Does your heart sing when you see a light-drenched still life painting?Do you hit roadblocks when you paint, overwhelmed by all the considerations in creating a well-designed and executed painting?Do you get stuck, not knowing what to do next?

Join Debbie Mueller for a 2-day still life workshop at Jackson Art Studio & Gallery where she will break down creating a painting into simple steps that allow the painter to focus their decision making and efforts on one thing at a time.Debbie will introduce the first steps of creating a still life painting- Idea, Design, Drawing and Value. Students will then begin work on their own paintings incorporating these concepts with support from the instructor. After lunch, the elements of color mixing, brushwork and edges will be presented, and then students will apply these steps to their own paintings. Debbie will assist students at their easels.

On day two, there will be a demo of a simple still life painting, reinforcing the ideas that have been presented and giving students a chance to see this process work in real time. The remainder of the morning will be spent with students working on their own paintings.After lunch, we will get inspired with a brief presentation of work from other still life artists. Following that, students will continue to work on their own paintings. Students can expect to create two paintings during the workshop. This is primarily an oil painting workshop.Acrylics may be used as well, though certain techniques may not work as well in this medium. This class is for the beginner or intermediate painter, but some painting experience is required. See supply list below. Class size is kept small for individual attention.

Saturday & Sunday,  Jan 18 & 19,  10am-4pm, $325

You can learn more about the artist and see her work at www.debbiemuellerart.com

Cancellation Policy: We ask that you to give us three weeks notice if you need to cancel for a full refund minus a $30 cancellation fee. Cancellations should be made by phone by calling (603) 387-3463. This provides us the opportunity to fill the space. We are sorry, but we cannot give refunds or issue credits for missed classes or no shows.  

SUPPLY LIST:

Please download the app Grid# for your phone.  https://apps.apple.com/us/app/grid-add-grid-on-image/id1033011034

Painting Surface: Please bring 2 panels or canvases. I like creating square still life paintings, but students may use any shape surface they prefer.  Please keep the surface on the smaller size- 10 x 10” is great- 9 x 12 if you prefer a rectangle.

I like a variety of surfaces, but prefer panels to stretched canvas.  I use the DaVinci Dual sided panels (I use the rougher side) available at a very reasonable price from Jerry’s Artarama.

I also like Centurion linen panels-the acrylic primed ones are quite reasonable and enjoyable to paint on .

-Palette of your choice- you may use your own from home or bring a palette paper

-Gamsol Odorless Mineral Spirits (NO turpentine or lavender spike oil permitted) with container

Brushes: I use mostly long flat brushes, but you may bring whatever brushes you like.  You should have a couple of larger brushes, size 8-10 or ¾’-1’ wide, as well as a few #6 (about ½”) and perhaps a smaller liner brush for accents.

I like the following brands- they have the right combination of flexibility and snap:

Princeton Aspen: https://www.jerrysartarama.com/princeton-aspen-series-6500-synthetic-brushes

Princeton Summit: https://www.dickblick.com/products/princeton-summit-series-6100-white-soft-synthetic-brushes/

Grey Matters Synthetic brushes (make sure you select synthetic, not natural bristle) https://www.jerrysartarama.com/grey-matters-oil-painting-natural-synthetic-brushes

Medium: Mediums allow greater flow for the paint.  You may bring any medium you prefer.  I like Liquin, Galkyd, and Gamblin’s Solvent Free Gel 

Paints: I use a fairly limited palette, basically a Split Primary palette using a warm and cool version of each of the primary colors, with a few “guest” colors for convenience. I like paint to be buttery, not stiff.  The brands I really like are Michael Harding, Rembrandt, and M Graham.  If you have paint already that you like, there is no need to purchase something new.

At minimum, please bring:

-Transparent red oxide (any brand you choose) This will be used for the underpaintings.

Ultramarine Blue

-A blue that leans toward green (Cobalt Teal, Cerulean, Manganese Blue, Sevres Blue, Prussian Blue) (This tends to be the color I use least)

-Cadmium Lemon Yellow

-Cadmium Yellow Medium or Deep (Should look like a school bus)

-Cadmium Red Light or Vermillion

-Alizarin Crimson

-Titanium White

Convenience colors that are sometimes on my palette
(You do not need to bring these colors, optional)

-Quinacridone Magenta (No other way to make a brilliant pink color- great for flowers)

-Dioxizine Purple (Best way to get a super intense purple- great for flowers too)

-Phthalo Green- Stronger tinting than Viridian, can be used to subdue reds, make a great black, and great for that color you see in the curl of waves.

-Yellow Ochre- great for neutralizing purple shadow colors, a dark, neutral yellow.

-Paper Towels (I’m a Viva girl!)

Debbie Mueller picked up a paintbrush for the first time in 2016 and has become an award-winning artist with recognition for both her still life and landscape paintings.  She is a juried artist at the Rockport Art Association and is represented by a number of wonderful galleries in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  She has exhibited in numerous national juried exhibitions and was the first-place winner of the Art2Life National Exhibition in 2023. She lives in Durham, NH and practices medicine in Wolfeboro, NH.