This is one in a series of posts showcasing work made by students in the League’s online classes. We have now been in quarantine for twelve months. In the last year, the League has grown in numbers, and our artistic voice as a school has evolved. We started working with Special Guest Star Fran O’Neill …
This post is a continuation of the previous post, showcasing work made by students in the League’s online classes. We have now been in quarantine for twelve months. In the last year, the League has grown in numbers, and our artistic voice as a school has evolved. We started working with Special Guest Star Fran …
One year ago, to protect our students and teachers from a new coronavirus, the Seattle Artist League moved our classes online. Four days after we offered our first zoom class, the virus was declared a national emergency, and we went into quarantine. We have now been in quarantine for twelve months. As the paroxysm of …
The Seattle Artist League Portrait Awards encourage artists to develop the theme of portraiture in their work. The competition celebrates outstanding and innovative work in drawing, painting, printmaking, and mixed media. In this first year, we received 232 submissions from 151 artists. Throughout our selection process, the jury focused on choosing interesting work that engaged the artistic medium to convey the essence of a specific person, or …
We use the Zoom platform for online classes. Login codes are sent prior to the first class only. Some email systems such as Hotmail block our emails to you. Please check your junk folders, and if you have have not received your class info, please contact us (contact@seattleartistleague.com) 15-30 minutes before your class begins so we can reply with the login codes. We will get you into your class.
Abstracts
- Teacher: Fran O’Neill
- Class Length: 8 Week Class Session
- Start Date: Wednesdays, begins February 7
- Time: 1:30 – 4:30 pm PDT
This class is designed to examine and push the boundaries of abstraction via composition. The ‘journey’ is the process, and it is expected that a participant will come with a willingness to experiment and to see the ‘process’ as the act, rather than looking for a final product.
A variety of strategies will be explored. It is hoped that by delving into different approaches, this will lead each artist to find a new (or expand upon current) visual language/vocabulary that may be used further, during and following the course.
Issues of scale, tiny to huge; the use of different formats will be challenged. We will experiment with the use of the rectangle, questioning the traditional idea.
Various ideas of space will be discussed, and the implications of these different kinds of space(s) and other compositional elements including, but not limited to: shape, texture, collage, as well as other languages and mediums within abstraction.
The quality of the image will be investigated. Individual ideas for a “powerful image” will be discussed and hopefully identified. Additionally strategies to address content and materials will be considered. Other structural ideas will be addressed, including the use of the grid, the organic spiral and geometry, all of which play a part in research into the language of abstraction.
There will be one:one discussion of the work throughout class, as well as group critiques.
Materials and supplies
Don’t sweat it! Whatever you have on hand is great!
- Smart phone or camera
- Brushes: A large selection of rounds from small sable to large house painting rounds
- Drawing paper, pencils and charcoal
- Scissors
Canvases
All sizes are suggestions, not requirements for this class. Whatever you have on hand is great.
- 2-3 small canvases – roughly 14” x 18” or 18” x 24”
- 2-3 medium canvas’ – roughly 28”x 34” or 30” x 48”-
Paints
Artist’s Choice: Oil, Acrylic, or Watercolor paints
Suggested Paint Colors
All colors are suggested, but are not requirements for this class. Whatever you have on hand is great. Suggested colors are listed in order of placement around the palette:
- Flake (or zinc) White
Titanium White
Cadmium Yellow Medium
Yellow Ochre
Lemon Yellow
Cadmium Red Light OR Medium
Alizarin Crimson
Quinacridone Magenta
Caput Mortem Violet OR Indian Red
Windsor Violet (W&N) (Dioxazine Violet)
Ultramarine Blue
Cobalt Blue
Cerulean Blue
Viridian
Cadmium Green Deep
Terre Verde
Raw Umber
Ivory Black
Peach Black
Image by Fran O’Neill
This V. Note includes a selection of recent paintings from Charity Baker’s November show at Catherine Fosnot Gallery. There are several large paintings of figures in the landscape and some small plein air landscapes featuring scenes from Pennsylvania, New York, and sunsets on the Hudson River. Charity Baker is a recent graduate from the New …
The following is text from my interview of Fran O’Neill, Oct 6, 2020. I asked Fran to share some of the historical artworks she regards as masterworks. She talked about what she sees as the magic of transcriptions. “There’s a whole mystery that is incredible about works from the past, and unlocking some of that …
I asked Fran O’Neill from the New York Studio School to talk about her upcoming workshop “To Transcribe” and the benefits of transcribing masterworks. She offered a beautiful and inspiring response. Fran O’Neill’s 2 day workshop “To Transcribe” is coming to the Seattle Artist League October 24, 2020. Click here to learn more. “To Transcribe” …
Have you ever gone shopping for easels and found the options of fall-apart folding easels vs. expensive hardwood calliopes, and thought “what the heck do artists buy?” The answer might surprise you. Many painters don’t use easels at all. For my biggest paintings, two 4x4x16” pieces of wood service nicely. They lift a painting off …