About Classical Oil Paintings Video Workshop

  I have made this teaching video course in answer to your numerous requests. I receive many letters with questions about details of the classical painting technique. Many of you ask me if I offer workshops. Unfortunately, I do not conduct many workshops and for that reason I decided to make a video course. Finally, I have made this tutorial, and I hope that it can facilitate our communication. In this course I tried to answer the most frequently asked questions. The teaching video format of this tutorial proved to be the best to reproduce the atmosphere of a live workshop. Besides, a video course has certain advantages: you can stop the movie, rewind and play the place that interests you.

  It took me eight months of hard work to make the two-hour video course. I used Sony TRV85 XR (extended resolution) video camera and then edited the footage digitally with Avid Cinema. I tried to do my best and, I do hope that you will find my video workshop helpful in your work on mastering classical painting skills.

  This video course of classical painting will give you an opportunity to understand and practice the Old Masters' technique. You will learn how to paint a classical still life from the beginning to the end, from priming the canvas to painting smallest details like water drops, the texture of the lemon skin, etc. The course explains the basic secret of classical painting that intrigues many experienced artists: how tiniest details are made and when to stop. The course consists of the following sections: Composition; Priming the Canvas, Drawing, Imprimatura, Umbra Underlayer, Dead Underlayer, Color Layers, and Texture (Finishing Layer).
  There are many close-ups in the video that present a clear view of flashing highlights on the paint when the brush touches the canvas. You can see every hair of the brush. You will see the brush at work from angles that a live workshop can never allow. You will see how round-corner razor blades are made, and learn how to keep paints fresh from session to session and much, much more.
  The text was translated and narrated by Vladimir Pavlov, Ph.D., M.Ed., who for ten years was Chair of English Department, Simferopol State University, Ukraine. His outstanding expertise in translation has been acknowledged internationally and from 1996 to 1999 he was regularly invited to interpret at negotiations of the highest political protocol by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Dr. Pavlov's experience resulted in the clear and accurate English translation of the complex ideas about art that I found difficult for some people to understand even when I was explaining them in Russian to the native speakers of the language. The only thing that this video course lacks is the smell of oil paints, the deficiency that can easily be compensated by the paints in your own studios.

  In conclusion of this brief introduction, some words should be said about every artist's material concerns. My experience has shown that the classical school of painting can be studied without having a special "talent." The only condition is a passionate desire to learn and a little patience. Besides, the material aspect is rather important in this world of ours. If you feel you can be an artist and support your family and yourself with the money earned by painting, remember: the competition in the art galleries is fierce. In the struggle you have to win not by begging the gallery owner to take your painting on consignment, explaining verbally how extraordinary and talented you are. You can win by simply showing the gallery owner a fragment of your painting.