My Teaching Philosophy:I've had a great time teaching really wonderful students over the last few years. Some of my students have begun selling paintings, earned competitive awards at prestigious juried shows, scored gallery representation, and/or signed publishing contracts during their studies with me. I'm proud of each and every one of them.
I believe great art is not made with a formula. My goal is to instill in each student an ability to self-critique, to analyze and incorporate the genius of great artists past and present, and to develop a unique voice. A solid foundation of design principles, knowledge of the human figure, and a strong work ethic are what I hope to foster in my students. One of my goals is to encourage students who want to create multi-figure narrative paintings. My strengths are in composition and design, in textural and incidental processes, in creating beautiful art objects for galleries and homes. I like to combine traditional academic methods of teaching with modern approaches.
In short, I would like to teach you if you:
- are committed to learning
- are a hard worker
- want to compose imaginatively
- love a wide variety of approaches to design
- love a wide variety of artists throughout art history
Options for Study:
1. Advanced Figure Class:
This a professional development class for those who want to begin or further a career as a fine artist. The class meets weekly. Our fall 2011 semester will consist of the following: a. Weekly drawing sessions from the live model--an individual approach to drawing the model is encouraged. b. An emphasis this semester will be hands and feet. A small part of each class, as well as homework assignments, will be dedicated to drawing hands and feet. c. We will also copy a master painting and do our own painting simultaneously, using things learned from the copy. Click here for class schedule and tuition information.
2. Saturday Morning Class:
This class is open to a wide range of students, beginning to advanced. We meet roughly twice a month to work on the students projects for 2 1/2 hours. Bring your own projects, and I'll help walk you through to completion. Cost is $35 per class. Click here for class schedule and tuition information.
3. Consultation:
Those who are interested in feedback from me may email me a high-res photo of their work. My email address is jkirk(at)jkirkrichards.com. I'll email and/or telephone with my feedback. I charge $35 per consultation per painting.
4. Online Demonstrations:
I have posted some of my online demonstrations here. Some are free, and others more detailed have a modest subscription fee.
5. For Children and Young Teens:
I don't offer lessons for children or young teens, but I occasionally post exercises and art projects for young artists on my kids stuff blog.
6. Workshops and Boot Camp:
I teach various workshops throughout the year. Below is a list of upcoming and recent workshops. If you'd like to set up a workshop in your area, send me an email. My email address is jkirk(at)jkirkrichards.com.
There are no currently scheduled workshops.
