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

Thank You to Howard Barsky

& my first students who helped to create 

Kline Academy of Fine Art

By Cheryl Kline

Saturday I attended the service for Howard Barsky. He passed away last month (July) the night after his 87th birthday. When his wife Nina called me to give me the news, I could not believe it. Howard was more than a student, he was a dear friend. Over 20 years ago Howard walked into my studio, he liked my work and asked me if I gave lessons. I happened to be tutoring a group of women at a community clubhouse in Pacific Palisades, so Howard ended up joining Phyllis, Margie and Barbara in painting class for a number of years. He had been painting around town at some local art classes in both West Los Angeles and Beverly Hills and knew quite a few of the artists. When they began to notice his improved painting skills, he told them he had been studying with me. Pretty soon I started to get calls. Collette and Renee both called and asked me if I would create a class for them and I said no, I was too busy and I was teaching a Woodbury University on the day they requested. They kept calling, “Okay what would it take for you to put a class together for us on Thursday mornings, Howard said you were great and we want to study with you?…” I said “well, you would need at least 8 people, you’d all have to commit for at least 5 months in order for me to quit my job at Woodbury.” “Oh, okay,” she hung up. I just assumed that it was over and they would stop calling. 2 weeks later I received a phone call and Renee said “okay we are all set, we have 8 people and we will commit for 5 months, when do we start?” I was shocked, I was sure they would never call back. 

I started Kline Academy with 10 students and after 10 years, hundreds of people have come to study at my academy with me and our instructors who are some of the best artists in Los Angeles. Howard Barsky planted the seeds which grew into a forest and I am not sure I ever formally thanked him or the others who help make this dream come true. 

So, on the eve of Kline Academy’s 10th anniversary, I want to thank all my students who have stuck by me for so many years, passed the word that what we do here is really great and helped us to grow and continue to grow into an important Art community in Los Angeles welcoming Adults and teens of all levels. You all know who you are and I appreciate each and every one of you. Thank You!

Join us at our Open House this weekend:

Saturday, Sept. 16th 5pm to 9pm and Sunday, Sept. 17th noon to 5pm.

3264 Motor Ave. L.A. 90034

Top row: The original group Phyllis Tebbe, Margery Card, Barbara Clune-Forrester

Second Row: Renee Hertzberg, Howard Barsky, Collette Udal

Third Row: Lily Wiengarten, Aleen Ramrus, Carol Parvitziar

Open House Student & Faculty Exhibition 2017

We are so excited to personally invite you to

 The Kline Academy of Fine Art Grand

10 Year Celebration

Open House

Student & Faculty Exhibition!

Saturday, September 16th 5:00pm to 9:30pm

Sunday, September 17th noon to 5:00pm  

Sunday the 17th 1:00-m - 4:00pm

Live painting demo by sought after L.A. Artist Natalia Fabia

Enjoy Hors d'oeuvres, Refreshments & A Free Class Giveaway! 

After 10 years of hard work Kline Academy is thriving! Come celebrate and with us!

Kline Academy Instructor Thomas Garner Up-coming show

Zephyr and Flora (after Tiepolo), 2011, oil on linen, 58" X 32"

Our Renaissance Style Figure Painting Workshop instructor Thomas Garner is in a duo exhibit at District Gallery Pop-up

Figurative Spirit

Thomas Garner + David Hollen

September 9th through October 15th

Reception for artists : Saturday Sept. 9th, 7 - 10pm

District Gallery Pop-up

701 E 3rd Street | DTLA

213-814-7164

Best Practices for Cleaning Paintings by George O'Hanlon

The ideal solution for cleaning your most important paint tool because it's made from natural, plant-based oils.

Best Practices for Cleaning Paintings by George O'Hanlon

How and why of cleaning oil paintings Over time, the appearance of paintings change not only because of accumulated dirt, but also because aging itself alters the materials that make up the painting. Besides the build-up of dust, dirt, and grime (e.g., soot, nicotine, etc.), the gradual yellowing and cracking of the varnish layer alters the image. This article gives artists practical and safer methods to clean their own paintings than what is currently taught or practiced by artists. The cleaning methods demonstrated in this four part article apply specifically to oil paintings, but some of the techniques and materials can also be used with additional precautions on acrylic, gouache and tempera paintings.  READ MORE >>> Best Practices for Cleaning Paintings

Complete Supplies for Cleaning Paintings Natural Pigments offers supplies to safely clean your oil paintings. The Mini Picture Cleaning Kit contains supplies for removing surface dirt and the oxidation products from both unvarnished and varnished oil paintings. It contains both dry cleaning and aqueous cleaning materials. Picture CleanGel is a solvent-free aqueous gel cleanser that is gentle to both varnished or unvarnished paint surfaces. The gel cleanser is designed to remove soil, proteinaceous and carbohydrate materials from varnished and unvarnished oil paint surfaces. It is also useful as a cleaner for paintings that have collected dirt and dust immediately prior to varnishing. Buy Picture CleanGel and Picture Cleaning Kit before September 4 and get 20% off >>> SHOP NOW

Natural Pigments | 888-361-5900 | NaturalPigments.com

Revisiting Madame X

Revisiting Madame X

In 1884 at the Paris Salon, John Singer Sargent debuted his painting of socialite Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau. He was hoping that this painting would secure his career as a portrait artist. I’m certain Sargent never thought there would be such a controversy over this beautiful portrait of a 25 year old woman. Most people knew of Madame Gautreau and her colorful affairs but were outraged that the portrait seemed to flaunt her infidelity especially since she was painted in a provocative dress for the time but even more scandalous was her strap that had fallen off her shoulder. Sargent later repainted the area with the strap securely on Madame’s shoulder.

It’s interesting how what we (viewers) may see as minor details can muster up so much emotion and rich story. This was exactly what happened to Sargent and instead of staying in France to work, he was forced to move to England where he became one of the most famous portrait painters in history.

If the first goal of the portrait painter is to achieve a likeness, then the second goal should be to suggest in some way who they are, where they came from or some kind of story. It can be very simple from a large pearl earring to a smokey smile with an imaginary landscape to a revealing dress and actually for me, the simpler the better. We don’t need to spell every detail out.

In our next Portrait workshop at Kline Academy with Cheryl Kline, we will be revisiting “Madame X.”

Kline said “Jennifer Fabos was visiting with me last week and she was wearing a black evening dress with shoulder straps, her hair was pinned up and for a minute I did a double take…Madame X!” So be prepared to do a contemporary version of this masterful painting working with both live model- Jennifer Fabos, and photo reference.

Caption:  John Singer Sargent “Madame X”.   Inset: Jennifer Fabos, Model for the Madame X workshop

Classical & Contemporary Portrait Painting with Cheryl Kline 

8 Weeks starting September 13th through Nov. 1st --- $560

Kline Academy 10th Annual Open House - Call for ART!!

Kline Academy 10th Annual Open House 

 Call for ART!!

Celebrating Kline Academy's 10th Anniversary!

Saturday, September 16th, 5pm - 9pm

Sunday, September 17th, noon - 5pm 

(Natalia Fabia's Live Painting Demo starts at 1pm on Sunday!)

As someone who has been a student in the past year, we want to encourage you to submit a piece for our upcoming show!

It can be any piece that you worked on in classes at Kline Academy. 

Drop in : After Tuesday, September 5th

We will email you the label or it will be ready at the office.

Please know the title, price (if you want to sell), and the medium to be included in the show! 

See you there!

Kline Academy Instructor Juri Umagami Up-Coming Show

SOLA ART GALLERY

GRAND OPENING GROUP SHOW

July 29th - Sept 2nd

Opening Reception : July 29th, 5 - 11pm

SOLA ART GALLERY

1860 Firestone Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90001

 

Kline Academy Instructor Scott Yeskel Up-Coming Show

SUMMER GROUP EXHIBITION

JULY 19TH-SEPTEMBER 15TH

OPENING, AUGUST 3RD 6-9 PM

SUE GREENWOOD FINE ART

LAGUNA BEACH, CA 

Sue Greenwood Fine Art

330 N Coast hwy, Laguna Beach, California 92651

949.494.0669

info@suegreenwoodfineart.com

Why you should learn to paint in oils?

So, you are ready to start painting but are not sure whether to start with oils or acrylics. You may be thinking that acrylic is easier to use as it is the paint most us of experimented with in grade school art classes. However, for many of us, oil is the way to go and we want to tell you why…

Before anything let’s get the biggest obstacle to oil painting out of the way… the fumes.

Many people cannot take the toxic paint thinners, spirits and mediums that come with painting in oil but what most new artists don’t realize is that you do not need these to paint in oil at all. Brushes can be cleaned with a simple method of soap and water and the medium for your pigments can be a non-toxic linseed or walnut oil. So, if you are worried about the fumes… you can breathe easy!

Now let’s dive into two of the major advantages of Oil…

First and most important is drying time.

Acrylic paint dries almost immediately after application unless you are using gels, extenders and other products - and this can be frustrating for new painters for several reasons, most importantly if you are learning to paint and taking your time with your composition you may have to re-work it several times if you are stopping and starting in between sessions with acrylics. With oils, you can walk away from your painting for half a day and when you come back your paint will still be wet.

Next is blending.

Although oil has been around for thousands of years it became especially popular during the renaissance era when painters discovered its ability to create incredibly realistic paintings because of its smooth blending properties. This is especially useful when doing subtle shading in your paintings. Can you imaging the Mona Lisa in acrylic?

When taken together these two abilities of oil paint give you great flexibility and ease of use as well as a wide range of effects that you can create in your painting. You can combine transparent and opaque techniques, glaze and body color in a full range within a single painting.

One final benefit of using oil is that when your paint dries it will retain its color which is not always the case with acrylic. Of course, there are challenges to using oils as well but when everything is taken into consideration oil is definitely a great choice to learn how to paint your own masterpiece.