For Love or Money
Workshop | This program is completed
This workshop focuses on the challenges of becoming a successful commission portrait artist, which involves much more than just painting well! The commission portrait painter must understand client relationships, business practices, marketing and promotional activities, in addition to the complexities of delivering consistently high-quality paintings. This workshop includes both studio painting and lecture sessions. Saper will address the following areas of study: getting a likeness, understanding the colors of light and shadow, using photographic resources successfully, presenting yourself and your work effectively, client relations, understanding your market, and developing your own business plan.
- Four-day workshop
- Students should have excellent drawing skills.
- The handbook For Love or Money will be used in the class.
- Oil Painters: Specific brands are noted where only one manufacturer makes the color, or where the color qualities of a specific manufacturer are important. For all other colors, professional grade (avoid student grades like Winsor & Newton’s Winton or Grumbacher’s Academy) colors by manufacturers such as Michael Harding, Vasari, Shiva by Jack Richeson, M.Graham, Winsor & Newton, Grumbacher, Gamblin, Utrecht, Rembrandt etc. are most suitable.
- Basic Palette: Flake and Titanium white; Ivory Black; Cadmium Scarlet or Cadmium Red Light or Vermillion; Permanent Rose; Alizarin Crimson Permanent; (P)Thalo Green or Viridian; Caput Mortuum Violet (Rembrandt); Monochrome Tint Warm (Holbein); Foundation Greenish (Holbein); Cadmium Yellow Medium (Gamblin); Yellow Ochre; Asphaltum (Gamblin) or Burnt Umber; Transparent Earth Red (Gamblin) or Burnt Sienna; Raw Umber (Grumbacher) ; Raw Sienna; Ultramarine Blue; Portland Gray Medium (Gamblin); Flesh (Gamblin) (I’m not kidding); Brilliant Yellow Light (Shiva)
- Optional extra paints: Radiant Magenta (Gamblin); Pyrrolo Red (www.studioproducts.com ) or Gamblin’s PeryleneRed; Indigo; Vasari Brilliant Yellow Light (completely different color than Shiva’s BYL))
- Other supplies: Odorless Mineral Spirits (GamSol is best); Oleogel medium www.naturalpigments.com
- Assorted brushes (filberts/flats in synthetics; sables, Silver Brush Cat’s Tongue ) sized : #1, 2 4,6,8,12 ; also “comb”,“rake” or “grass” brushes. Also a soft synthetic or sable fan brush.
- Paper towels
- 2 Canvases, 14 x 18 – 16 x 20 suggest Claessen’s # 13 Linen from www.newtraditionsartpanels.com (If you bring other types of canvas, double oil-primed is preferable to single oil primed and both are preferable to acrylic-primed ;and finer weave is preferable to coarser weave.)
- Hand-held palette (optional but great) or mixing palette
- Paint mixing knife
- Hand-held mirror
- Clear straightedge or gridded ruler, 6”-12” or so. (Available in fabric stores; or the sewing section of Michael’s – longer rulers can be easily cut)
- Pastel Painters: All the pastels you have (or can carry). No oil pastels. NuPastels, Dark, mid & light brown; black and white
- Vine charcoal
- Canson paper, several sheets each: Sand, Ivy green, Cream
- Backboard and clips
- Kneaded eraser
- Single edged razor blade
- Scruffy old bristle brush, size 6 or smaller, if you have one
- Hand-held mirror
- Clear straightedge or gridded ruler, 6” or so. (available at Utrecht; in fabric stores; or the sewing section of Michael’s – longer rulers can be easily cut)
- Workable Fixative
- Paper towels and clean hand- or dish-towel.
- All students: Bring regular or digital camera; bring a tripod if you can pack it easily.
- Laptop, if you have one.
- Hand-held calculator.
- Before you come to class, know how to:
- Digital camera users: Disable the flash;Adjust the white balance;
- Modify the file size. Use the zoom. Use the self timer or a cable release. If your camera has 4 MP or less you will get better results Film camera users: Disable the flash. Use the zoom. Use the self timer, remote or a cable release
- For film cameras: One roll of Portra or other color print Daylight film. One roll of Tungsten 100 ASA print film. Tungsten film will be available in larger area camera shops, e.g. Photomark, Foto-Forum.
- If you have any questions about your camera, please contact me before class. I will have my own digital camera to assist you if needed.
- Recommended study – do not feel obliged to buy these books before class. You can review my copies so you can see what they are like. Unless you have an unlimited library budget, you will want to prioritize what you purchase, and I can help you with these decisions.
- For Love or Money: Portraiture & the Pursuit of Excellence by Chris Saper, available at www.blurb.com
- Chris Saper’s DVDs: “Exploring the Beauty of Monochrome Oils” and “Painting Oil Portraits in Warm Light”, both available at artistsnetwork.tv
- Painting Beautiful Skin Tones, by Chris Saper
- Any of the Daniel Greene videos on drawing, oil or pastel
- Color Choices, by Stephen Quiller
- Making Color Sing, by Jeanne Dobie
- The Non-Designer’s Design Book, by Robin Williams (not the actor)
- Alla Prima, by Richard Schmid
- On Becoming a Painter, by Robert A Johnson
- Problem Solving for Oil Painters, by Gregg Kreutz
- Harley Brown’s Eternal Truths for Every Artist, by Harley Brown
Chris Saper
Chris Saper’s portraits are included in nearly 300 collections throughout North America. She is the author of North Light Book’s Painting Beautiful Skin Tones with Color and Light, For Love or Money: A Business Handbook for Portrait Painters, Mostly Monochrome ,and has released two new DVDs “Painting Oil Portraits in Warm Light” and “Capturing the Beauty of Monochrome Oil Portraits.” Her work has been published in Strokes of Genius: the Best of Drawing and Strokes of Genius 2: The Best of Light and Shadow”. Saper writes a regular column for www.worldofportraitpainting.com and serves on the faculty of the Portrait Society of America. Saper is represented by Portraits, Inc., Portraits South, The Portrait Source, The Portrait Group, and Portrait Associates. www.chrissaper.com.