Frans Aeyelts - Workshops

Frans offers art lessons Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and every other Saturday, from 10 am to 1 pm at the Lincoln Street Gallery, 264 Lincoln St, Lunenburg. Cost per lesson is $30 or $162 for 6 lessons. Private instruction: $ 35 per hour.

During classes, drawing is taught involving such topics as: perspective, design, composition, shading, etc. The second half of each class is devoted to watercolour techniques. The aim is to complete one painting per class.

Please read Frans' essay "Everyone Can Draw".

Upcoming workshops

• Unless otherwise indicated...the following workshops are all held at St. Andrews Hall Community Recreation Centre - 6955 Bayers Rd, Halifax, NS. Going west on Bayers Rd. (toward Bayers Rd Shopping Centre), turn right at the first driveway after the lights at Romans Avenue. Free parking available.

• There are 11 spaces available for each workshop based on a first-come first-served basis. Please respond by return e-mail mhernon@eastlink.ca indicating which workshops you wish to attend. Your space will be confirmed upon receipt of your cheque or money order for the full amount of the workshop fee. PLEASE MAKE CHEQUES PAYABLE TO Frans Aeyelts. Each workshop requires a separate cheque as the cheques will be cashed at different times.

• Fees: $45 per person per workshop. Please respond to Mike Hernon by return e-mail mhernon@eastlink.ca indicating which workshops you wish to attend.

• Time: 9:30 am to 3:30 pm, lunch break included. Coffee, tea, snack available. Please bring your own lunch and snacks. Water available in machines.

• Please bring all your DRAWING and PAINTING materials (see material list).

• For each workshop, handouts are distributed which describe in four easy steps how to initially draw the subject. On the reverse side are the step by step instructions on painting each scene. The first two hours are devoted to the drawing aspect, then there is a lunch break, after which the subject is painted along with instructions and comments.

Workshop Schedule

February 14, 2008

Triad colour scheme -
cobalt blue, raw sienna
permanent rose

Triad colour scheme -
cobalt blue, raw sienna
permanent rose

Click thumbnails to enlarge

Evening at Peggy's Cove

Not all paintings have to be intricate to be attractive, simplicity is often inherently captivating. This subject requires very little drawing and in addition is painted in a split-analogous colour-scheme, consisting of Cobalt Blue, Cadmium Yellow, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna Deep, Sepia, Permanent Rose and Crimson Alizarin.
You may choose any other colour scheme you fancy, simply consult your colour wheel and try out other combinations. During the workshop I'll explain more about colour choices and the reasons resulting in captivating artistic work.

Thursday, March 13, 2008
A Romantic Row

Picture yourself in this scene on a quiet, lazy summer afternoon, gently gliding down a meandering river, passing unhurriedly by the beautiful countryside. Drawing this country scene is a minimal sketch.The rowboat and its romantic occupants has to be drawn correctly and placed in the right location, since it is the focal point. You can draw it on a seperate piece of (bond) paper, blacken the back with a 6-B pencil, and trace it with a fine-tipped ballpoint pen onto your water colour paper, resulting in a clean, crisp drawing.
Paint it in any colour scheme you fancy, which can range from blue monochromatic (moonlight scene), to a warm sunlit situation, triadic, split complementary or analogous colour schemes. In past workshops I have touched already on this subject.
Let this one be your "grand oevre".

Thursday, April 17, 2008
Triple Divinity

Churches, churches, churches... that, and a beautiful little harbour is what Mahone Bay is known for. It is a favourite of tourists' cameras and artists alike. Although the subject could be mundane, perhaps even cliche, with a bit of your own input (i.e. artistic licence), you can create a very interesting painting. By altering, for instance, the sky, the foreground colours, colour choice, lighting or composition, you have a number of options which can lead to surprising results.
Thus, the idea is to avoid "copying" the image, but rather give it your own unique personal stamp. Challenge yourself to go beyond a predictable result, even if it means just stepping temporarily out of your comfort zone! Expand on the theme if you like, it's your choice. I'll provide you with some ideas you can put to the test once you sit down to execute your painting.
Have fun with this project!

Thursday, May 15, 2008
A Brilliant Sunset

Paint this dramatic sunset as seen from Peggy's Cove, inner harbour, with the Aspotogan peninsula on the western horizon.The fore- and middleground gives you your depth, accentuated by the slanting, colourful sky.
Start off with various colourful washes (of your choice, if you like). Once you have completed and dried the under paintings, paint in the wharves, boats, rocks, shacks, etc. If you want to be adventurous, explore your own way of expressing this scene by altering it, and/or the colours. An alternate route is to make a loose pen sketch, completed with some light washes. This puts you in a position to look at it from a different angle.

Thursday, June 12, 2008
A Mahone Bay Icon

Everybody knows "The Bandstand", an elegant airy structure perched at the water's edge, overlooking Mahone Bay harbour. Use pure colours, avoid "muddying" them up, keep the painting simple so it will sparkle! The pavillion's red roof draws the viewer to this central theme. Background colours are soft, diffused and without detail, whereas foreground colours are stronger.
This painting is done in a "tetrad" scheme, i.e. green, violet, red, yellow and its mixtures. By keeping your palette simple, the results can be refreshingly brilliant.If you want to deviate and use other colours, by all means do so.