Radvent: Comfort and a comfortable studio tour

“I love geeking out on art while drinking wine.”
~ Jennifer Yang, Meetup organizer

On December 2 I visited a painting and sculpting studio with a local Meetup group. I first met this lovely group at the Ravenswood Art Walk.

Vitruvian Art Studio offers drawing, painting, sculpture and anatomy classes. It took me a while to catch the reference to Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man.

If you are looking at getting your sculptures and painting anatomically correct, this definitely is the studio for you. I think even medical students could benefit.

“We teach students how to sculpt the human figure
from the inside out.” 
~ Melinda Whitmore 

Melinda Whitmore teaches sculpting and portrait painting classes, while partner David Jamieson focuses on still life painting. Our group of 13 visitors was given a tour of the studio and we admired the beautiful sculptures.

The sculpting classes range from 8 weeks for the skeleton and 8 weeks for the muscles to 4 weeks for laying muscles on a pre-purchased skull. Mindy also teaches a class on hand anatomy.

No prerequisites are required for any of the classes, and individual (private) sessions can be scheduled as well.

David gave us an overview of his painting process, including sketching and a value study to ensure the correct color composition.

We learned that covering paper in shellac will allow you to paint in oil paint over it, saving money on materials.

“Painting a bowl is a lot more complicated than you think.”
~ David Jamieson

Because most classes are taught at night, David and Mindy invested in ensuring a good lighting system for their models and students.

As our group of painters and artists munched on snacks and poured ourselves wine a discussion arose about color theory.

“Think about color as a three-dimensional space:
value, hue and chroma.
Any given color represents a different location within that space.” 
~ David Jamieson

We then were introduced to the Munsell book of color which offers paint chips to help artists with matching the right color to a subject.

“Art sometimes can be frustratingly subjective.
This [color system] gives it quantifiable evidence.”
~ Mindy Whitmore

It was a lovely evening in friendly company, and I look forward to the next outing.

A T-Shirt at Vitruvian Studio

For Radvent, I enjoyed the post on Travel, which makes me eager to draft my Greece travelogue. We used to play a fun game called Koffer Packen as kids. My Tumi carry-on bag has accompanied me on many journeys. I use it for clothes and take a backpack that holds my laptop, books, a travel guide, journal and pens and my trusty camera.

Yesterday’s topic was Comfort. (I admire the bloggers who take Princess Lasertron’s Radvent prompts on the day they are posted, but I need a little more time for mine. I’m glad the Princess let in on the secret that her blogs need a few days of simmering time too.)

Image re-blogged with permission from Princess Lasertron

Two things outside of my comfort zone I would like to try are:

1. Take a Metal Clay class. I have a kit that was discounted deeply and hope to sign up for a class in the new year. Taking a class at Vitruvian studio would also be a stretch for me.

2. Submit my artwok for publication. There I’ve posted it. Now I need to do it! Fortunately I have a friend who’s gone this route so I can brainstorm with her on how to do it.

I guess my boring comfort zones are sleeping and reading. They are both necessary though, so I don’t think there is a need to question those. The rest of my life has been full of stretching comfort zones this year. From leaving a cushy job with familiar albeit stressful tasks to forcing myself to go out and network and visit fine art galleries to exploring what my new vocation will actually look like.

So it will be nice to recharge in my Christmas comfort zone of family gatherings and annual food traditions.

Where do you find your comfort?