One of Our Own at Kline Academy is Having a Solo Show!

 

Upcoming art show!

JESSICA TAYLOR BELLAMY
Endnotes for Sunshine

Opening reception:

 Saturday, January 21 from 5-8pm

 at 

Anat Ebgi

6150 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90048

On view through Feb 25

Chat with Thomas Garner...

Kline Academy of Fine Arts

hosting

Thomas Garner
Professional Artist / Instructor

Thomas Garner went to the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice where he learned to paint and found a strong nexus between craft and concept. 

"My painting style started out as photo-realistic, but with time I learned the craft of the masters so that now I am able to create a unified mechanism between technique and content, painting about painting. I strive to learn everything I can to about every aspect of figurative painting that has brought me explore live figure painting, plein air, still life and portraiture."

Here is some insight shared by Thomas Garner:

What is your daily / weekly schedule as a working artist?

"I have my regular day job in fashion graphics and illustration but every evening I am at my easel painting whether I am tired or not as I have been doing for the last 35 years. It is my meditation, or my drug. When I find time I also paint on weekends in a more up time of the day. I reserve that for doing Alla Prima work which requires a more energetic treatment."

How do you prepare your drawing / painting surface?

"I generally prepare my own canvases. When I do my Classical work I use linen which I sometimes prepare with traditional rabbit glue and gesso. Often I will also hand stitch canvases together to achieve a visible seam across the painting. This is one of my own signature artistic, symbolic gestures. For my Urban painting I use denim in place of canvas as it strikes me as being more symbolically appropriate for urban subjects. In both cases I mask off a passpartout border of exposed fabric around the periphery that functions as a frame. Then also in both cases I tone my canvases according to the subject that can be yellow ocher for the classical work and magenta for the urban. In other cases such as portraits or plain air it would be some shade of chromatic grays."

Panel vs cotton canvas? Which do you prefer?

"I generally prefer canvas because it usually has the right amount of tooth or roughness to pick up paint and gives a good brushy, textured effect. Depending how a panel is primed it can be too smooth presenting an obstacle when applying the first layers of paint. That said, there are times when a smooth panel can be very effective for example you are looking for a streaky effect or working on a subject that is highly detailed."

Natural vs synthetic hair? Which do you prefer?

"I think that in recent times synthetic bristles have way out-stripped traditional, natural hogs hair bristle. They perform better in terms of flexibility, they hold a nice razor sharp edge, they clean easier and last longer, and often cost less."

Hog or sable?

"Synthetic sable has not yet surpassed natural sable. Nothing beats the performance of genuine sable if you are inking a drawing giving beautiful, expressive thick and thin linage. Real sable is usually too soft for oil painting except in some of the finest details and where very smooth blending is needed. Oil painting in most cases requires a stiffer brush because the medium is thick and needs to be pushed into the texture of the canvas. I have however found among some synthetic bristles the characteristic of bristle that is stiff in the stem but bends softly towards the tip giving the best of both types."

KA student Tammy Machmail in a Group Show

We Have Very Exciting Announcement!

👏Congratulations to our student Tammy Machmali!👏

Tammy will be part of a group show, "EAT CAKE", hosted by Fabrik Projects Gallery. 

 Fabrik Projects Gallery

2636 La Cienega Blvd, Los angeles, Ca 90034 

 Artist Reception: 

 Saturday, February 8th, 6 - 9pm 

 Show runs: 

February 8th - 15th 

 Gallery open: 

Tuesday - Sunday

5 Reasons to support the Arts

5 Reasons to support the Arts

Kline Academy of Fine Arts

Kline Academy of Fine Arts recently came across some information we found very interesting and valuable, so we decided to share it with you all.

5 reasons to support the arts

Have a Positive Social Impact:
For thousands of years, song and dance have brought communities together. Today, the arts create a space where all members can come together.

Enhance your Mood:
The arts offer an escape from the troubles of everyday life. When you're writing, singing, painting, or playing an instrument, you're able to temporarily set stress aside to focus on enjoying your craft.

Help The Economy:
The arts make up a major chunk of the economy - 4.2% of the GDP, to be exact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. While that number may seem small, it's higher than the economic shares of the nation's transportation, tourism, and agriculture sectors.

Encourage Healing:
Different types of arts programs are employed in many different healthcare facilities. Patients that engage with these arts programs heal faster, manage their pain better, and spend less time in the hospital.

Generate Creativity: 
The arts are a self-perpetuating activity. Creativity is generated from the right side of the brain. The more you engage it, the more creative you become, like flexing a muscle in your brain.

Featured Student Anastasia Shmukler

A Word From One of Our Students at Kline Academy!

Anastasia Shmukler

12 years old

Classical Drawing and Painting Student

Anastasia Shmukler has been studying with Kline Academy of Fine Arts for almost 5 months. Anastasia has taken several different classes, Beginning Drawing Foundations with Bill Neukkomm, Drawing with Color with Lana Gloschat, Introduction to Oil Painting with Juri Umagami, and Classical Painting with Cheryl Kline. Anastasia has shown great potential achieving some remarkable work along the way. She is now experimenting with Oil Painting and is currently working on a Bouguereau master copy.

Here are a few of her pieces...

Kline Academy 2020 - It's All about Light

In the classes of 2020, we will be focusing on light... How light describes the form? How light affects color, mood and tone of the scene? Understanding light is essential in all genres of drawing and painting... Join our community of artist and expert instructors who will share their masterly in art making.

Cheryl Kline 

KA instructor Bill Neukomm in a Group Show

William Neukomm, our amazing Beginning Drawing Foundations instructor, is featured in "LIKENESS" a Fine Art Exhibition exploring Portrait and Figure today.

"Realism, Impressionism, Abstraction.. what do we use to describe a work that is a combination of the three? How much does a portrait or figurative work need to look like the model or subject these days?  Is capturing a “Likeness” as important in today's fine art works as it once was? Is figure and portrait painting anything like it was back in the 1800 and early 1900s? or has the art world finally adopted a liberal view on the importance of "likeness" in a figure painting.

Today in the realist figurative world see a mixture of genres coming together in the same painting, or exhibiting side by side, and it's not just in America. Russian artists, Icelandic artists, French artist and more have been influenced, be it by instagram shots of new works they can easily access now, or the rise in international art fairs and exhibitions that are traveling around the globe."

LIKENESS

Sat. January 11th Through February 29th

10am-5pm @ VRFA GALLERY IN CALIFORNIA.

VRFA Gallery at 418 Ocean Ave Laguna Beach CA

To access the exhibitions digital catalog, click HERE

Featured Student Robert Mendoza

A Word From One of Our Students at Kline Academy!

Robert Mendoza

Hear what he has to say...

Robert Mendoza

Classical Drawing and Painting Student

Robert Mendoza has been studying with Kline Academy for almost 2 years. Robert spent his first year studying Classical Drawing Techniques with Juri Umagami. He developed a good understanding of the fundamentals of Drawing and decided to move on to something new. Robert is now exploring the art of Oil Painting with Juri Umagami.

In his journey, Robert has achieved some remarkable work in both mediums.
Here are a few of his pieces...

New Video Alert! Thomas Garner - Renaissance Style Figure Instructor

Thomas passes the classical figure painting techniques on to you...

Thomas Garner

Renaissance Style Figure Instructor

Thomas Garner studied at UCSD at a time when painting and drawing, in the traditional sense, were not even offered in the Visual Arts curriculum. 

His artistic foundation is built on Conceptual Art and semiology. Later Garner went to the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice where he learned to paint and found a strong nexus between craft and concept. 

"My painting style started out as photo-realistic, but with time I learned the craft of the masters so that now I am able to create a unified mechanism between technique and content, painting about painting. I strive to learn everything I can to about every aspect of figurative painting that has brought me explore live figure painting, plein air, still life and portraiture."

Contact artist@klineacademy.com for his new session! 

New Video Alert! Sharon Weaver - Landscape Painting Instructor at Kline Academy of Fine Art!

Your frustration ends when you talk to Sharon...

Sharon Weaver
Landscape Painting Instructor

Sharon Weaver is one of the great landscape painters of America. Born with a passion for art, she first attended Moore College of Art in Philadelphia, later transferring to Parsons School. 

While working for more than a decade in Manhattan, Sharon's career took her all over the world. Visiting Los Angeles, Sharon found the natural beauty and wide open spaces of California a welcome change from the man-made canyons of New York. 

It didn't take long for her to move here where she has pursued her art of landscape painting.

Learn more about Sharon HERE...

Featured Student Delfine Kelly

A Word From One of Our Students at Kline Academy! Delphine Kelly - 11 years old..

Hear what she has to say....

Delphine Kelly

Painting and Drawing Student

Delphine Kelly, at only 11 years of age, started her artistic journey with Kline Academy and has been with us for over a year. 

Delphine has taken drawing classes with Lana Gloschat and is currently exploring the art of oil painting with Juri Umagami. Delphine has developed a great understanding of the fundamentals in both drawing and painting which have helped her achieve some outstanding work.

Here are a few of her pieces..

New Video Alert! Miguel Gonzalez - Figure & Portrait Instructor at Kline Academy of Fine Art

Listen how Miguel speaks beautiful language of the line in live figurative art....

Miguel Gonzalez

Figure & Portrait Drawing & Painting Instructor

Miguel Gonzalez was born in Penjamo, Guanajuato, Mexico and raised in Oregon where he began to explore his curiosity for creating art. 

In 2010, with the encouragement of his mentor, Gonzalez decided to apply to Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD) where he recently completed his Bachelors of Fine Art degree. Gonzalez has studied with several highly respectable artists in the Los Angeles area while participating in several group shows along the West coast. 

Gonzalez, believes that a strong fundamental understanding to drawing and painting will allow students the freedom to create what they desire.

View more of his work HERE...

Lapis lazuli identification in dental calculus???

We found an interesting article about lapis lazuli identification in dental calculus during the  European Medieval Ages...

Read the full article in Science Advances...