Painting Classes in Amsterdam

Hi all,

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I've started offering private painting lessons in Amsterdam, right in the center of the city in my canal studio/house.

To satisfy lord Google's need for lots of text about my website, and also help you understand my approach in some more detail, I'll be creating some posts about the whole thing here in my blog and if anyone has questions, you can always call me with the contact details provided on my website:

www.juanpablobran.com/lessons.html

The painting classes I offer are not for everyone.  Many art enthusiasts think of painting lessons as a place where you go and explore things around.  This is no doubt a lot of fun and I've done it myself, but the results were not to my satisfaction.  The artistic results I mean, the socializing was great!

So these Amsterdam painting classes are much more focused and structured and the value you get in return is the ability to start producing art that you may not have though possible before.

One of the thing my painting classes do, and which may be disappointing is to start with the very basics of drawing.  So for those who want to waltz in and start putting brushes to a canvas, I do apologize in advance.  Not gonna happen.

Why?  Well, it was stated at the entrance of the old French Academy of Art in Paris:  "Well drawn is well painted".  Painting schools in Amsterdam may not have had this inscribed at their entrance, which may explain why there's lots of old masters and very few new ones!

Trying to paint while dragging around sloppy drawing skills is painful to do and painful to witness. So painting lessons begin with making sure your drawing skills are really solid.  Even if you have been drawing for some time, there is great benefit from learning the academic approach.  It provides you a foundation on which to fall upon when things are not going the way you expect.

My webpage on painting classes provides you with a quick glimpse of what this means:

www.juanpablobran.com/lessons.html

So what are interesting positive points of an Amsterdam painting class which is based on the classical methods:


1. It gives you a foundation to learn painting, which is easy to learn by anyone regardless of background, personality or talent

2. It breaks down the creation of an artwork into small and easy to execute steps which make it possible to learn to paint anything you like and do it very well

3. It demystifies art and allows you to look at it as a craft with tools, techniques and a language that every painting class should be teaching before anything else

4. The paintings of the masters will become more understandable to you, and not less but in fact more amazing and enjoyable

5. You will create the art you want, at the level you decide.  You will be able to become the best critic of your work, because you will know which aspects to look for.


6. You will be able to draw and paint any subject, in almost any style you choose.


Now, before I start to sound like a snake oil salesmen, I must say that learning the method and practicing it is hard work.  That is both good and bad news.  It means anyone who's willing to work at it can do it, but the work has to be done thoroughly.


So that's today's post about this.  My website contains some image examples of the art I produce thanks to this method, as well as some steps followed in their creation.

Come visit soon!