Join Art Wellesley for a 1-day drawing & painting workshop with artist John Rufo.
Have you wanted to experiment with different painting and drawing techniques and concepts, but felt the tendency to “tighten up” and treat a painting as “precious” as you work? Have you discovered, deep in the process, that the composition seems “lacking” or maybe “unresolved”? Working across multiple pieces simultaneously allows you to experiment freely without worrying about “messing up” the one painting you had time for that week.
The purpose of this workshop is to explore the ideas, techniques, tendencies, and advantages of working on multiple pieces at one time. Working in a series asks the artist to consider different approaches to exploring a subject, technique, or idea, and identify different issues that arise in the work - composition, light, mark-making, edges, values, representation, abstraction, etc. Working on multiple pieces at once is a good way to gauge your own tendencies and strengths while experimenting and pushing yourself to explore new territory.
In this 1-day workshop, we will work on small paintings/drawings on paper (±5” x 5”), in the medium of the student’s choosing, on large, gridded sheets taped to drawing boards for easy transport and reference. Demonstrations will be made in ink, graphite, and charcoal, but students are encouraged to work in their preferred medium.
Workshop hours: 9 AM-4 PM (lunch break from 12- 1 PM)
Fee: $150
Registration will open soon.
A supply list will be available soon.
Meet your instructor:
John Rufo was born and raised in Waltham, Massachusetts, and attended high school at BB&N in Cambridge. He earned his degrees in fine arts and architecture at RISD and taught architectural design studios at the Boston Architectural College in the 1990’s.
John’s interest in making two-dimensional fine art stems from his love of drawing, having grown up in a household full of designers and artists where daily drawing, constructing, and tinkering were encouraged. Eventually making his way to RISD, John was inspired to think outside the box at every level of design exploration and credits his first college drawing instructor, Victor Lara, with bringing his love of depicting form and surface fully into the open.
John works in art and architectural practice and continues to explore the relationship of the physical world to the two-dimensional canvas and built form in both areas of focus. Integrating design and art-making in his daily life is a critical part of his daily life practice along with meditation and Tai Chi.