Artist at Work: Color as Shape

Composing an image is like solving a puzzle; if you can imagine your elements as a group of colored shapes, you can make all the pieces fit. In this course, Mary Jane Begin shows you how to see shape before detail and develop a portrait step-by-step, using reference images, a color composite, and foundational shapes. The course will review color balance, color blocking, use of diagonal shapes for dynamic compositions, tension between edges, focal points, space, and hierarchy of shape.

Mary Jane uses the following materials in this course:

Arches 140 lb hot press paper
Tube watercolors- Winsor & Newton Cotman brand
Paper stumps for blending
Pastels- a variety of stick and pencil forms (including Conte pastel pencils)
Short, fat, fine-bristle Winsor & Newton #2 and #4 brushes (for scrubbing color off)
Sceptre Gold II sable/synthetic blend #3, #6, and #10 brushes
Winsor & Newton Cotman brand 25 mm/1 in. flat brush (for washes)