Master Class: Painting Botanicals in Pastel with Anna Lisa Leal
Dates and Times:
April 15th, 2023; 9 AM - 4 PM
April 16th, 2023; 9 AM - 4 PM
This hands-on two-day workshop will teach you how to work in the dry medium of pastels. Pastel paintings possess some of the most vibrant colors of all mediums. In this workshop, you will learn about pastels and their various application methods on an assortment of papers. You will learn about underpainting with an alcohol wash as well as working on commercially prepared colored papers. In addition, you will also learn how to texture your own surfaces as an alternative to commercially prepared papers and boards. This genre of this pastel workshop focuses on botanicals such as agave, aloe, cactus, succulents, and their flowers. Along with learning the basics of pastel application, you will learn some of the key structural specifics of each of these species so you will be better able to render them more realistically. Anna Lisa will provide images to choose from for drawing, or you can bring your own.
The class will be a combination of lecture/presentation which includes progress images of many of the instructor’s own paintings. This will be followed by a demonstration and your own hands-on painting time at the easel. This class is suitable for beginners and the personal instruction each student will receive at their easel will be tailored to meet that student’s level and needs.
Enrollment Fee: $260
Please be sure to review all of our education event policies prior to enrolling in any GAC sponsored event.
About Your Instructor:
My artistic mission is simple – convey the beauty of the beasts and exotic beauties of the botanical world and bring those worlds into our indoor living spaces. Plants that don’t require sun or water or care – they are just there to be enjoyed. Most often, I lean to the xeric desert domain and portray the unseen beauty in the frequently maligned group of the spiky and spiny specimens – cactus, agave, succulents, and their flowers. Conversely, I enjoy exploring exotic flowers like birds of paradise, heliconia, and the like. I’m looking forward to getting to know the carnivorous group as well. I am drawn to the pattern and form of the structural arrangements in our oxygen-producing friends. I am captivated by the universal form of spirals like the Fibonacci spiral seen in the placement of the Agave parryi leaves when viewed from above. When I looked closely, I found an unexpected color shift in the thorns of some species of agave. The thorns morph through red, blue, purple, and grey over time. I admit I am truly infatuated with the imprint of the now unfurled agave leaf left behind on the former adjacent leaf– like a footprint in the sand. My most current interest is with the aging of agave leaves that can present a texture that mimics the grain of the wood as they dry and desiccate. I work on board to which I apply texture medium so that I control the character of the surface. I some- times explore changing textures from rough to delicate within one painting. It is important that I paint what I don’t see vs what I see and to emphasize my point of interest with color, placement, or texture vs detail. A frequent power element in my compositions is typically the intersection of light and shadow or contrast. The line between dark and light – the point where opposites meet, is typically a moment of intense beauty and allure. That shift or twilight is in the words of F. Scott Fitzgerald, like a “transitory enchanted moment”. I know my painting has succeeded when I can step back and have my intended focus for the painting be clear, be it light, color or pattern. Sometimes, it’s just about stopping and leaving the painting im- perfect - as we all are – showing the contrast in the beauty of the perfection of nature and the imperfection of our human observations. There is a theme of color and contrast in my paintings along with simplicity. Though the structure of the specimen may be complex, distilling it to the essence of its beauty is key. I hope to encourage the viewer to cherish the innate beauty and pattern in the minute details of nature and explore the intricate beauty of things we may take for granted.