Painting

Acrylic Painting 101

Saturday & Sunday • February 2020

Little Apple • 8" x 10" • Acrylics on panel • © Karen Lynn Ingalls

Three different approaches to acrylic painting — abstract painting, simple still life, and acrylics that look like watercolors. You'll try all three in this workshop! Artwork © Karen Lynn Ingalls

New to acrylics? Wondering what they're all about? Come find out – and unleash your creativity as you play with paint. In this work-(play)-shop, we'll explore many of the different ways you can apply paint to paper or canvas.

In this two-day workshop, you will learn:

how to mix colors
how to uses brushes and other methods of applying paint to a surface, and make different kinds of brushstrokes
how to use acrylic paints in a spirit of discov
how to begin a painting, and where to go from there
how to make glazes and use acrylic mediums
how to make acrylics look like watercolor paints

Then you'll create two or three paintings, including an abstract painting and a simple still life. Would you like to learn more?

Click here to learn more.

Color and Composition

Saturday & Sunday • March 28-29, 2020

Create Compelling Compositions, art workshop, art composition, Karen Lynn Ingalls

Field Station Road • Acrylics on full sheet watercolor paper • © Karen Lynn Ingalls

How many times have you been stuck on a painting, not knowing just what it was that wasn't working? Frustrating, isn't it?

In this workshop, you will learn the nuts and bolts of what makes a painting work, and how to fix it when it's not. And no, it's not just about the "Rule of Thirds" — in fact, it's about much, much more.

You'll go home with a "toolbox" of solutions you can apply to help you create paintings with compositions that work!

Whether you paint landscape, portrait, still life, or abstract paintings — or work in any other genre — the same principles apply. Join us, and learn how to get out of — and avoid — those painting predicaments!

Click here to learn more.

Secrets of Color Harmony

Saturday & Sunday • May 2020

All paintings © Karen Lynn Ingalls

Colors can be like children — sometimes they just don't play together well. How do you change that? How do you make colors play — and work — well together in a painting?

In this two-day workshop, you'll learn foolproof secrets of creating beautiful, harmonious color in your paintings – and put them into practice!

You'll also create your own book of examples yu can use as a reference for painting later.

Click here to learn more.

Abstract Landscape Painting

Saturday & Sunday • June 2020

Abstract landscape paintings (different styles) • All paintings © Karen Lynn Ingalls

If you're interested in finding ways of simplifying your landscape painting, or taking what you see and using it as a springboard to a new creation, rather than painting more realistically, this may be a workshop for you.

We will focus on three different ways to simplify and play with images of the landscape. We'll be looking at several painters, some familiar, some new, to discover new ways of approaching painting the landscape. You will create, depending on time, two or three new paintings, using acrylic paints.

Click here to learn more.

Landscape Painting

Saturday & Sunday • August 2020

Dusk in the Vineyards © Karen Lynn Ingalls

The Red Tree • Acrylics on full sheet watercolor paper • © Karen Lynn Ingalls

Have you ever looked at a beautiful scene, and wished you could capture it on canvas? You'll learn how here, creating a landscape painting from a photograph, and using a limited palette and water-soluble acrylic paints.

This all comes from a perspective of non-judgement — it's essential to tame the inner critic in order to be creative! We paint in a spirit of discovery and experimentation.

In this workshop, you will learn:

how to create a landscape painting from a photograph
how to choose your palette, mix colors, and create beautiful color harmonies
how to begin — and where to take it from there
how to approach composition and design
how to give your landscapes the illusion of distance
some of the differences between painting indoors from your own photographs and painting on location
the inner game of painting (how and why to tame your inner critic)

By the end of the workshop, you will have a landscape painting to take home with you. This class is designed for people with at least some previous painting experience. Call to reserve a spot, or sign up online!

Click here to learn more.

Mixed Media Art Workshop:
Paint, Paper, Stencils, Collage, & Relief Printing

Saturday & Sunday • Next workshop to be scheduled in 2021

Mixed Media Art Workshop, painting workshop, collage, relief printing, stencils, Karen Lynn Ingalls

Do you ever wish you could just create paintings in a way that feels like a child at play? No stress, no worrying about whether you can draw or not, just plain fun? Mixed media collage with acrylics may be just what you dreamt of....

Learn how to combine acrylic painting, special papers, fabric, photographs, and text, and add other mixed media techniques to make entirely new creations!

Click here to learn more.

Painting the Costumed Model

Possibly coming around again… Let Karen know if you're interested in it!

Interested in portrait or figurative painting? Learn to paint from a clothed model. You will learn how to check the proportions of the figure, how to paint the colors of skin in light and shadow, and how to create and develop your composition. Previous painting experience is required. Bring your own acrylic paints (no solvents!) and painting materials (see materials list).

To read some of Karen's thoughts about costumed model painting, and see some of her work from previous years, see her art teaching blog here at www.napavalleyartcamp.blogspot.com.