Monthly Archives: August 2013

UT Informal Classes

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UT Informal Classes start their fall line up of classes next week.

Offered through Continuing Education will be:

Acrylic Painting

Figure Invention

Oil Portraiture Fundamentals

Each of the three classes has a Sept/October session, and a October/November session.  To enroll is simple. From the Continuing Education website, just select Our Classes, and then Creative Life.  For a class that has full enrollment, there are also waiting lists.  The University of Texas, Continuing Education Department website can be found here.

UT Informal Classes Oil Portraiture 1024x768 UT Informal Classes

UT Informal Classes. Oil Portrait Fundamentals
Copyright Michael Ziemba.com (2012)

UT Informal Classes- Oil Portraiture Fundamentals

Oil Portraiture Fundamentals

Learn to capture a likeness, and control oil paints, both in the same class.  Working from a model, you will use basic frames and forms, to draw and complete a portrait in each class.  You will gain new insight into light and shadow.  Finally, by limiting colors, you will learn the basics of capturing realistic skin tones.

 

WWII Art / Thumbnail Process

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Austin Art lushLife Thumbs 1024x768 WWII Art / Thumbnail ProcessWWII Art / Thumbnail Process

I’ve been working on some thumbnails for a personal project I’m pretty excited about.

Lush Life is the story of two old friends.  As young men, they served as ambulance drivers in WWII.  Stranded, wounded, freezing, and lost in the woods. they witnessed something miraculous.  Unable to agree on what they saw, this event would come to shape their lives for decades after the war.  Now, as their lives come to an end, can they make peace with what they saw and who they became?

Working out ideas in a sketchbook is a blast.  In the beginning, I work in a method almost like pointillism.  Putting a dot where a compositional element might land, and slowly building up from there.  I use a lot of white out so I can “erase” back to white, or add highlights.

pointillism WWII Art / Thumbnail Process

Something is happening here.  Really.  I Promise.

Next up, underpainting.