Transparency and Radiance

Transparency is perhaps the most enchanting method of conducting light and space, seen as playing a formative role in drawing and painting for centuries. Ponder the glory of emanating light by J. M. Turner or the opulent ink washes of Victor Hugo and the water reflections of Frits Thaulow. Present day artists continue their process of discovery in the portrayal of illusionary space with an expansive array of materials.

What is the illusion of transparency and how can artists arrive to disclosure and veiling at the same time? How does light pass through layers of pencil or paint or collage, reflect off the surface behind and gleam back to the viewer with that special luminescence? How can one space detect two independent types of forms in the same place? How can the qualities of a color determine perceived depth in space? What are the principles of repeating patterns to create the illusion of transparency?

How do shape and color exact the possibility of refraction? What is the relationship between opaque and transparent materials and the space they reside in? How can an artist depict three-dimensional space and then bring the viewers attention back to the work’s two dimensionality?

This workshop offers you a pragmatic and explicit study of the sumptuous quality that perplexes and intrigues artists and enthralls onlookers. I will assist each artist to build a Transparency Dictionary. Your dictionary will give you a vocabulary of means to create transparency in drawing, watercolor, ink, acrylic paint and oil paint.  Your working surface, whether paper, canvas or Mylar performs a different function for the attainment of transparency. We will explore the physical evidence that each provides. Experimentation is conducted using abstract forms to understand the terms through which one arrives at transparency in form rather than to proceed by mirroring style.

You need not have prior experience. I cordially invite you to forge new ground that will add visible breadth to your repertoire.

Saturday, February 3, 2024
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Studio 1