at ease with it.

(She's America. She's life. She's seen from behind. She doesn't hide her face, exactly. She's naked, but no one knows her entirely.)

I've been drawing different versions of the original sketch for months now. I start by drawing her from memory, without consulting the original sketch.

Each time, I simplify or elaborate something about the original sketch. I work on the shadowed background. I work on the composition.

Then I compare my latest attempt from memory with the original sketch.

I've begun to think that I should paint her in ink wash or washes of acrylic paint.

I talk to her in her sketch on my easel. I ask her what she thinks.

She keeps giving me that Mona Lisa smile. That is, I think that's how La Gioconda would look, kneeling nude with her back to us, her head turned to her left, to the side of her heart, arms folded across her unseen breasts.

For now, I'll keep working.

~Gary Taylor, Artist

NEWS FLASH: Bowersocks are home and glad about it!

The Bowersocks just returned from a month-long vacation. Now, don't get the wrong idea. Part of it was visiting family, but I must say that Bruce has a really wonderfufamily. Reconnecting after 3 years was a good thing. Lil surprised Bruce with a 2-night stop at National Harbor, a new WyndhamVacationResorts property right across the river from Historic Alexandria, Va. Spending two whole 7 hour days in the National Gallery of Art was nothing but fabulous. Bruce was like a little kid as he tried to suck in all the wonderful and precious paintings and sculptures on display.


We were both inspired at this point, but another treat was on the way. We sketched, biked, walked, photographed and just basked in the glory of nature spread out by God for all to see and enjoy.


While we were on our trip, we had a wonderful to talk to our two friends with doctorates and brainstorm about new ways to make this art business work. So now we are on a wild ride to writing a book....Bruce's book. More about this as it progresses.

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