Workshop Descriptions
Location: Arizona
Workshop
Dates: -
Contact Person: James M Coulter
Scottsdale Art School: www.ScottsdaleArtSchool.org 480-990-1422 800-333-5707
Plein Air Painting: Six one day a week classes start Oct. 2010 and run through Mar. 2011. Contact Scottsdale Art School for specific dates.
If you would like me to do a week long workshop in your area contact me directly.
Teaching Biography:
James Coulter was trained as a teacher in the two year Teacher Certification Program at University of Phoenix in 1998 and has been teaching at Scottsdale Art School for over 8 years. He organizes his classes with sequential learning plans and application objectives. He received a BFA in Oil Painting from Arizona State University in 1981 and has studied with master painters at the Scottsdale Artists’ School for over 20 years.
I think "imitative" teaching is way overdone. Imitating nature and trying to copy other artist's styles. Everyone should take a little time in the beginning to learn how to draw and some real simple color use. (Many artists get stuck at this stage of artistic development for the rest of their lives. Skill in imitating nature is WAY over-rated in the art world of today. Much of it is so overworked and full of detail that all "character" has been long lost.) Then it's time to develop individual "JUDGEMENT" to be able to DESIGN a work of art for themselves. Using all the elements and techniques in art along with parts of nature to capture the feeling and charactor of something, not just the dry and boring "facts" of it with fancy polished "formulas".
"DESIGN IN PAINTING" (new):
You must know WHY you are painting something, after that "everything" must contribute to that one thing. We will be doing sequential exercises involving your options. How to apply the "ONE RULE" of compostion in all the elements of painting. Dominance in shape, value, and color. Use of directional line, opposition, active/passive and the balance of shapes to move the eye into and around the painting. Using viewpoint, exaggeration, and editing to get the maximum from your statement. Drawing linear versus painterly. All aspects of brush work and use of palette knife in the application of paint. Maximizing accidents. How much detail versus suggestion. Use of Edges. The "REAL" color wheel, using compliments, discords and triadic colors, saturation, and the importance of greys.
PLEIN AIR LANDSCAPE PAINTING.
Visual Poetry is what plein air is all about. You have to go outside to experience the inspiration that comes from seeing and feeling the charactor of your subject. Sorry, but it will NEVER come from photographs. Find out what you want to say and make everything else support that one thing. Simplification and Variety. You should know all the "rules" of painting, but your "feelings" should take priority here. Sounds easy, huh? I will do all I can to make it as easy and fun. It will take a commitment from you to work hard and to use you eyes to see, not what you "think" you see.
STUDIO LANDSCAPE PAINTING.
IT IS YOUR DESIGN THAT MAKES A PAINTING, NOT THE SUBJECT MATTER!
This is the class where you put it ALL together. I highly recommend this class to plein air painters to improve your outdoor painting. This is the environment that gives you TIME to THINK about ALL ASPECTS of your painting. You will take outdoor paintings that you have done and take them apart, then put them back together on a larger scale. Mistakes will magnify and you will have to solve new problems. These hurdles when overcome will give you an improved viewpoint and stronger purpose when you go back outdoors to paint. Your outdoor paintings will give your studio paintings "LIFE" that can not be obtained from a photograph. There will be an ongoing evolution and balance of refinement versus looseness, as well as what you see when you look at your subject matter.
A FEW WORDS FROM PAST STUDENTS:
I thought your class was great and helped to fill in a lot of "missing links". I studied art in the late 60's and was an abstract painter. I earned a BFA but I found that I wasn't taught the fundamentals of colour and I have always been struggling with it. The terms "value" and "temperature" didn't have any meaning to me. If you want to be a landscape painter, these are very important words. I have taken many classes in the last 10 years, but none of my teachers have been able to "get through" to me. In your class, I felt like I was starting to "get it". Thank you!
Best regards, Karan
I learned the sequential steps to making a painting: thumb nail, pre-mix, dark to light, etc.
The most important part of the class was the wonderful, outstanding teacher. You always gave very practical information and criticism which I could use "right now" The most important thing I got from your class was the belief that , given enough work and hours, I will (some day) be able to put the paint together in an intelligent enough manner to create a painting I can stand to look at. There are skills and elements of developing a painting that can be learned.
The theory of the class was perfect. Thank you! I love painting now more than before your class and have more determination as well.
The homework was good. Humbling, but good.
Demonstrations were just right.
Locations were perfect, loved the desert and river locations. Well worth the drive.
This is the best art/painting class I have taken. I have taken many painting classes and workshops and this class is by far the best. Having great artistic abilities does not always translate into any ability or desire to teach others. There are great artists and there are great artists who teach, many very poorly, but you are a great artist who is also a great teacher. Very rare combination! Thank your for your excellent teaching, your encouragement , your dedication to teaching others, your patience , passion, and inspiration. I feel very fortunate to have been in your class. Thank you James.
LH
James is an excellent teacher, one who obviously loves to share his knowledge. He was generous in his time, taking us to different interesting areas for the plein air class. That being said, his strongest point was to treat each of us as if we were his only student. For our class, he gave weekly assignments, which made me think of myself of not only a student but also an artist and to consciously think about what i needed to do to improve. He customized assignments and comments not on just the current work but keeping in mind the artist we were aspiring to become.
This was my second class with James and I look forward to more in the future.
AP
I am not only enjoying the plein air class with James Coulter, but my knowledge of plein air painting has been immensely expanded. That is because he is an excellent teacher and very knowledgeable in his field. His most outstanding quality as a teacher is his concern for the progress of each individual member of his class. His approach helps us detect our own personal creative style. James gives us each projects that stimulate our abilities to analyze where we are in our artistic growth and to determine our own creative goals for the future.
MA
I have very much enjoying painting since your class. It was a wonderful experience for me in many ways. Before the class I was sort of moving around without any direction. I was painting abstract pieces, cityscapes, still lifes, but I did not feel I was learning anything, regardless of whether my paintings "looked good." I was trying to break the rules before having learned to follow them. I felt lost when trying to paint these small landscapes. I did not know how to start.
After taking your class , I am no longer feeling directionless about what I am doing. I feel painting has a fullness for me it did not before. I also feel I have a nice beginning with the basics of color, composition, and design. I have learned to much about value and hue through this process that I did not previously know. It is a nice not feeling lost before the canvass and then just "winging" it.
It was an incredibly valuable experience for me.
Thank you.
RP
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