This past weekend I taught my first Painting with Pattern class at ROBOT Inside – a newly opened artistic learning center and art boutique located in downtown Sharonville, Ohio, led by artist Tara Heilman.  (Check out ROBOT Inside’s website to learn more!)  This Painting with Pattern class was the start of a series of monthly group painting classes I will be teaching there.  Let me show you all the fun my students and I had during the kickoff of my most recent artistic venture!

 I begin the class by showing everyone how to layer the background, middle ground, and foreground. We start by painting the sky.

Everyone is happy to begin their paintings!

I decided to create this class to share my love of shape and pattern with the world.  I also wanted to create a more loose alternative to the big-box paint-along art centers to allow people to practice their painting skills and find a new fun activity to enjoy with their family and friends.  For each of these classes I create an easy to follow acrylic painting, and instruct my students on how to compose the painting and how to layer the paint.

 A young student with his beautifully painted landscape!

When teaching my class, I am very open with my directions.  I show everyone how I made my painting, how I layered the shapes and patterns, and how I mixed my colors, but I am very welcoming towards my students’ own desires for their paintings.  You can see that in this finished set of paintings below some students painted their skies red, some used blue; some students followed my patterning in the grass, some created their own; one student added extra embellishments like pink wisps in the mountains and a warm glow around the fire.

 A collection of my first class’s paintings.

In my class I provide my students with the guidance they need, and the freedom to make each painting uniquely their own.

Admiring the finished paintings.

As a part of my Painting with Pattern series of classes at ROBOT Inside, I will be teaching this paint-a-campfire class again later this month, on June the 27th, from 2 to 4 pm.

Each month I will be hosting a Painting with Pattern class, so stay tuned for new subjects and future dates here, or at ROBOT Inside’s facebook or homepage.

I look forward to seeing you there! 🙂