The layering of colored pencils and acrylics is a fantastic technique for building up soft textures, sharp edges, and rich colors. Drawing from colorful photographs or still-life objects of flora and fauna, we will explore the techniques used to take colored pencils a step beyond their traditional use.
Archives
What’s it Worth: Researching your Collection
Join Mrs. Emilia Penney, professional appraiser and estate specialist, as she discusses the resources and processes used in evaluating objects and collections. In this workshop, participants will discover tips for identifying heirlooms and investigating family treasures through online research venues. This will be a fun and informative event as Mrs. Penney shares her tales from the road of visiting people in their homes and appraising their collections.
Color Theory through Watercolor
Understanding color is essential to creating work that captivates the eye and evokes certain moods or emotions. Through a series of fun exercises, you will learn to understand tints, shades and tones, the color wheel, complimentary colors, warm and cool colors, and color schemes. You will also produce useful charts and swatches which you can consult for future reference. Whether you are just starting out or have some experience, this class will help you masterfully mix color, no matter the medium of your work.
Impressionable Youth
Themes of childhood and family recur in nineteenth-century French Impressionist painting, from Berthe Morisot’s experimental self-portraits with her daughter Julie Manet, to Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s everyday scenes of his three sons and their nanny. Drawing primarily upon works from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, this lecture will closely examine how artists associated with Impressionism depicted children, whether their own or those of their siblings, patrons, and artistic peers, across a rich body of informal portraiture. The child-rearing experiences and philosophies of Morisot and Renoir will also be explored before taking an in-depth look at the creative legacy that art collector Julie Manet and filmmaker Jean Renoir inherited from their artistic parents.
VMFA’s Little Giant Controversy: Stuart Davis, Modernism, and Cold War Politics
In 1950, Stuart Davis’ Little Giant Still Life went on view at VMFA as part of an avant-garde American painting exhibition. When the cubist-inflected canvas entered the permanent collection, the museum found itself in the midst of a highly publicized debate between leading New York critics and Virginia traditionalists. This lecture relates the unfolding scandal over what would become one of VMFA’s most celebrated artworks. To date, the painting also remains the most controversial acquisition in the museum’s history.
A Tale of Two Sofas: Belter at VMFA
Following several years of new research and an extensive conservation campaign, a magnificent pair of sofas in the VMFA collection have emerged with a captivating history and a distinctive look. Produced by the celebrated furniture maker John Henry Belter over 160 years ago, the near-identical sofas graced the homes of powerful American businessmen and socialites alike — including the last private owner of the Hope Diamond. Their story is replete with Gilded Age elegance and Jazz Age intrigue.
Printing Textiles with Indian Blockprints
Utilizing intricately carved wood blocks to print a set of two 27″ cotton tea towels, participants will learn about pigment, layering colors, composition, and the possibilities for creating stamps at home. This workshop is open to people of all experience levels.
Chinese Seal Printing Workshop
Following a brief discussion about the significance of the Chinese Seal (or chop), participants will translate their names into Chinese characters on paper. The characters will be transferred to soft printmaking blocks (Safety Kut) and cut out using carving tools. The carved blocks will inked and printed on blank greeting cards, with each student creating her/his own set of Chinese Seal cards to frame or send.
Chinese Silk Painting
After painting the background on their silk scarf, participants will examine images found in traditional Chinese art (including bamboo, fish, birds, and Chinese characters) which they will draw on the silk using a liquid resist. Once the resist has dried, students will apply brilliant fabric paint to complete their design. Participants can expect to finish one long scarf.
Bookplates and Bookmarks
After a brief discussion about the history and purpose of bookplates and bookmarks, students will create their own bookplate and bookmark designs on paper. The designs will then be transferred to a soft printmaking block (Safety Kut) and cut out using carving tools. The carved block will be inked and printed on paper and cardstock as each participant creates her/his own set of bookplates to use or bookmarks to give as gifts.