Save your spot!
Dates: Saturday April 26 and Sunday April 27th, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (1/2 hour lunch)
Fee: $250 members $275 non members
Location: to be determined
14 spots available
Learn the secret to painting in the ” Egg Salad method “ to allow you to loosen up and paint with more confidence. By using the big 5 compositional tools at the start and to critique your own work at the end you will find it easier to be more creative.
Twice a day there will be theory discussions followed by individual painting sessions.
We will be painting 3-5 paintings a day to practice the days lessons.
About Doug Swinton:
I am often surprised at how my life has unfolded. At no point do I recall making the decision to become an artist, yet as I reflect on it, the desire to create is central to my character.
My grade school math books were decked with countless scribbles, doodles and drawings. My mom was a painter. Most days after-school I’d find her in our kitchen – her makeshift studio – rendering images of Chianti in stemmed wine glasses, perennial flowers from her garden, and wicker baskets filled with the harvest of bright vegetables that my dad grew.
The spectacular prairie and mountain landscapes of Calgary where I have lived my entire life, have provided endless inspiration. I have developed a fondness for the level of concentration required to paint well. It challenges me unlike anything else. The press of viscid paint from its tube - quinacridone rose…manganese blue – satisfies. The anticipation of first brush marks on blank canvas exhilarates. When a painting turns out just right, I still feel like my ten-year old self, racing into the kitchen to share my accomplishment, “Hey Mom, look what I made!”
I am fortunate now to earn a living from the art I create. My paintings are housed in private and public collections around the world. I teach my craft to amateur and professional artists alike, and operate an art supply store in Calgary. Yet, art is and always has been more than a job. In many ways, I feel like I’m still discovering what it means to be an artist, filled with the same wonder and delight I experienced as a child.
The early twentieth century American painter Robert Henri described my sentiment best when he wrote, “I am interested in art as a means of living a life; not as a means of making a living.”
Supply List:
50% of learning to paint is in the supplies you use. If you use inferior grade products expect inferior results with your painting.
Paints oil and acrylic:
Oil and acrylic, here is a list of the least expensive colours that make the most amount of mixes.
cad yellow light
cad yellow deep; yellow ochre
cad orange
Perlyne maroon (maroon in acrylic by Golden)
Quinacridone rose or permanent rose
Ultra blue
Manganese blue hue
Chroma black
Viridian green
Titanium white
Try to use artist grade paints (Gamblin or M Graham etc) Please no student grade and defiantly no craft paints.
Palette:
The bigger the better. Strip off palettes are great. Please NO egg cartons or styrofoam meat trays.
Brushes:
Good quality bristle brushes. No dollar store brushes. Sizes 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, Flats.
1-3" cheap big bristle brush for blending. A # 1 or 2 Taklon liner brush. Small amount of Q-tips, kept in a zip lock bag.
Brush washer:
A good metal leak proof brush washer is a very good item to invest in.
For acrylic, yogurt containers with a kitchen scratchy, this is a must for clean brushes.
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