In honor of the Olympics we drew images inspired by Paris in our Drop-In Drawing Class. Some are not posted because of copyright issues. Have fun finishing your work!
Taken when Red Dot had recently opened at our Stuart Street location.
What's New in 2024
In September we celebrate 20 years in business. We’ll start celebrating then, but in the meantime, here are some cool things going on at the gallery.
Workshops
We have Photopraghy, Portrait, and Painting Styles workshops happening throughout the year. They fill fast, so sign up early.
Newly renovated space
We updated our space and enlarged the studios to accommodate more students. Come see the new developments. Scott is designing a new clay display, which will be finished in the next month.
Popular Classes
Our regular classes are usually almost or totally full, so hop in and get your spot when you can. What can we say? We have a good time.
Open House
We’ll have a party sometime this year, so keep in touch to get details when we have them.
Thanks to all the students and fans who’ve made Red Dot the happy, successful place it is!
Holiday Texture
Our Drop-In Drawing Class practices were focused on texture today. Use these to finish your drawings. For those who missed it, you can join up next time here:
Drawing on Fall
Here are the latest images we worked from in Drop-in Drawing class. The theme was fall, and we focused on a mix of people, places, and things. Join us next time!
Kid Classes are back!
We are thrilled to announce the launch of Kid Classes at Red Dot. Our aim is to ignite the creative spark within young minds, encourage self-expression, and provide an uplifting environment for kids to explore various artistic media and styles.
With the decline of enrichment opportunities in our area, we are proud to offer captivating projects and a dedicated time for exploration in a real working art studio. Your little artist has a go-to place to let their inner Van Gogh free.
One Line Drawing
For students wanting to finish their elephant drawing from Drop-In Drawing class, here it is!
Inspired by the Famous
In Drop-In Drawing we took inspiration from some famous artists. We imitated their style while rendering from the photos here. Join us soon!
Don't Bug Me
It was bug drawing day in Drop-in Drawing Class. Here’s what we worked on. Join us next time!
Promised Land
I promised my Drop-in Drawing students I’d post today’s images here. Enjoy finishing your drawings! If you want to join us, there’s room!
The Value of Still Life
Today in Drop-In Drawing we practiced with objects of varying values, meaning darks and lights. Some delightful new friends joined the fun this time. You can, too. Here are some new images to work on this week.
All photos are from Unsplash, and I lost the names of the photographers, but you should be able to look them up by describing the image. Thanks to all photographers who contribute their work online for free.
Road Trip!
Here are the images we referenced in our Drop-In Drawing class yesterday. The theme was travel, with images that featured our usual subjects: people, places, and things. Enjoy finishing your work!
If you’d like to join us next time:
Lessons in Color
I recently posted this message to my new students. It’s a good lesson about color.
Why put all your colors our on the palette?
I get arguments from students about putting out all their colors on the palette. Nothing could be more important. Not using the full spectrum of colors as the building blocks of your painting is like only having 5 strings on your guitar, or only 75% of the letters in the alphabet to write. Impossible!
The reasons I hear that students don't want to put them out are:
1. They don't want to waste money.
2. They don't want to take the time.
3. They are convinced they don't need them.
To the first objections I'll say that scarcity mindset will hinder you in major ways. The cost spent in time and money is infinitesimal, and the price you pay for "saving" these resources is too high. I'll highlight it below.
To the third objection I'll say watch the Seeing video again. Your insistence that you don't need them is born of inherent blindspots. You came to learn from someone who presumably has a highly developed ability to see in a way you can't yet. Trust me, you need them.
How does it hinder you?
Not having all the colors with which to build a palette automatically forces you to compromise. It will stunt your creativity, limit your skills, and even hinder your sight. It prevents you from growing your ability to render, which is why you joined a painting class.
What colors are we talking about?
You've been given a palette of 12 paints. Use them all, except for black.
We always want the palette to contain:
White
A few browns (some version of Umber, Ochre and/or Sienna)
and below, ROY G. BIV (fun way to remember the rainbow)
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Violet
(or a way to make them, as in blue plus yellow = green)
Your ROY G. BIV colors should be the most intense in their hue. Red, not Crimson. Yellow, not Naples Yellow. Ask your teacher if you don't know.
Thanks for making your experience 100 times better and for saving your teacher's sanity.
Delicious Drawings
We drew food in Drop-in Drawing on Monday. It made us hungry. Here are the images if you want to draw your own or finish your class sketches. Join us soon on Mondays at 6:00 pm.
Mixed Pix
Scroll for the selection of images we worked from today in Drop-In Drawing. Join us next time for the fun!
All photos from unsplash.com
Rock on.
We rocked the rocks today in Drop-in Drawing. As promised last week, when landscapes were a big hit, we are going to focus on landscape features for a couple weeks. We included one cloud picture as a preview for next week. Join us anytime!
Photo by Sergei Persterev
Sketchscapes
It’s landscape day in Drop-In Drawing class. We’re practicing blocking the scene into major shapes and filling in texture from there. (General to specific!) Join us next time.
Photo by Tomasz Filipek
Image by Luca Bravo
Photo by Toan Chu
Photo by Kumweni
Photo by Jack Millard
Photo by Joss Woodhead
Photo by Suzanne Williams
Spring to Life
It may not be very springy where some of our Drop-in Drawing students live, but we decided some blossoms would put us in a good mood. Here are the images we’re drawing from in class today, to challenge our skills at contour and contrast. Join us soon!
Photo by Valerie Blanchette
Photo by Aisvri
Photo by Brigitte Tohm
Photo by Volodymyr Tokar
Photo by Earl Wilcox
Photo by Manny Moreno
Animal Magnetism
We sketched animals in Drop-in Drawing class today. Using a classic circle skeleton for structure, everyone came up with some pretty convincing fauna, much to our delight. Join us next time!
Photo by Hasmik Ghazaryan
Photo by Jaques Bopp
Photo by Elcarito
Photo by Michael Oxendine
Vanishing Point
We drew from the image above in our Drop-in Drawing Class today, focusing on one-point perspective. Below is my version of the project. I eliminated clutter for ease and composition purposes. Join us soon!
Photo by Sreenivas
Free As a Bird
Today in Drop-in Drawing we focused on basic principles of art (line, shape, value, etc.) while drawing birds. Here are the images we worked from so students can finish their drawings.
We talked about some famous studies that prove how good drawing from life is for the brain. Join us for some brain benefits!
Photo by Marko Blazevic
Photo by Karin HIselius
Photo by Andy Holmes
Photo by Rogean James