Non-Symbolic Portrait PaintingNon-symbolic painting represents what we see with our eyes, not substituting ideograms, like present day ‘emojis’. In learning to paint non-symbolically we develop an understanding of the building blocks of visual experience: the form of things, and the light by means of which we see this form. We become aware of the fact that in all of nature in general, and in the human figure and portrait in particular, there is a certain wonderfully beautiful kind of formal structure about which there has for centuries been a special knowledge and language.
We who practice the art of painting from life study this knowledge.
Form painting is a way of painting that is one with the understanding of form and light. It is a methodical way of processing and representing our perception of the appearance of the model. Through the agency of light, a great quantity of information shines from the model. In form painting we learn how to format and sequentialize that information, and bring it into our painting one brushstroke at a time.
In this portrait painting workshop Tony demonstrates form painting on a toned ground, beginning with a medium-value ochre brush drawing. He illustrates the block-in and refinement of the drawing. He shows and explains how he sees, mixes and applies colors. He explains and demonstrates the logic of the method of painting from dark to light. He describes in great detail the forms of the head, their fluid shapes, convex surfaces and how they fit together. He shows how he builds the painting from the drawing up, again and again with each form, unified by the perception of the organization of the form of the model and the coherent action of the light.
9-day (54 hr.) class
5-morning (15 hr.) demonstration