Fall & Winter Workshops 2016

Upcoming awesomeness!

VISUAL ARTS MISSISSAUGA

Art FUNdamentals •10 wks WEDNESDAY EVENINGS  Oct 5, 2016 - Dec 7, 2016 Time: 5:00 PM -6:30 PM, Level: Ages 8-9 *Link to register

Art FUNdamentals at VAM is a fun and progressive course comprised of over 600 lessons making up a 7 year program. Children never repeat the same lesson twice! Working at their own pace, students are encouraged to slow down and watch their imaginations speed up while developing and practicing new skills. Students work in small peer groups and investigate drawing, painting, sculpting, printmaking and much more while connecting the dots through art history, the principles of art and design and art practices from around the globe.

Teen Portfolio Prep-Secondary School•11 wks WEDNESDAY EVENINGS Oct 5 2016 - Dec 14, 2016 Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM, Level: Grade 11+ *Link to register

Specialized courses designed for students who plan to apply to a visual arts program at the secondary or post-secondary level. Along with the opportunity to develop new portfolio pieces, students will be coached on presentation, critique and interview skills. Each student will participate in a private mock-interview and portfolio critique. Currently in Grade 8 and applying for Fall 2017 entry to Secondary School Visual Arts Programs. Emphasis is on preparing portfolio-ready work that meets the requirements of regional arts program in Peel District, Dufferin Peel Catholic District and Toronto District School Boards. Materials included. Students should bring a sketchbook and expect some weekly homework.

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Acrylic Confidence - The Bold Basics • WorkshopPart 1- 5 weeks, THURSDAY MORNINGS October 6 to November 3, 9 am to 12 pm *Link to registerPart 2 - 5 weeks, THURSDAY MORNINGS November 10 to December 8th, 9 am to 12 pm *Link to register

Discover the essential techniques you need to paint confidently with acrylics! Understand the technical properties of acrylic paints and mediums, fundamental design, colour and value, and how the right tools and tips all work together to help you achieve astonishing results. Key techniques will explore traditional and experimental approaches to painting with this forgiving, versatile medium, giving you a new understanding of the myriad ways you can use acrylics to create anything that catches your imagination. Benefit from demonstrations, advice and personal guidance for beautifully completed paintings that combine knowledge and skill with the joy of painting!

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Creative CardsSaturday December 10th 2016 - 9am-4pm

Get ready for the holiday season! Express creativity, joy & gratitude while continuing to improve your painting skills and learning a variety of interesting techniques to expand your ability to create with mixed media. Using acrylics, drawing tools, and collage elements in combination with tips for stylish presentation, this festive card designing workshop welcomes all ages and all levels of experience, inspiring a wide variety of ideas for making your greetings this year extra special.

Magical Mandalas • art class

 If you love mandalas and meditative art forms, you will love this drawing class! Delve into the ancient art of self-expression to create your own personal Mandala, and explore the sacred circle of symbols and patterns - so beautiful and easy to create - no previous art experience required!The very act of creating a mandala can lead us to many blessings, such as the experience of wholeness and inner clarity and possibilities! The artistic process embraces the joy of colour and imaginative mark making, and with the guidance of artist & instructor Sharlena Wood, you will have a finished piece of art to hang on your own wall!All materials will be provided. Options for prints & framing your Mandalas for any occasion will also be available through Great Spirit www.GreatSpiritGallery.comDate • Wed Dec 9th 2015Time • 6:30pm - 9:30pmWhere • RAWspace - 270 Carlaw Ave #102, Toronto ONCost • $55 per person - All materials will be provided.Max 8 people • Space is limited ~ sign up today!Email to sign up• contact@Rawspace.infoWebsite • www.RAWspace.info

My favorite art materials!

A reference for artists taking Painting Wildlife: Acrylic Mixed Media and Drawing Wild Animals on Craftsy.com

Whisky Comparison

Another commission request for two portraits. Unless I'm on a path to certain insanity, my hope is that after years of drawing pets, I'm getting better. Even more so, that drawing the same reference twice, is actually the key to keeping fresh and growing in my own style. The second one always seems better.... but who's comparing? :)

review of what art materials to bring when traveling

Drawing Wild Animals Craftsy Online Art Class - Giveaway! Enter to Win!

Drawing Techniques and Markmaking

Soon to be launched, I wanted to share a little about how special this class is going to be :) (Giveaway details at the end of the post!) This class is directly inspired from my Endangered Animals series and the very techniques and mediums I used to create them. In this class we will use charcoal pencils with Pan Pastels, which is a new and exciting combo. Charcoal is my all time favourite medium, but after 2 decades using it I wanted to mix things up, and incorporating Pan Pastels helped make the drawing process easy! I love this product and wanted to share it with everyone as it has single handedly changed my work in great ways with impressive results.Our main focus will be to understand value, observing the variety of subtle shifts in greyscale, as well creating beautiful line work and mark-marking for the illusion of animal fur, skin and spots. We'll take an in depth look at shading and layering to achieve high realism in facial features and overall details!The concept of Black and White Portraits was heartfelt because my series was personally focused on dramatic intimate portraits to encourage viewers to look these endangered creatures in the eye and feel a connection. Please know I don't want to disappoint anyone ... this class may lack colour, but value is one of the main foundational elements of design. It's how I first learned to describe the illusion of depth, volume and texture. I feel that once you understand value, you understand colour in a unique way too! Your work in all mediums and styles beyond this class will become so dynamic!We put a lot of thought into which animals to focus on in the class projects (Sumatran Elephant, Giant Panda, Amur Leopard) so there would be a lot of examples and inspiration, that way you could apply everything learned to any animal subject you wished. I encourage you to draw what means most to you, and what you feel strongly about in your heart.The decision to research, draw and share these creatures has been one of the most difficult in my life, and I have learned so much. I am incredibly honoured that Craftsy loved these works and created an opportunity where I could share the techniques with you ... I hope you enjoy it, from the bottom of my heart xoxo please share this news with everyone so I can plan trip #3 to Craftsy and film a third class :)  love & light, Sharlena

GIVEAWAY

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Drawing Wild Animals is coming out very soon, and to celebrate, Craftsy and I are hosting a GIVEAWAY!This is your chance to win the class for FREE!

Click this link http://www.craftsy.com/ext/SharlenaWood_Giveawayto sign up for Craftsy or use your existing login information to be entered for a chance to win! One entry per person.The winner will be announced the day of the launch :)

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Sharlena Wood creating in the Craftsy Studio

Art Progression and Comparison

It started off as the usual pet portrait commission of a cat named Teacup. The same buyer then asked me for another, and another. That's three in total, in the same medium and with the same reference. I pondered the sequential requests that night and weighed my thoughts out. Aside to a nagging belief that drawing the same thing is boring and (besides) I can’t draw the same thing twice, there were all pros to do it. It was a challenge, more money, a nice patron who was sending other commission requests my way, but most of all - Teacup was old and sick. I so respect that she wanted original drawings, when she could have just scanned and made prints of the first one … obviously this cat means as much to her, as my cats mean to me.

So now that I have rendered 3 x Teacups, I can’t help but be curious of the similarities and differences.

Teacup comparison

I love the first one - it’s a loose and expressive style with a lot of raw energy. I referenced a b&w photocopy, and went at it with my usual process - all over charcoal powder and lots of eraser removal to reveal form.

The second portrait happened during a shift in my art journey where I was bored with charcoal and my process, and intended to push myself. So I approached the middle one differently, using selective charcoal powder and carbon pencil instead of charcoal pencil. The whites were a lot crisper and cleaner because of that, as well the carbon pencil is much harder than charcoal, so the mid values were better and the overall was much softer (I did use compressed charcoal when I wanted a darker value than 6B carbon). The form is better as I caught little things from looking at the first one i.e.. the proportion of the eye and the definition between face and body on the right side. I referenced the colour photo at the end, which led to a greater understanding of the form thus some adjustment and recovery. I realize now that details do get lost when you convert a photo to black and white. I used to convert the reference to monochromatic to help me and avoid distraction of the colour - but that doesn’t serve me anymore.

Reference Photo of Teacup

With the third one, I was much more familiar with the subject, and focused more on form, depth and value. More focus on the subtle details (cheek, whisker follicles), angle of the face, depth of the body, variations in the fur. I was thinking even more clearly about technique and process that started to develop with the second, so there was still some trail and error but all in all it seemed like a natural progression. I referenced the colour photo more throughout, using my own judgement and understanding of the values, and found this works better for me now. The carbon line work is minimal yet still sculptural. Not sure why but it seems I achieved more with less!

When I compare all three to the original photo reference now, it’s interesting that no matter the process and markmaking, capturing likeness and personality is achievable if you get the proportions right. There are aspects in each of them that I like, yet feel I learned the most in the second portrait. Until now, I preferred a more intuitive approach, that planning interferes with spontaneous energy of a work. It can, but I certainly see the value in working past that. Perhaps this experience will bring me closer to developing some conceptual abilities as I would really like to explore creating beyond my observational skills. It would be nice to break new ground! Thanks Teacup xoxo