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Introduction to Art _ One Day Workshop _ Ronald Pratt _ Saturday _ Sept 14 _10 am -3 pm_ Studio 1

Introduction to Art

Ronald Pratt

Sept 14, 2024 One-Day Workshop

 

Rossmoor Activities Center, Painting Studio 1

 

It is never too late to start letting your creative muse out with art.  I think we all have that instinct in us to be artistically creative.  For those of you who have always thought they might like art but were either too busy to get started or lacked the confidence to get started, now is the time! Materials will be provided at the workshop.

 

The Rossmoor Art Association is offering a one-day workshop to introduce you the basics of art.  The focus of this class is to motivate you while teaching you some of the basics of art.  You will be given step by step instruction in drawing, transferring images, creating 3-dimensional images with light, shade and shadow, shown how to use scale in art to create depth, be introduced to the color wheel with complimentary and analogous colors and shown how to change the value of colors to create depth.  This workshop will be fun and in a friendly atmosphere that will encourage you to explore your own individual creativity.

 

This Introduction to Art Workshop will be at the Rossmoor Activities Center, Painting Studio 1 on Saturday, September 14th from 10 am to 3 pm (lunch break from 12 pm to 1 pm).  The fee will be $100 (Materials Included) for Rossmoor Residents.  For Non-Members the class fee is $120 (Materials Included)  Priority will be given to Rossmoor Residents.

If you are a resident of Rossmoor and are not yet a member, please become a member. If you don’t want to become a member you can sign up as a guest.

To register go to the Rossmoor Art Association Website and click on classes on the header bar.

Scroll down until you come to Introduction to Art Workshop with Ron Pratt and follow the instructions to enroll.  The class maximum is 20 students due to space limitations so get your registration in to reserve your seat in the class.

 

To see Ronald’s Watercolors go to www.ronaldpratt.com.  Please direct questions to Ronald at ronpratt14@gmail.com or call him at (510) 366-7740.  Further information on all RAA activities can be found at www.rossmoorart.com.

Ronald Pratt, Instructor

I’ve learned over the years that people aren’t so much interested in an artist’s technical skills as they are interested in what an artist has to say. They want to know how an artist sees things, their particular slant on life, their perspective, their vision. They want to know what an artist focuses on when looking at a subject. What is it an artist sees that is different than what the average person sees? What is that makes an artist different? As a watercolor painting instructor it is important for me to convey this fact to my students. I want them to know the first step in becoming an artist is to master the technical skills of watercolor painting. How do you mix your colors, handle the brushes, apply the paint to the paper, control washes, apply detail over the washes, etc. But I encourage them to not stop there. Once they have a semblance of control of these skills, it is time to start focusing on what they want to say as an artist. This is the important part! In this age of the rapid onslaught of technological developments, a simple phone app can turn your photograph into a drawing or painting. You can even select what medium in which you want your photograph to appear. Oil Painting? Pencil Drawing? Watercolor Painting? Impressionistic? Realistic? These are all available with the push of a button. The mere copying of a subject can now be done with your I-phone as well if not better than the artist. But artists can interpret things in their own unique way. They can create a stronger design, they can edit, deleting and adding to enhance their message, they can emphasize or de-emphasize areas in the composition. They can show their own perspective on things. They can show their own unique view. This takes the art of painting beyond the act of copying. So the main question I ask my students is “what are you trying to say?” I encourage them to ask this question of themselves before they start a painting and to keep asking this question throughout the painting process. In the end this is what separates one artist from another and what separates artists from copying machines. What is it that you have to say!!!