Fauve Abstract Painting Class with Sharon Carol Demery | Athenaeum School of the Arts | La Jolla Studio (September 14–November 2)

Henri Matisse and Andre Derain were the creators of the powerful Fauve movement in art of the early 1900s. The act of painting, itself, was at the heart of Fauvism. It was the first movement to insist in explicit terms that a painting is the canvas and the pigments—not the subject. In the early 20th century, Fauvism led to abstract painting with artists like Hilma af Klint and Wassily Kandinsky, who focused on the absence of any formal composition as a recognizable subject. Abstract artists’ main purpose is to spark the imagination and invoke personal emotional experience.



This class will work on Fauve compositions and move them into abstract compositions focusing on our intuition with balance or imbalance of form, lines, colors, textures, and bold brushwork to achieve harmony or disarray.



Come join the fun, freedom, and excitement of Fauve and abstract painting. It is all a creative experiment! This class is for all levels of painters, both beginning and experienced. You are also welcome to do your own work at all times. This is a good place to be with other talented painters and enjoy the creative atmosphere here at the Athenaeum.



Please let me know if you have any questions. I am happy to help: [email protected]



Materials: Paints: Your preference of paints, including Titanium White, Cadmium Yellow Light (cool yellow), Cadmium Yellow (warm yellow), Cadmium Red Light, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, Cerulean Blue, Viridian Green or Phthalo Green. Plus any of the colors of paint that you would like to use.

Brushes: Bring a variety of brushes for your choice of paints that include #2, #4, #6, #8. Good quality brushes make a difference.

Other: A 12” x 16” paper palette pad; odorless Turpenoid and linseed oil for oil painters; soft vine charcoal; a one-and-a-half- or 2-inch palette knife; paper towels; two small jars with lids; a spray bottle for acrylic painters; a sketchbook and colored pencils. Four canvases or canvas boards, 11” x 14” or your preference; good quality watercolor paper for watercolor painters.

Suggested items: Masterson’s plastic box with lid to keep paints moist; glass palette to go inside the box, making paint easier to mix; a Silicoil jar with spring in the bottom to clean brushes; two tall containers to hold clean and used brushes at your station in the studio.



Max students: 12