Boston, MA Painting Lessons

Combining versatile, inspirational and intuitive approach with an extensive variety of effective techniques, C J Elsip encourages you to stretch the boundaries of creative media and mind to discover, explore and develop your own personal creative language.
You will learn about shape, form, light & shadow, color, tonal value, composition and much more - at your own pace, with careful consideration and understanding of your personal needs and creative goals.

Age-Appropriate areas of instruction include:
-Painting Techniques such as Layering, Mixing, Washes, and Glazing.
-Understanding Composition.
-Understanding Color Theory: Opposites or “complementary colors” on the color wheel; Painting with medium tones, so that highlights and shadows can be applied easily. Using multiple colors equals “depth” and “interest.”
-How to Mix Paint: Mixing using the palette knife, brush, on palette, or on painting.

I've been instructing painters for several years both beginners and experienced. I love to see people get creative and I can help you too in a laid back format. I am an expert artist/painter with artwork all over the world. If you're new to painting, as long you have a little artistic talent (even if undiscovered) I can teach you to paint. Whether you want to learn just for fun or plan to go to design school, I can teach brush techniques and various subject matters - Abstract, impressionist, still life, portrait (intermediate only) and landscapes/seascapes and even human figures. If you'd like to learn to create digital paintings or traditional paintings, I can teach either.

I can help you get started or pick up where you left off. I prefer acrylics or oil paints.

Painting An Outlet! A Voice! A Therapy! A Career of serious potential. I am flexible as a teacher and will work with you and your goals. We can set a Plan and begin working from where you feel most ready. If its your first time with a brush I will start with the relationship painters you will establish with color, brush, and materials. These things can feel extremely technical and awkward but i can say I didn't find my own successful style until the techniques were with me like taking a breath. Its your lesson so we can be as disciplined as you want to progress. You will love it! Painting is such an emotion partner!

I have advanced realist techniques similar to Bob Ross in watercolor and in oil intermediate abstract techniques. Focus will be primarily on brush stroke practice and on color mixing. Also offered is face painting. Can also focus on speed painting for intermediate level painters (beginners shouldn't try speed painting, brush stroke techniques need to be comfortable with before beginning). I have a lot of meditating practices and games to build these skills as well as creativity.

I provide classical instruction in portraiture, still life and landscape in your studio or mine. In this traditional approach to drawing and painting, what will be taught and focused upon are perspective, value and composition in order for the student to develop strong visual language skills. The program of study begins with a specific focus on drawing, since drawing is the foundation upon which all great traditional art is built. Throughout this training, emphasis will be placed on accuracy, or more specifically, seeing and rendering correctly such things as line quality, hard and soft edges, proportion, positive and negative space through abstract form and the use of the full range of values.

Create your own botanical color with Earth's pigments!

These lessons focus on creating colors from plants to then transfer into just about any paint base, such as water, oil, or acrylic. Of course, I also offer lessons beyond mixing color chemistry.

L E S S O N S
foraging for color during all seasons
making color in liquid and powder form
color theory
mixing natural pigments
watercolor
figure painting
landscape painting
botanical paintings
observational paintings
eco-prints
multimedia

Art from the Heart! It is my opinion that, as an artist, Art is supposed to be affordable so that all may own a special piece. I will teach you to paint using your photos or 'en plein air' (outdoors). Painting will be done in a park near my home or a coffee shop on Cass Street so that we can flick paint all over the place. We begin with the basic color wheel and move on to other subjects as you continue lessons. I will supply all colors. I only use paint from a supplier in LA which provides the studios with their paint colors. They have the most true pigments of any paint that I have used in my 40 years of painting. They are the same exact price or lower than local art suppliers paint products. The main focus is to slow your mind and concentrate on details no matter how long it takes. As artists we are our own worst critic; the public painting will also expose you to positive comments from the public who love to see people paint outdoors.

Painting is about learning the process of layering and building an image out of colorful shapes, lines, texture, and value! You will learn the following:

Compositon
Process of Layering Paint
Color Mixing and Color Theory
Understanding Materials
Washing Materials

Depending on your preference and experience, I can teach you painting methods for watercolor, ink, acrylic, or oil. We can focus on painting the subject matter of your choice: wildlife, portraiture, landscapes, or abstract. I look forward to hearing from you!