Knock knock. Who’s there? Have you ever wondered who else is living inside of you? What magical and mysterious stories do they have to reveal? What do they have to say to us about ourselves, our lives and the big world in general?
In this workshop we are going to unlock the doors of our imaginations and discover the cast of characters who dwell inside. By tracking the symbols and motifs already present in our artwork we will find these creatures and bring them to light, giving them voices that will result in a series of character sketches that can become the basis for a storybook, or a series, or will simply help us to further develop our own unique pictorial vocabulary.
We’ll look at symbolism, motif, theme and how they differ. We’ll explore how color creates and/or affects these elements, and we’ll discover that what we already do will move us forward into new meaning. Armed with the knowledge of our personal iconography, we’ll embark on a foolproof process of painting and drawing that will take us out of our heads, leading us beyond what is visible, straight to the heart of our imaginary beings. And, who will we find there? That’s the mystery. But once found they will come to life, both visually and poetically through a short written description that will help us know what motivates them.
(Though we will be working with watercolor, gouache and pencil, you are welcome to collage elements of your previous work into your character sketches.)
Supply List:
- Copies of previous works that have common threads
- *At least 2 sheets of 140lb cold press watercolor paper 22 x 30 (Fabriano or Arches)
- An assortment of watercolor paints in tubes (professional quality is best)
- A few tubes of gouache (stronger colors, ie red, for highlights)
- A tube of titanium white gouache
- Gesso (golden is lovely)
- An assortment of watercolor brushes (all sizes and shapes (include small round for detail)
- A couple of bristle brushes (small and medium oil brushes or scrubbers)
- Assortment of drawing pencils
- Archival fine point pens (ie: Micron)
- 2 water jars
- Cotton rags (thick, not terry cloth)
Optional:
- Black and white copies of elements of your work for collage
- Scissors
- A small bottle of archival glue (like Sobo)
- Your journal
I will bring book covers for our Characters to live in.
* You can downsize the paper for traveling by folding into half, and then half again. Please don’t cut it….Merci!)
