Influences (2): Jason Cornish

After that charcoal drawing class, the urge to get back in touch with my artsy side kept growing.  I needed a bit of a push though.  Creating art takes supplies, and space, and time, and inspiration .... how would I even start?

In the spring of 2010 I took an oil painting class.  A once-a-week for 6 weeks, regularly scheduled appointment with paint and canvas and an instructor, Jason Cornish.  It was wonderful.  Jason is a very down-to-earth person, a truly gifted artist, and a very patient and thoughtful teacher.  First we all painted from the same photograph, and then did a second painting of our choosing.  Two big lessons I learned that have stuck with me:

1.  "Photographs lie."  They flatten and dull reality.  Use them for reference, but remember that real life is so much more vibrant and alive and three-dimensional.  With a painting, you can recreate that in how you interpret the image - you can rearrange or reposition the elements in a photograph to improve the composition, draw the viewer's eye in, and help convey the mood or whatever it is you are trying to convey.

2.  Drawing and painting are two completely different things.  Trying to draw with a paintbrush can get you bogged down in unnecessary detail.  Focus on shapes and light and shadows, and detail only as necessary.

But I had a hard time with #2.  All the years of drafting and technical drawing had gotten me very comfortable with details.  Painting required a different approach and I couldn't seem to change my methods.  I am still working on it.

Jason assisting me with my first oil painting

Jason leading a Plein Aire oil painting class

An art event in Gallery 194 with students from one of the local schools

And, I realized I needed a brush-up on color theory.  Sure, I remembered it from art classes way back when ... sort of ... but with Jason's help it started to come back to me.

Jason is a busy guy with a full time job and a family, and doesn't seem to have much time for art these days, and doesn't seem to have a website any more or else I would have linked to it by now.  But this article on one of his past exhibits gives a bit of background:

Urban Eden article

Some examples of Jason's work: