This is a two-day class where you’ll learn the fundamentals of abstract painting. Each portion of the class
will progressively introduce new techniques and skills—such as glazing, layering, removal, staining—and we’ll also cover lifting of paints and layering of collage elements. This is a fun and intense workshop! Emphasis is on experimentation and play as it relates to the creative process.
The workshop cost is $285. Space is limited, so please act now to secure your space if you are interested. Complete details are provided below.
Bring a Friend Deal; register with a friend and receive $20 off your workshop registration. Register now to reserve your spot, call 604-736-5111 or Email info@debchaney.com. Visit for full details www.debchaney.com/workshops
“The things I learned in the workshop about creativity, expression, control and practice, all have great relevance to my life as a whole. Deb did more than just pass on artistic technique. I feel she laid the groundwork for an understanding of how I can let go and enjoy being creative!” ~Sarah E. Vancouver, BC
“Deb Chaney's workshop was wonderful because it helped rejuvenate my inspiration in my art. She explained a technique, showed you how to do it and then let you explore on your own. What I loved was that I left with an abundance of information and examples to take home so that I could continue what I learned.”
- Patricia Kaplan, Los Angeles, CA
TO REGISTER CONTACT:
Deb Chaney, SCA
Contemporary Abstract ArtistStudio The Old Foundry Building, 1790 Vernon Drive, Vancouver, BC V6A 3T8
Phone (604) 736-5111
Email info@debchaney.com
_____________________________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION TO ENERGIZNG AND EXPERIMENTAL ABSTRACT PAINTING
Dates, Times & Locations
September Workshop (Vancouver West)
Saturday, September 25, 10AM to 5PM
Sunday, September 26, 10AM to 5PM
October Workshop (Vancouver West)
Saturday, October 30, 10AM to 5PM
Sunday, October 31, 10AM to 5PM
November Workshop
Saturday, November 27, 10AM to 5PM
Sunday, November 28th, 10AM to 5PM
Cost & Requirements
$285 Paid in advance
Student level: All levels welcome
Materials list & Exact Class Location provided upon registration
Registration Information
We accept Credit Card, Debit, Cash or Personal Cheque. Email us your intent to participate with your full contact information (Your name, Address, Email, Phone) and we’ll process your registration. Thank yoiu info@debchaney.com 604-736-5111.
cost: $80/9 weeks
convenor: Deb Chaney
location: Art Room
Dates: September 14 - November 9
AR102
This is an energizing and informative abstract painting class with an emphasis on experimentation & creative process. Students will learn the fundamentals of abstract painting. Building on this foundation, each class will progressively introduce new techniques and skills. Techniques include glazing, layering, removal, staining, lifting of paints as well as layering in collage elements. How to achieve line, depth, texture & interest in the paintings will be covered. We will be using liquid & heavy body acrylics, as well as acrylic mediums and gels and paper collage elements. Each week builds on the next with a demonstration at the start of each class and plenty of time to practice and experiment with the techniques & concepts shown.
A list of materials necessary for this course is available in the office
There are A few spots left for the August Introduction to Mixed Media Abstract Painting in Acrylics Workshop here in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Illuminate The Artist Within Presents
INTRO TO MIXED MEDIA AND ACRYLICS
An Abstract Painting Workshop with Deb Chaney
Saturday August 28 & Sunday August 29th, 10AM to 5PM
Students will learn the fundamentals of abstract painting. Building on this foundation, each portion of this class will progressively introduce new techniques and skills. Techniques include glazing, layering, removal, staining, lifting of paints as well as layering in collage elements. How to achieve line, depth, texture & interest in their paintings will be covered. We will be using liquid and heavy body acrylics, acrylic mediums and gels, and paper collage elements.
Send cheque payable to:
1790 Vernon Drive
Vancouver, BC V6A 3T8
(604) 736-5111
info@debchaney.com
Location
OPUS Framing and Art Supply North Vancouver
120 Lonsdale Ave, 2nd Floor,
North Vancouver, BC, V7M 2E8
Map: Google Maps
Phone: 604-904-0447
Cost
$285 (materials list provided upon registration)
Illuminate The Artist Within Presents
INTRO TO MIXED MEDIA AND ACRYLICS
An Abstract Painting Workshop with Deb Chaney
Saturday July 31 & Sunday August 1, 10AM to 5PM
Students will learn the fundamentals of abstract painting. Building on this foundation, each portion of this class will progressively introduce new techniques and skills. Techniques include glazing, layering, removal, staining, lifting of paints as well as layering in collage elements. How to achieve line, depth, texture & interest in their paintings will be covered. We will be using liquid and heavy body acrylics, acrylic mediums and gels, and paper collage elements.
Send cheque payable to:
1790 Vernon Drive
Vancouver, BC V6A 3T8
(604) 736-5111
info@debchaney.com
Location
OPUS Framing and Art Supply North Vancouver
120 Lonsdale Ave, 2nd Floor,
North Vancouver, BC, V7M 2E8
Map: Google Maps
Phone: 604-904-0447
Cost
$285 (materials list provided upon registration)
Deb Chaney is a contemporary abstract artist, painting large, layered, mixed media abstract works on canvas and paper. She has been painting in acrylics and mixed media for ten years and has sold and exhibited paintings in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Santa Barbara, and Vancouver. She is an elected member of the Society of Canadian Artists. Her passion is painting and inspiring others to find their creative groove. She is the creator of the Illuminate The Artist Within series of workshops.
I’m sitting here in Gastown which is I think the oldest part of Vancouver and definitely one of the most beautiful. The sun is out and there are big looming fluffy grey and white clouds in the sky as well as big blue patches of sky with the sun shining straight through. This burst of light is often a miracle in Vancouver.
I have been visiting with Jessica bell www.jessicabellart.com in her studio and have just entered her world of landscape painting and collage, papers, threads, knitting and patience methodical passion and purpose.
I met Jessica Bell at the Old Foundry Building when she was interviewing me as one of the potential artists to join the collective there. Lucky for me I got her old studio space and from there a connection as made and I knew we just had to get together again. Jessica moved to Gastown, her studio in the heart of this old town part of Vancouver that has beautiful old buildings, red bricks and a sense of style and artistry to it in its beautiful raw state. I love being down to visit Gastown.
Describing Jessica’s artwork or her process of making it one must take a step back and picture her methodically walking or riding her pedal bicycle over the Granville Street Bridge, heading north, her journey from her home to her studio that she consciously takes four days week to her studio to do her work. This journey and her observations of the buildings, landscapes, architecture, textures, lights and features of the city is what inspires her work.
Visually gas town is so stimulating it deserves its own photo blog in itself. And so in speaking with her father about the source of inspiration for her work Jess began www.onesee.tumblr.com, giving viewers an insight into the what she sees as she walks to her studio and in and around Vancouver that feeds and nourishes her work = the buildings, the layers, the views, the landscaping, the fragments and pieces that visually make up the city around her. This is the visual gathering she does on her walk and brings these to her studio to create her mixed media pieces.
What pervades in most all her pieces is that sense of space, in thoughtful and careful placement of each element. Space is something she talked about quite a bit in our two hours together at her studio. Time and space required by artists to composed the images, ideas, and concepts until they are ready to bring these new germinated ideas from seed to growth on panel, or on paper as is the case. But the emphasis in the conversation was the importance and the fundamental need for space, time, quiet, walking, looking, being, resting and how this is as important as the making of the art itself.
After listening to Jess talk about the fact that her work is her communication of her observations with the world, her discussion of the city around her, I truly saw her work in a whole different light. Well, in a whole different view – a bird’s eye view per say. I saw trees looking down; I saw buildings and wires, and a pattern of metal from the recycling depot down from the Old Foundry Building where she once worked.
What inspired me utterly was Jessica’s sense of clarity about what she is creating and communicating and her clear sense of artist direction and purpose. Her studio reflected this clarity, tidiness and organization. She was busy getting some paintings ready for the RTF show .
Title is important the title of each of her pieces is important to her and for us the viewer because Jessica’s work can seem so abstract to the initial viewer, giving he title as a hint, and a closer look, you will being to see what she saw and felt as she walked through the city stress and let the pieces of the painting come to her.
Her work is a two-way communication and her wish is that her work is seen. And her dream is that, to have her work in the work – both the original and in print publications, for the world to see and receive her gift through this art.
It was a delight to visits with you Jessica and I am thankful for allowing to be in your sacred studio space for you sharing your time with me and sharing your true self with myself and other artist here. Thank you.
See Jessica's work upcoming at Cheaper Show (www.thecheapershow.com) which takes place here in Vancouver in June. 
pretty good. I've also put vinegar onto canvas by accident (thought it
was water) but it created a neat faux-finish look. Would you recommend
vinegar & sugar? Or is that a bad idea... I don't want to attract any
ants - haha!Here were a few of my thoughts about adding sugar, salt and vinegar to her acrylics...
The question you sent is very interesting. Sand is a rather benign mineral that once glued down by the acrylic binder will be stable unless there is not enough “glue” to hold the individual sand particles in place. Sugar is very hygroscopic by nature this means that it likes to pull and hold onto moisture from the air or wet acrylic paint. What an artist may find is that films with sugar added in could be permanently water sensitive, possibly even mold, and yes attracting ants is a possibility. Golden makes Clear Granular Gel that has an acrylic solid in it that has some resemblance to very large sugar crystals. This product may be too regular in shape for this artist or does not allow them not sprinkle it on. Another option could be looking into recycled glass products as they are available in many sizes and grades.
Using vinegar in art is untested and would have to be considered veryexperimental. If one were to try this there are a number of issues to be aware of. First acrylic paints are produced with an alkaline pH that allows the acrylic binder particles to remain stable in water. If an acid like vinegar was poured onto wet acrylic the pH would be altered and there most likely would be acrylic shock that occurs. This may granulate the paint and would definitely weaken the physical properties causing less resistance to water, and solvents in the future. We have not tested the effect of vinegar, also known as acetic acid, on the longevity of art materials and would suggest caution when this may be of concern. While acetic acid is volatile we do not know how long it would take for a quantity to leave an acrylic paint film. This means that the curing process may be slowed dramatically causing unforeseen issues of stickiness or intercoat adhesion when layering. Also, some pigments are very sensitive to acids, for example if vinegar is placed on a dried film of Ultramarine Blue it will turn areas of contact white permanently.
Flooding dried Light Molding Paste with acrylic paint and water stains could offer interesting effects without the use of an acid. Also dripping or misting Airbrush Colors, or Airbrush Medium into stains made of water and acrylic paints offers many effects of diffusion, repulsion. If there is another specific effect this artist is trying to achieve we would be happy to try to figure out a way for them to create it.
Best,
Ulysses Jackson
Technical Services
I Introduction: What is acrylic paint
Acrylics paint is made with synthetic resin (poymer) as the medium (liquid) to bind the pigment (colour), rather than natural oils such as linseed used in oil paints.
Benefits:
Features:
Student vs Artist Grade acrylics:
Student grade acrylics
Professional Grade Acrylics:
What we have at OPUS, categorized in terms of consistency/thickness.
1. heavy body
heavy body acrylics:
smooth, rich, buttery consistency.
ability to "stand up" and retain brush strokes or palette knife marks
excellent flexibility when dry, greatly diminishing the possibility of cracking
- Liquitex (heavy)
- Stevenson (heavy)
- TriArt (heavy)
- Golden (heavy body)
- Open acrylics: Ideal for portraiture and landscape painting
Remain wet on the palette for prolonged periods without skinning over.
2. Medium body
Medium body/soft:
(includes airbrush and ink)
consistency of pudding,
level out and don’t hold peaks.
Blend really nicely.
- Holbein acrylic gouache (medium body)
- Liquitex (medium/soft body)
3. Liquid /airbrush/acrylic inks
Fluids:
high pigment load or color strength
level out
great for staining and washes
Great for fine line and details
illustrators loves them!
- Chromacolour (fluid)
- Golden fluids (fluids)
-Golden airbrush paints (very fluid)
- Liquitex and ---- acrylic inks (extremely fluid)
Gessos & Grounds
PVA size
-Gamblin
-GAC 100
Gessos
- Stevenson
-Golden
-Pebeo
-TriArt
- Liquitex
Other Grounds
-absorbent ground
-pastel ground
-light moulding paste
DEMO: liquid acrylics on absorbent ground and light moulding paste ground.
Safety concerns:
Reduce the chance of ingestion/absorption/inhalation by:
II Mediums and Additives:
Fluid Mediums
Gloss & Matte polymer medium
Colorless paint, as they are composed of 100% acrylic polymers similar to acrylic paint. A general purpose liquid medium useful for creating glazes, extending colors, enhancing gloss and translucency and increasing film integrity. Has a unique feel that is much more oil-like or resinous in nature and that promotes flow and leveling.
Show what we have
-OPUS,
-Golden,
-Liquitex,
-Stevenson
DEMO – using OPUS matte medium to seal a paper substrate surface. Using OPUS matte medium to extend paint
DEMO – using fluid medium to create glazing layers
Mediums for pouring layers –1. regulate transparency,
2. create glazes,
3. increase gloss,
4. reduce viscosity
5. improve adhesion
6. Improve film integrity.
-have only a minimum amount of thickeners, levelers, defoamers and surfactants to ensure good film formation.
- very fluid and thinner than other GOLDEN Mediums.
- will reduce the thickness of most GOLDEN Acrylic Paints.
Gel Mediums
Gels can be thought of as colorless paint, as they are composed of 100% acrylic polymers similar to acrylic paint. They can also act as adhesives in collage and mixed media that dry to form continuous films with excellent flexibility with chemical, water and UV resistance.
Soft -> Regular -> Extra Heavy
Soft Gel Gloss –
moderately pourable. Hold only slight peaks. The recommended acrylic to function as a glue for collaging. Soft Gel Gloss is ideal for glazing and other techniques where transparency is desired. Useful as a non-removable isolation coat, applied over the painting and before the varnish (must be thinned with water - 2 parts Soft Gel Gloss to 1 part water). Adding water and thining it prevents clouding.
DEMO – using Golden soft gel as an isolation coat.
Regular Gel - Same creamy consistency as GOLDEN Heavy Body Acrylic colors. Ideal for extending paint and regulating translucency without changing the consistency of the Heavy Body and Matte colors. Hold moderate peaks and texture. The Regular Gel Gloss is ideal for glazing and other techniques where transparency is desired.
DEMO – using regular gel to create underpainting texture – on its own or mix with paints.
DEMO – putting regular gel on top of your painting to add depth and texture and thick glazes on your paintings
Heavy & extra heavy gel - Thicker consistency than GOLDEN Heavy Body Acrylic colors. Blend with colors to increase body. Good for holding peaks. * note that it dries translucent – not perfectly clear.
Clear tar gel - mixes with the Fluids for dripping purposes, and can yield lines that range from spider-web fine to brushstroke thick.
Sample Handout - using ALL various gels as glue to adhere and embed stuff into your painting
Self leveling clear tar gel - isolation coat that dries evenly
(GOLDEN medium that work especially well with the Fluids)
Impasto Gel Medium - (steveston) like regular gel but has marble dust so its opaque.
Modeling Paste - regular, light and coarse. Can be used as a ground and to build up texture into your painting.
Additives
Acrylic Flow Release - is a surfactant. A surfactant is a concentrated surface-active liquid which reduces surface tension, thus improving wetting and increasing the flow of acrylic waterborne paints.
Retarder – slows the drying time of paint. Allows greater time for blending, working outside.
IV Painting Substrates and Accessories
Paintings substrates
glass, board, canvas, linen, paper.... (display)
Brushes
BRUSH HEAD BASICS:
1. round – use to dab & make a line
2. flat head – landscape, horizons, washes/glazes
3. bright – less flexible than a flat, more control
4. Filbert – oval dabbing and filling in shapes, most versatile
What we carry:
Fortissimo – ($)
- natural hog hair
- oil brush works great for acrylic
-stiff and thick hair – good for dry brushing and brush stroke effects
Arietta’s ($)
- really soft
- great for the fluids/inks
- won’t work so well with the heavy body paints
Legato ($$)
- More firm
Mezzo ($$$)
- even firmer
Windsor and Newton water mixable brushes ($$$)
- have a fan brush, great for blending
Robert Simmons ($$$)
- synthetic
- hold a lot of water/paint
- very soft
- lots of selection of small sized brushes for detail
Other - palette knifes, rubber shapers are cool to use too!
Palettes
Peel- away palette
Clear plastic Palette
Cansen disposable palette
Non-stick Palette
Stay Web Palette
Clean up:
Wipe acrylics off with a papertowel so you don't get it down the sink
Master's paint cleaner and brush conditioner
Glass jar with coil
Last week I had the opportunity to hangout with artist and illustrator Brandy Masch at her Vancouver studio. What a treat!
When I first visited Brandy's website and saw her art - especially the Living City paintings - I felt transported back into Horton's World from the Dr. Zeus books - especially the most recent movie and book Horton Hears a Who. It would be so fun to be a little person and climb into her multi dimensional worlds and explore. I mentioned this to Brandy and s he smiled and said she absolutely l loved Dr. Zeus books when she was a kid! Of these world’s she creates, Brandy says that she’s an
intuitive painter. The images build themselves, there is not pre- set image. “I don’t use sketch books so much as just work on the piece and see where it takes me.”
Her work was recently featured in V-rag magazine- the art issue along with an interview write up. She has been approached by Simply Red about doing an
album cover and gets commissions and sales via twitter followers, her facebook fan page, as well as local shows such as The Drift and Artist in Our Midst – both annual art show events in Vancouver.
Brandy earned a BFA from Emily Carr University, specializing in printmaking and drawing – lithography. She fell in love with animation and illustration during the four year degreeprogram. And found her love of being an illustrator through the process of doing her BA. The support, encouragement, and guidance from her teachers continue to help me to this day.
It's always so fun and humbling to visit other artist's studios, this one with no exception. What struck me immediately was how organized Brandy is with her art supplies and overall set up. Everything labeled and in its place, easy to find when she needs it. I was immediately inspired myself to make some organizational changes inspired by Brandy's studio set up.
Brandy is a beautiful woman, passionate artist, and easy to be with. Here are some neat little facts about her….
Rock of support: My husband, Curtis, 100%
Favourite colour: changes regularly, green and blues lately. orange
Favourite paints: holbein gouach and Golden liquid acrylics – Golden , FW and liquitex acrylic inks.
Favourite tool: Windsor and Newton 00 round synthetic brush
Favourite soap: Master’s brush cleaner
Favourite artist: the low brow art and pop surrealists, Sean Tan, Julie Moristate, Travis Lui
Role model & inspiration: My Mom, very supportive.
We also talked about challenges, inspirations and goals. Here are hers, in that order.
Deb: Brandy, what do you think your greatest challenge is?
Brandy: Being shy and asking for what I want. Reaching out to people.
Deb: what inspires and feeds you and your art?
Brandy: Surfing the internet, chilling out, looking at other artist’s work, looking around the city, taking photos of things that inspire me. People watching in crowds.
Going for a walk in the forest.
Deb: What are some of your goals as a professional artist and illustrator?
Brandy: My goals include primarily and foremost to make a living from my artwork, specifically having my work in magazines, illustrations for children’s books, and doing creative things such as teaching art to kids. I want to make a living off what I do, do that I don’t need another job.
Brandy, Thank you for letting us see inside your work space and sharing your passion with us! Wishing your dream comes true.
about the paint consistency you're using and you are using liquid acrylics (I love the Golden liquid acrylics myself), they blend beautifully and you can also uses a fluid medium in between two colours, same technique as described above.
Here are some photos from my recent visit there….
(PS Lyza Loo...when you come to visit I will drop you off here! This is right by where I work!)
Feng Shui Recommendation: This painting support your career and lifepath.
To further enhance the journey of your life and work, place this painting near the entrance of your home or office.
Recently, I was speaking with one of my studio mates about getting back into our creative groove when we’ve been away from our work for a while.
Rodja was saying that she’d been out of the studio for three weeks plus, taking a natural break after having just shipped a bunch of paintings to her gallery in Toronto. As well, she also has a graphic design business and works as a culinary chef so her mind and being are not always focused on painting. She has to switch. That means when she gets to her studio, getting her mind into painting mode and sometimes that takes some time.
Similarly, for me, as we all do, I balance a full life with my art. Being a mom to my six year old, having a part time job, and all other details life entails. So even though I dedicate a full day to paint, each week, every Tuesday, there is still a process I go through to get into the work, into that groove
Here are a few things that work for me, specifically on days when the little voice in my head doesn’t want to be at the studio, doesn’t feel like painting, it literally wants to tell me to give up, go home and why life sucks and why I should not bother, on and on the little voice goes…
Lately, I start out in my beach chair, heater pumping next to me and I read and look at inspirational books such as 1,000 Artist Trading Cards or Sabrina Ward Harrison books.
I make a lot of tea – lately my favourite is orange roibois from the Granville Island tea company, (although the green blueberry is awesome too and I would really recommend the African Roibois Cream). Some days I will have a little nap. Last Tuesday I think I had about six cups before I got into painting. Serious tea drinking may get the creative juices flowing.
A few weeks prior I went for a walk and strolled through the artist studios at 1000 Parker Way ( they are part of the east end culture crawl every year). The walk was great – walking is linked to stimulating the brain waves in your brain that enduce creativity, but checking out other artist’s studios topped off the walk ten fold. Its then that the little voice realizes she was wrong. A new voice begins to pipe up...If they can do it , so Can I. Wow, look at what he’s working on. Look she got painting this morning, maybe I could put a glaze on that painting I've been so stuck on for a while....and so the insp iration kicks in.
Very often I write in my journal, as I see my other studio room mate Heather Craig do. In this way she quietly inspires me. Yup good old morning pages to work through all that mind gunk. I like to write lists. Wish lists. Things I’m happy about. Things I am not happy about. Last week it was everything I hate. Everything that was annoying, irritating, and pissing me off. Yuck lists. Feels good to get it out . That works too. After that I finally started painting!
Music can be good too and dancing but lately I’ve been riding my bike to the studio and the beach chair calls and I plop down and get into my creative groove in comfort!
The other day I was so exhausted from, well life, that I just sat comatozed in my good old beach chair and ate Miss. Vicky’s salt and vinegar chips. That and drank tea, of course! Those chips seem to have magical powers. Try it next time, let me know if they work for you. Definitly recommend the salt and vinegar flavour. Yum.
Other quick ideas to get started...
It takes a risk to show up and do your art work. I like this quote “ And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk everything “ Eric Jong.
There is some quote out here about 90% of success is showing up. So kudus to us for showing up. Let's give ourselves gold stars for showing up ( even if we sit by the heater and eat potato chips!)
