Mission Statement

Our Mission is to promote art and art education in the community and among its members. To encourage and promote a public interest and understanding of art; to create and develop a closer relationship between art and the community and further the education and artistic development of its members.


Thursday, September 20, 2012

Paintings and Hosts


 

The Renaissance Art Gallery

 

The orchid paintings from Wednesday’s art class are coming along quite well. A few more weeks will see all the details worked in.
 
 
 
 
 

 

Friday Gary Lapelle will host the Renaissance Gallery, Fern Christian will be in Saturday and Susan Tschantz will open Sunday. Susan will be working on her ATC cards for the October 6th meet and swap. The theme for this swap is Autumn. It will be interesting to see what everyone comes up with.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Still Life with Pizza Boxes

 
 
 
What is going on at the Renaissance Art Gallery? How come people coming into the Gallery on Wednesday s are carrying pizza boxes? It is a pizza Party at the gallery?






No, it is simply the easiest way to carry wet canvases for the Wednesday evening class. Advanced students can work on still life oil painting, learning to glaze paintings like the old masters.







Studying the old masters is a time-honored way to learn.





You can see the demonstration painting, Growing Orchids, develop each week at the Renaissance Art Gallery in Huntington, WV.












Each week the painting will develop as layer after layer of oil pigment is glazed over the previous weeks dried layer. It is a slow process, this build up of color, but a rewarding one.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Charcoal


Charcoal

 

Charcoal is probably the oldest art medium there is. Maybe mud is older, but charcoal has endurance.

One way to get into this medium is to start with toned paper.

You can buy "toned" paper, ea. paper that comes in colors and tints, but working on paper you have toned yourself is very different.

This week students of the Renaissance Art Gallery got the chance to tone their own paper and learn about more than charcoal.

 

Each took a piece of what is essentially, white drawing paper. Using drafting dots, they secured their piece to the table, and after drawing an 8 x 10 drawing area on the paper began to tone the paper.

 

Using flat block of charcoal they applied a thin layer to the entire surface of the paper. This not over covered the paper, but revealed the grain or texture of that particular paper.

 

Discovery:  It isn’t “just paper” Each brand, type and press of paper has its own unique characteristics. These can enhance or fight your artwork.

 

Then they were to take a paper towel and smear the charcoal all around.

 

Discovery: neatly folder towels and simply bunched up towels did give different results, as did spreading with your bare hands or with a stiff brush

 

Now on to the artwork.

 

We have various white objects for students to work from. A white candle, white rocks, a square white box, a white vase with white roses in it.

 

Yes they were all white!

 

Taking charcoal erasers, cotton swaps, brushes, vine and willow charcoal and blending sticks they were to remove/add charcoal to create drawings of these white object, but without drawing an outline first, simply start removing charcoal in the basic shapes.

 






Discovery: You do not need to draw the outline in heavy black lines, but simply build on the shapes of shadow and light.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Fall Landscapes - Fern Christian


Beechfork
F. Christian
 
 
"Fall colors make me want to paint them . I enjoy doing anything that gives me the opportunity to use color. Of course I really don't need an excuse for that, but it is an excuse to get creative with reality. It's the paint running through our veins that makes us crazy! Each one falls short of meeting our ideas of perfection , so we actually think the next one will be the best. We must keep trying!"
 
~ Fern Christian,
artist
 
 
 
 
These beautiful paintings are now on display at the Renaissance Art Gallery, along with other works by Fern Christian. Fern is not only an artist, but the founding director of the Renaissance Art Gallery, an artist-run co-op in down town Huntington, WV. She teaches painting in an open studio Monday 10-12:00.


Lonely
F. Christian

Monday, September 3, 2012

Art Classes Learn


 

About the difference between value and hue.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Art Classes learn


 

To find the basic shapes that make up everything

 

Art classes learn

 
 
From the masters
 
 
 
















 
For more information about art classes, contact the Renaissance Art Gallery at gallerywv@yahoo.com or call304-453-3187