Workshop in Sicily, May 14-17

   I will be holding a landscape painting workshop outside of Palermo, Sicily, May 14-17 .   The cost is 450 euro and includes three nights/ four days at this villa   http://www.thinksicily.com/Il-Piliere.aspx  or 250 euro for four days of instructed painting, six hours per day.   Space within the villa is limited to five people.    Email  nathansowa@hotmail.com for questions

Portrait/Still Life Workshop January 7-8, 2012

Gustav Sundin and I will be giving a two day,(12 hours total) portrait painting workshop in Stockholm at the Atelier Stockholm.   Here is an outline of the workshop, for more information email nathansowa@hotmail.com 


        Description:   
                   -Short lecture on portrait painting with discussion of different approaches and presentation of examples of great portraits throughout history
                   -How to set up a model for a portrait ( e.g. pose, composing light and shade, facial expression, background, adjusting the indications of age on a face, the involvement of hands and/or other elements, etc)
                   -Discussion of pros and cons of working from photo (explanation of how to best work from a photo if having a model is not possible)
                   -Paint from a female model one day and a male model the next day, alla prima
                   -Individualized critiques appropriate to the participants level of ability, covering proportions, anatomy, gesture, line, values, and color


Participants who prefer to paint still life will have the option of doing so.

           
 

Color studies

study for "Grapes and Pears in White"

study for "Frauke" 5x7 in

 

One underestimated and underutilized tool for painters is the color study. Tape a small piece of canvas to a board before you commit to a project, and play around with composition while you get a sense of other things such as values and color harmonies.

I found an image online of a painting I did a couple years ago while living in Gothenburg. It was  sunrise , overcast skies,(windy) with beautiful diffused light. I think the canvas was a bit too large for the half hour long effect I was trying to capture, so drawing and specificity suffered, but I was happy with the paint in the water, and the color values in the sky, however chaotic they became.

a couple value studies in watercolor on a foggy day, and this oil sketch of clouds. Tip of the day: if you are painting clouds and they are moving, which they tend to do, put away the small brush. Its gonna take a lot longer to fill in those shapes with a pathetic little tickler of a brush.

DVD Now Available

Heres a trailer for my first instructional video, if you are interested in purchasing it, email me at nathansowa@hotmail.com, or send the payment to my paypal account Price: 15.00 USD(100 SEK) plus shipping

"Frukost" 12x24 cm

"Frukost" 12x24 cm

        A couple one shot mini still lifes for an upcoming art fair