Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Mixing Greens

How to Mix Greens for Landscape Painting
by Cheryl Kline



Last Wednesday, Cheryl Kline did an informal color mixing lesson. 
At the end of the lesson, students went outside and picked plants and leaves to learn to mix accurate colors. A great way to demystify the color green!

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Cheryl Kline Up-coming Show at Lahaina Galleries in Newport Beach


GIFT OF ART SHOW 
HAWAIIAN HOLIDAY!

Saturday, December 2nd
3:00pm – 7:00pm

Newport Beach, CA

Come celebrate Hawaiian Style and add a little Ohana to your holiday this year.  Sip on a mai tai as you find the perfect gift for yourself or a loved one.  Music, pupus and aloha cheer await you!  

Meet pioneering glass sculptor - Jack Storms, the innovating “Moving Paintings” creator and Oscar winner for “Life of Pi” special effects Steve Matson, etched metal painter - Lori Wylie, skyscape artist - Cheryl Kline, ocean/landscape painter - Caroline Zimmermann and Russian master - Larissa Morais!  

The public is welcome! 

Kindly RSVP: 949-721-9117 or email us at Lgi@maui.net

Fashion Island Shopping Center
1173 Newport Center Drive 
Newport Beach, CA
(Located below the Cheesecake Factory)

Monday, November 27, 2017

Cheryl Kline has been interviewed by Voyage LA





Meet Cheryl Kline of Kline Academy of Fine Art
Article from Voyage LA, November 27, 2017
Today we’d like to introduce you to Cheryl Kline.
Cheryl, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
The struggle for most artists is whether to starve or not to starve, and I did not want to starve! I knew from the time I was 5 years old that I wanted to be an artist. In college, it was clear that I was going to need another way to earn a living besides fine art. So, for many years I freelanced as an advertising illustrator and art director, until my painting began gaining attention. It was a juggle, draftingtable/computerr at one end, easel at the other and trying to find time to hone my skills as a painter and create a body of work worthy of a gallery show. It was a big decision the day I finally decided to give up all of my corporate design accounts where I was earning six figures and house payment looming over my head but I did not want to become an old woman sitting on my porch thinking “I wish I would’ve, could’ve done it.” So, I made the break, gave up all my income earning clients and became a full-time artist. I went to Italy to study classical painting, studied with other extremely wonderful artists and then launched my fine art career. Sales were slow at first and I had to cut back on many of the luxuries I had grown to love but my drive to make it as an artist was what kept me going as well as a new relationship where my partner was very encouraging. As my sales grew, I rented studio space and met other artists. Soon, people started asking me if I would teach them how to paint. So, I started a small workshop teaching classical painting techniques. My own painting sales were going well and soon I was earning a very good living as an artist.
In 2007 after a very successful exhibition, I purchased a building on Motor avenue to become a multi-functional space: gallery, classroom and my own private studio. Then 2008 depression hit and changed all of that. All the galleries that represented me went out of business.
Going into survival mode, I quickly reorganized a business plan and focused on the art academy one hundred percent. I hired my artist friends to teach with me who would have otherwise struggled to make ends meet.
In the beginning, I started with 10 students. Every Friday was like a mini victory. I felt like I drank all night and stayed up to the wee hours. The end of another week we managed to not just survive but thrive. I cleaned the building myself, the toilets, sinks, floors. I had to wait until the last day to pay the electric, water and sewer bill. I would wait until someone paid me for a month of classes, run to the bank to deposit the check, and then drive to the DWP to pay the bill before they turned off the electric. I divided the upstairs into 3 studio spaces to help offset the huge mortgage and expenses that incurred every month. I painted the building myself with the help of a friend, did the accounting, web design, marketing, instructed 3 classes and if there was time left, I could work on my own paintings. Painting sales had dropped off dramatically so I added more classes and hired more artists in need of work but kept my strict criteria of teaching excellent painting skills and focused on Classical foundations.”
Some people think it is an oxymoron to put the words “artist” and “business” in the same sentence. There is also a fine line between staying true to one’s mission or cause and to simply stay in business. Creating art, being an artist and even having an art school is not an ideal profession in terms of financial stability. Any intelligent person not on a trust fund, big inheritance or lucky to have a rich partner would ever in their right mind pick this profession if they did not want to struggle and work harder than they could ever imagine.
In order to keep Kline Academy going, my struggles continued: an owner of a competitive school threatened me with his family’s money that he would force me out of business. Banks stopped lending and my 3-year interest only deal with the original-building owners was about to expire. 11 banks turned me down. The first refinance finally happened but not without strings attached and blood tests to prove I wasn’t HIV positive and not a drug addict. Seriously the bank demanded blood tests to approve the loan! Complicating life more, my Mother was becoming more in need of help due to Parkinson’s disease and now living with me and my partner which added considerably to my expenses. “So here goes a new business plan: I needed at least $12,000 minimum per month to make bare expenses. Adding income from upstairs rents and 30 paying students, I was still short about $4,000 per month! I need to add more classes and sell at least one painting a month. I could also go back to web design and try to get 2 jobs a month. I can make this work. I have to make this work.”
And I did make it work along with my incredible staff. Even after injuring both hands from getting ready for a show and not being able to paint and teach without taping the brush to my arm, we have thrived. Slowly adding more instructors and more classes the students grew to more than 100 per month. But as in any small business if the entrepreneur knew what was involved, they probably wouldn’t even have bothered. Unexpected expenses always pop up: plumbing problems, taxes, maintenance, better lighting, easels, tables, supplies, advertising the list is endless.
No matter what – I will not give up and I believe there is always a solution to succeed. I have been fortunate to study with some of the best artists in the world and I feel it is my duty to pass on this linage, a timeless tradition of teaching skill-based technique to those who seek it.
Teaching makes me a better artist. Aesthetics and what you or anyone believes about beauty in this life is debatable. My aesthetic is conservative in that the bar has been set by master painters and artists before us. It is up to us to at least achieve the same level of excellence and hopefully surpass those before us. Beauty is fundamental to our cultural existence in the many fields of art from painting, sculpture, architecture, music, dance, theater, etc. By creating this school of art – Kline Academy – I feel like I have contributed to the art community by continuing to promote skill-based art in Los Angeles. Art picks you. You have no choice. It is like an addiction that can never be overcome. Once art gets into your veins, you feel the visceral effects of the medium, the eye candy, the visual gratification, that spark of creativity that acts like dopamine to your brain, you are smitten, a love affair that will only end when you die. And I guess once you understand that and accept that, then all the stuff that comes with it is tolerable and you make it work. And the thought of being able to do art every day is actually an unbelievable gift. The fact that I can share this with the hundreds of students that come to Kline Academy is an awesome achievement. No other school does quite the same thing that we do. And I can assure you that no other school has the passion that we do either. Passion, beauty, blended with excellent technique and skills breeds the type of art that is lacking in today’s contemporary world.”
“It has now been over 10 years since I opened the academy. We started with 3 classes and 10 students and now we have classes everyday and hundreds of students each month. Each Friday is still like a mini victory. I made it. I did it. We did it. Do I love this? I think so, although sometimes I’m really not sure. Sometimes I just want to go to that beach with the warm water and stay a while. Not worry. Just play. As I look in the mirror, my face is etched a little deeper with “rings of growth.” The skin on my hands has started to look like crepe paper and when I run up the stairs everyday I sometimes feel my knees not as strong. I rarely look back or even think back to the days when I would run to the DWP before the electric would be shut off. I still worry and I still constantly wake up in the middle of the night with ideas on how to market the classes better or how to help a student who is struggling. I’ve managed to carve out time to continue my own art. I’m showing in 4 galleries and art sales have been stable and I’ve authored my first book on Portrait painting. Of course, I have not achieved this by myself. I have an understanding and encouraging, incredible life partner and an amazing staff. Our support team is invaluable. We have the best instructors in Los Angeles and I kept my vow that all of them are artists who I myself would want to study with.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Kline Academy of Fine Art – what should we know?
We are a skill-based atelier (studio). Years ago, when contemporary art began to take over the art world, Colleges and Universities stopped teaching art making skills. It became very “conceptual” and basically in my opinion they threw the baby out with the bath water!
“Go…create…it doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to draw…or paint.”
BS! So many of our students are people who come to us with Bachelor and Master degrees and are embarrassed to say that they were never taught art skills. That is what we are good at, actually that is what we are great at!
Not only do we stress classical painting and drawing foundations, we use methods from the French academy, Italian and Renaissance masters as well as Contemporary alla prima (all – at – once_ painting techniques.
All of our instructors are pro artists who make a living with their own art.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Of course my Mother was my biggest fan. She told me from an early age that I could be anything I wanted to be. She encouraged me always, came to all my exhibits and bought me my first paint set. My partner of 24 years has always encouraged me and believed in me. I have the best staff from Jason our Administrative Director, Juri who is also an amazing instructor runs the studio, our pro instructors: Scott, Sharon, Miguel, Laura, Kenny, Natalia, Thom, Jackie and our interns Aden and Sara. But none of what we have created would have been possible without the incredible loyal students we have worked with over the last 10 years.

Monday, November 20, 2017

Brush Making Demo by Symi Jackson

Watch the Lecture & Demo by Symi Jackson of Rosemary & Co. Artist's Brushes at Kline Academy of Fine Art.

Handmade Flat Artist's Brush Making Demo




Handmade Round Artist's Brush Making Demo


Saturday, November 18, 2017

Gold Foil Gilding, Encaustic & Underpainting Demo by Pam Hawkes

Visiting Kline Academy, artist Pam Hawkes shows how to create the foundations of an incredible Encaustic Mixed Media Painting.




Pam Hawkes is an internationally renowned artist who teaches fine art courses at colleges and universities around Birmingham, England, where she resides. She has shown in London, Europe and America in joint and solo exhibitions.


Monday, October 30, 2017

Expert Tips on How to Clean & Maintain Your Art Brushes


Learn some quick tips from brush making expert Symi Jackson of Rosemary & Co. Artist's Brushes, who gave a lecture at Kline Academy of Fine Art, on how to clean, preserve and maintain your high quality artist painting brushes.



Brush making demo video coming up soon!

Thursday, October 19, 2017

How to Sign Your Painting by Cheryl Kline

Learn How to Make Your Mark like the Masters



In this exclusive free lesson, learn from Master Artist Cheryl Kline on creative ways to express yourself as an artist through signing your painting. Cheryl will also demonstrate how to actually paint on your name to your artwork.


Head here for the incredible full free video lesson -

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Welcome to Kline Online!

 Now you can take our Classical Painting class anywhere you live!

The ultimate classical painting course that will give you all the techniques to be successful as a painter...






If you want to be a great jazz player - you need to study scales and classical foundations. The same is true to become a great painter. I can't tell you how many students come to me who have had years of art school, have never been "taught" how to paint! But their frustration ends here! Whenever an Artist speaks about a "linage" of instruction, it is a proud declaration of where their knowledge came from. Ours is a fusion of Northern European, Classical Italian and California Impressionism. With this background we can hone in on an individual's choice of style once foundations in painting are achieved. The first “initiation” exercise that students seeking to Master Classical Oil Painting should accomplish is our Compass Rose exercise. This exercise teaches the student first, basic skills for blending, glazing etc. as well as the Zorn palette of colors, introducing the student to a new way of “seeing.” Students Will Learn Renaissance Painting Techniques Monochromatic studies How to deconstruct a painting How to apply color & how to mix paint Using mediums Glazing Secrets



We also offer the Live Interactive Video Critique where you receive a 30 min live interactive video critique of your work from a Master Artist/Instructor and Video Critique from a Master Artist where you receive a 30 min detailed video critique of your artwork from any Kline Academy Course!!


Monday, October 16, 2017

Do something creative today!

Do something creative today! 

Being an artist and working day in and day out on a series of paintings can easily put you in a rut! So, what do you do to get out of it? 

Yesterday I spent some time preparing panels for an upcoming workshop. I like the look of texture the way it creates another dimension in the reality of the image. I decided to experiment with alabaster from Natural Pigments. It sands down to a smooth buttery surface. My creative path was charred and now I can’t wait to get to the studio. 

Tell me what you do to switch on your creativity?

- Cheryl Kline

Friday, October 6, 2017

Natalia Fabia is on The Top 100 Figurative Painters Working Right Now on BuzzFeed!

Photo: Instagram

Photo: BuzzFeed



We are very honored to inform you that our instructor Natalia Fabia is on The Top 100 Figurative Painters Right Now on Buzz Feed! 

Congratulations Natalia!


And don't miss out her 3 Day Painting Workshop coming in October!


Thursday, October 5, 2017

Meet Our New Teen Drawing & Painting Instructor - Ireland Wisdom

Please Welcome Our Mew Instructor
Ireland Wisdom




Ireland Wisdom was born and raised in West L.A. and has traveled the world in pursuit of her artistic development. This young prodigy graduated from the downtown Grand Arts School while studying at Kline Academy, and most recently attended and graduated from one of the top traditional art academies in the world- Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy.  

Wisdom’s experience in both contemporary and classical painting and sculpting, has given her opportunities to exhibit work all over the city, from the downtown L.A. Art Walk to varying galleries at Bergamot Station. While young Wisdom has been involved with the Kline Academy for almost a decade, a space where she adores sharing her love and knowledge of fine art. 



Message from Ireland

I first started signing up for art classes when I was thirteen. I took a couple of different classes at varying locations around LA, but after being unsatisfied with all that I tried, we eventually found Cheryl Kline and her Academy. My first class with Cheryl was on portrait painting and it was absolutely wonderful. After it ended I wanted to explore all that the Kline Academy offers, so I then took Cheryl’s classical master copy painting class, Scott Yesel’s abstract painting class, and Brianna Lees’s figure drawing/painting class.

When nearing the end of my high school career, like everyone else, I began to think seriously  about what to do and where to go next. For me it was anything or anywhere that would aid my becoming a professional artist. This was when Cheryl introduced me to the Florence Academy of Art. The FAA is a classical, yet somewhat modern, painting and sculpting atelier in the heart of Florence, Italy. I decided it was the right fit for me, so I began taking two classes a week at the Kline to help build my portfolio.  I drew a couple of Bargue (Charles Bargue) copies as well as some cast paintings and drawings, all so I could get used to only painting from life, using a method called sight size which they use at the FAA.  Cheryl was mentoring me specifically to my need, to have an outstanding portfolio for applications and to learn how to paint from life.  My passion for art truly took shape at this time, with all the support from the amazing faculty at the Kline Academy. 

After getting accepted into the FAA, I took the great energy and skills that I gained at the Kline and brought them to Florence. My three years at the FAA were filled with long days of very little sitting or none whatsoever, and instead consisted of drawing and painting from the early morning to the late evening. The skills and knowledge I garnered from the teachers at the Kline Academy sufficiently prepared me for those tiring but exceptional years of honing my crafts in Florence.  My time at the Kline and at the FAA has also allowed me to draw and work next to some of today’s most talented artists from around the world.  

Now, Cheryl and I are working together again, and I will be teaching my own painting and drawing class for teens starting in December! I want to give my youthful class the opportunity to learn how to paint anything they want. Participants will be able to express their creativity to its fullest extent by learning how to draw and paint three dimensional forms using light effects and space. As a major goal, I would like my students to become passionate about their work and creativity in general. I can also help create the best foundation for students interested in entering a fully immersive fine art program like I did, in the States or overseas. I can help them create a portfolio that will blow away colleges, as Cheryl did for me! Can’t wait to see you in class!



Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Thank You BCG Digital Ventures


BCG Digital Ventures came to our studio and did 2 hour quick figure studies with us today!
That was a fun event!

Thank you so much for the great time!

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

FREE EVENT! Rosemary Brushes Comes to Los Angeles!!!


Rosemary Brushes Comes to Los Angeles!!! Thursday, October 12th, noon - 6pm
FREE Live brush making demo at noon!
Huge selection of brushes for sale 

Meet Symi Jackson, Rosemary’s Daughter from London
Awesome opportunity to buy direct without shipping or VAT charges 
RSVP at klineacademy@att.net or 310-837-7194

Monday, September 25, 2017

Open House Raffle Winners!

Here are the Open House Raffle Winners!



Congratulations!

1st Prize - 4 Free Classes - goes to...
Grace Kono-Wells

2nd Prize - 1 Free Class
Sarah Marson

3rd Prize - Portrait Painting Book by Cheryl Kline
Susie Convery

4th Prize - Original Kline Academy T-shirt 
Charles Song

Monday, September 18, 2017

Kline Academy Open House 2017 - Thank you!!

Thank you so much students and faculty who submitted their art work and friends and family who came over to Kline Academy Open House - 10 Year Anniversary this weekend!

We had more than 650 people came over to see 172 paintings and drawings created by Kline Academy students and instructors!

Thank you Natalia Fabia for the amazing demonstration, the classical trio for  music,  Matt, Jia, Aaron and Jeff for delicious catering, and Sarah, Brett, Illana and Aiden for your support!!

And congratulations to Bill Perking, Carol Potter, Thomas Garner and Cheryl Kline for selling their pieces!

Owner Cheryl Kline (right), Kline Academy staff Jason Lions (center) and Juri Umagami (left)

































































Congratulations Bill!!


Tim next to Cheryl Kline's Sold painting