Atelier Dojo’s Figure Painting in Oils: From Monochrome to Limited Palette (Session 3)
Painting with Jennifer: Atelier Dojo’s Figure Painting in Oils – From Monochrome to Limited Palette (A Blog Series)
PART 3
How does she do it? Jennifer Balkan stepped up the game yet again. Tonight we had to paint two monochrome paintings on 12″ X 16″ canvases. But tonight Jennifer did not lead us into it with a demo. Scary. We had to apply monochrome tones as she had taught us the previous two weeks as a kind of review, practice, and quiz all at once.
The previous two weeks’ monochrome/value painting class content was detailed, well presented by Jennifer, and I thought I had it down. But the quiz/exam qualities of the assignment gave me nervous anxiety, and I had a frustrating night of it. I restarted both paintings, and I’m usually a quick, accurate sketcher. The restarts meant I had less time to advance my work; I didn’t make it to even one of the three highlights (see last week’s blog). Other students expressed similar levels of frustration.
Intimidatingly good paintings in the studio | Photo courtesy David Robinson
It wasn’t for want of flinging paint. I’m halfway through a large tube of white and all the way through a tube of raw umber. There’s paint all over the students and the studio. Cleanup is a mess. I estimate the interior of Atelier Dojo will be completely repainted about once a year.
Session keywords:
Review
Camaraderie
Frustration