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Oil Paint Properties and Their Tools
Have you attempted to paint in oils, only to find that the colors become mud? Or that some paints are more intense and opaque than others? Do you wonder which mediums or brushes to use? Many people have the idea that oil paints are difficult to use. They’re not. In fact, oils are possibly one of the easier mediums to use in painting. The secret is knowing the properties of oils and how to use them to your advantage. In this workshop, we will explore the various properties of oil paints. We will separate out the professional artist brand paints from student grade, opaque paints from the transparent, and how different paints and their properties impact other paints and their properties. Sort of like chemistry, but not. We will also look at which mediums and brushes can be used and for what purposes. The object is for the student to become familiar with, be at ease with and experiment with oil paints in a non-intimidating way, so that they see just how easy it is to work with oils. This is a four hour workshop that begins with discussion and live demonstration of oil paints and their properties and continues with students working hands-on with the materials themselves. Students must bring the basic materials list provided for their personal experimentation.
Date: July 19
Time: 10am-2pm
$80 members l $100 non members
Location: In House at the Beach Art Center
Meet your Instructor...
Fran Failla
Master of Simplicity - Making The Ordinary Extraordinary
Fran's artistic journey began in the seventh grade, when her teacher gave her a challenge - reproduce a work of art by a well-known master artist. She chose a still life painting by Post-Impressionist, Paul Cezanne. Amazingly, she was able to reproduce the master's painting almost exactly. Her teacher immediately encouraged Fran's mother to nurture her talent. Her mother wasted no time purchasing oil paints, canvas and easel from a local art store, thus reinforcing Fran's painting experience. Thus, with Cezanne as her influence, she began to paint in earnest and went on to win several awards during her early school years.
In high school and college, Fran continued to study art and art history. She enrolled in every art class available and excelled in most, but oil painting provided the greatest versatility and color palette for her. It allowed her to communicate in the rich and provocative way that only oils can render. In college, she found a multitude of accomplished and well-known working artists to study under. She excelled in still-life images. Fran also attended the renowned Art Students League in New York for many years, again studying with several modern-day masters. During that time, she won their prestigious "Red Dot" award more than once.
In 2018, she moved from her native New York City to the Tampa/St. Petersburg area in Florida. Following the mantra to constantly learn and grow, she sought out new artistic venues to further her skills. She chose to attend the Dunedin Fine Arts Center in Dunedin, FL and study under master artist, Markissia Touliatos. She has also formed working affiliations with the Beach Art Center in Indian Rocks Beach, FL and TESA (The Exhibiting Society of Artists) to name a few. Recently, she became a 2024 Creative Pinellas "Emerging Artist" Grant recipient.
Asked to speak about her current work, her response was "I love color and light – the more vibrant, the better. If I can reproduce something as ordinary as a ceramic pitcher or an apple and bring it to life with the sensation of movement in my brushstrokes, with beautiful, saturated colors and intense lighting, then I have done my job. It's no longer just an apple or a pitcher then. It's now alive and it has an aesthetic that the viewer will never realize in the mundane world around them."
Her peers refer to her as “the master of simplicity” because her style of painting is fast and loose, which eliminates unnecessary details and focuses on form, color, light and movement. Unlike a photograph, the work is painterly and fluid. Painting still-life motifs facilitate the simplicity of expression at its best. "When I'm painting something as ordinary as an apple and making it emotional, charged with movement and color, dynamic and beautiful – well, it's what I do. In other words, I'm taking the ordinary and making it into something extraordinary."
Workshop Policy
All fees associated with classes and workshops are non-refundable. In the event a registrant needs to change or cancel their registration, the registrant should contact the Beach Art Center as far in advance as possible. Any agreement to change, cancel or transfer a registration after the class/workshop date has taken place is made at the sole discretion of the instructor.
Beach Art Center reserves the right to cancel workshops if minimums are not met or for any other reason relevant to business needs. In the event of a cancellation initiated by Beach Art Center, the registrant will receive a full refund. Beach Art Center does not hold credits on account for future use.