RAA&M Members: $725 | Non-Members: $775
“As an artist I have a deep human need to be able to create with meaningful and thoughtful ideas, and to be true to the aesthetic that I desire. I avoid what I believe the viewer or the public wants.”
— Ken Knowles
This course focuses on working with the skills and academic traditions handed down through hundreds of years of art history. Driving for excellence, participants will avoid complacency and instead strive for integrity and authenticity, while allowing and promoting a meaningful creative process.
Day 1 introduces Rockport on the art map with a demonstration, emphasizing preparation, methods, and the understanding that it happens in the mind first through a comprehensive composition study addressing why we choose, what we choose, mood, key, and control. Day 2 explores the beginnings of the Rockport Art Association & Museum, including Hibbard, Stevens, and many of the founders, with focus on planning light, tone, and color, and learning to control light and surface. Day 3 is devoted to intensive painting and sticking to Plan A, examining what the paint looks like in relation to personal style, along with spiritual, physical, and mental preparation, and fixing the obvious. Day 4 addresses getting over the hump within RAA&M’s long tradition in representational art and the Rockport School, including discussion of RAA&M’s mission and professionalism. Day 5 concludes with finishing and critique, focusing on listening to the painting, framing, and presentation. Each artist will supply their own materials and easel.
Students are welcome to work from personal reference material or may choose from references provided by Ken. Level: Intermediate to Expert. Students will meet at the RAA&M and then work in Ken Knowles Gallery.