Wednesday, April 30, 7 to 8:15 pm

Composition Day

Instructor: Mahara Sinclaire
Location: Via Zoom (You will receive Zoom link when you register for the session.)

Session Schedule
7:00-7:30 pm Mahara will present a PowerPoint slide show pointing out masters & compositional strategies 
7:30-7:55 pm Attendees will create a small abstract composition in their choice of media. 
7:55-8:15 pm Opportunity to share compositions with the group

What You Will Learn
Attendees will learn tips on composition to enrich their visual communication skills:

• Interesting edge
• Variety in scale
• Variety in line direction
• Focal point, eye path
• Full value range
• Using both circular shapes (gentle, flowing areas) and square shapes (angular hubs)
• Depth using overlap, diminishing scale, atmospheric perspective (high contrast vs low contrast value)
• Color theory (warm/cool balance, Y, R, B balance)

Materials List
A small surface of your choice (can be 8 1/2 x 11 white paper)
Your choice of medium: Can be pencil, pen, watercolor, collage with colorful paper using scissors and glue.

Instructor Bio
Los Angeles fine artist Mahara T. Sinclaire, paints large-scale, expressionistic, acrylic murals. She is a media studies professor at Pasadena City College. Mahara earned a BA in Studio Art from UC Davis (high honors) and an MFA in Painting from Cal State LA. maharatsinclaire.com

Wednesday, June 25, 6:30 to 8:30 pm
Sunset Seascape
Instructor: Jeannine Savedra
Location: Monrovia Community Center

What You Will Learn
For this demonstration Jeannine will provide some reference images to use for inspiration. The session will begin with a little bit of drawing: Jeannine will demonstrate how to simplify the image into basic lines and shapes to create a composition for the canvas. She will do the paint demonstration with oil paints using a very basic color palette of light yellow, orange, medium red, blue, green and white to mix a variety of subdued and vivid colors to create a sense of drama and realism. She will paint on a canvas approximately 9” x 12”, using a couple of medium sized bristle brushes and a palette knife for texture and detail.

The lesson can be done in oil or acrylic paints as well as pastels. Jeannine encourages participants to work in a medium they are most comfortable with. She plans to complete the painting within 1½ hours, and the reference material will be available to take home to complete at a later time. In addition, she will have some extra paint and brushes available for the group to share.

Materials List

• Oil or acrylic paint in light yellow, orange, medium red, blue, green and white
• Medium size bristle brushes
• Palette knife
• 9” x 12” canvas

Instructor Bio
As a plein air painter and studio artist, Jeannine continually explores the outdoors as a way to develop her observational skills and express herself artistically. She finds that nature provides her with endless compositions to paint and countless color combinations to interpret.

Jeannine has been a painter, restoration artist, and art teacher for the past twenty years. She received formal art training at Otis Art Institute, Parsons School of Design, and CSULA. She earned a Bachelor's degree in Painting, a Master's degree in Arts and Humanities, and a Teaching Credential in Art.

Nowadays she spends much of her time painting outdoors or in the studio, often restoring a work of art, teaching a lesson, or putting the final touches on a painting for an upcoming exhibition.

Wednesday, July 30, 6:30 to 8:30 pm

Creating Dynamic Portraits in Pastels

Instructor: Karl Washington
Location:Monrovia Community Center
Minimum class size: 15 attendees

What You Will Learn
Karl will teach the basics of pastel portrait painting including:

• How to start and how to finish
• Paper choices
• Various kinds of pastels
• He will show attendees how he has been doing pastel portraits for many years.

Materials List
If you want to work along with Karl in the session, bring along these supplies:

• Soft pastels
• Pastel paper or board
• Easel or drawing board
• Fixative
• Blending tools
• Pencils and erasers
• Paper towels or rags
• Masking tape
• Reference images
• Lighting
• Apron
• Latex gloves

Instructor Bio
Karl has been drawing and painting for more than 40 years. His career started in Texas, painting pastel portraits and country and western landscapes. His works grace the homes of many people due to commissioned work. Karl is a Texas Art Institute alumnus with studies in just about every medium, including pastel, airbrush, charcoal, watercolor, pencil, acrylic and oil. After moving to Southern California, most of his work became commercial. You can explore more of Karl's work at ktwstudios.com.

Wednesday, August 27, 6:30 to 8:30 pm

'Combines' – Creating Art with Recycled and Leftover Materials

Instructor: Ed Houlemarde
Location:Monrovia Community Center

What You Will Learn
Ed likes to call this topic “Combines,” a term used by Robert Rauschenberg for his combining sculpture with painting. These are abstract compositions with found objects, altered objects and various mediums.

Usually he starts by placing an object on a canvas and building on that. Color and composition come from what he might be feeling or he'll let the piece take him for a journey. The goal is to create an abstract assemblage with composition creates an interest and maybe has meaning to the artist.

Materials List

• 9” X 12” or 11” X 14” canvas board
• One drop glue
• 4 to 6 acrylic paint colors (2-oz bottles or whatever you have)

Instructor Bio
Ed grew up in Pasadena and now live in Duarte where my wife Mary and I raised a family.  In high school I took art and jewelry making classes and for a short while created jewelry for family and friends. 

After raising a family, Ed returned to creating and gravitated towards abstract art painting and sculpture. He is self-taught. By trial and error he finds what processes and techniques work for him.  He first started showing and selling at Pasadena art walks and has sold at Monrovia Art Walks and Art in the Park. He is a member of MAFA and Frogtown Arts in Los Angeles.