Studying at Our Studio

We had a student at our studio for a time this winter, and I thought I would do a few posts on what we did. The majority of the time was spent on creating imagined studio paintings as a way of developing a traditional approach to painting Nature. Our focus is on learning directly and heavily from the masters in order to attempt to approach Nature in the way that they did. Our student, Spencer, was interested in Watteau, so we talked a lot about him in particular, but also about other related artists that are our favorites. I've found that a good goal in studying historic artists is to try to understand one artist or movement very deeply and holistically, as a way of arriving at a complete understanding of the common thread between varying schools. Instruction included demos, critique, discussion, alongside general observation of our studio practice as professional artists. Some techniques covered were ink drawing, grisaille, limited palette, and glazing, all with an emphasis, on design and composition.


Here are some photos, and I'll post more soon:

Getting Started...

...And towards the end of the visit... Spencer worked on about five paintings while he was here. This was the largest one.

We had a fun time, and were all very happy with the progress. We'll post some of Spencer's notes and photos soon.

Upcoming:
July 5th to July 8th, 2012: Traditional Oil Painting at the Wentworth Hotel: elegant wine, food, and accommodations alongside a weekend of painting in the White Mts. Click here for details

July 16th to 26th, 2012: Through the Grand Central Academy of Art: Paint with us in the White Mountains alongside the Hudson River Fellowship for 10 days. Click here for details

Techniques of the Hudson River School Masters with Erik Koeppel DVD: Includes 3 demos, an Interview and lots of tips on glazing, and other tradition methods of oil painting. Click here for details

or email at erik@erikkoeppel.com

Thank you for reading!