Teacher Profile - Jane Paul Angelhart January 17 2019, 4 Comments

Jane Paul Angelhart will be teaching her first class at the Bay School on Thursday & Friday, February 28 & March 1.  The goal of her Watercolor Portrait Workshop is to build confidence in tackling a full size portrait in the safety of a workshop setting.  This class is open to all skill levels and there will be an abundance of one on one help to advance your watercolor skills.

 

                                               Artist Statement: 

Painting is my passion, whether in oils or watercolors.  Traditional oils are like applying colored butter to a canvas… a luscious process I could never tire of.

Painting a portrait in watercolor is a lot like raising a child. It is a tight rope act, an incredibly fine balance between letting the vibrant transparent colors grow and bloom in unexpected directions… and being a careful and thoughtful guide, coaxing and coaching and watching…ever careful not to meddle too much with a brush and spoil the beauty. After fifteen years of painting watercolor portraits, I am still enthralled with the process. I begin each painting with excited expectation, a mother wondering if I am up to the challenge. I can't imagine a better job.

The visual treat of a watercolor is its transparency…. its clean, pure color. What better medium to use for a child's portrait? There is no white paint; so careful planning is essential to the process. The portrait is painted from light to dark (just the opposite of an oil approach). It takes calculated finesse to create multiple luminous layers, without dissolving previous layers and muddying the color. Carefully layered washes give a watercolor painting its characteristic sparkle and glow.

Watercolors were once thought of as a sketch or study medium for subsequent oil paintings. With lightfast professional pigments, ph balanced papers, and archival framing techniques, watercolors have the potential to outlast oil paintings and are fast becoming the medium of choice.

 

A few questions to Jane:

 

What made you start teaching?

I started teaching when friends and fellow painters asked me to do a workshop in 1994.  I am an introvert, so talking in front of people terrified me.  After a few workshops, I realized fellow artist were nothing to fear.  

What do you get out of teaching?

Teaching became an outlet for me to be myself, to be funny in a safe environment, and to give other artists the tools to make their painting exciting.  Workshops are stimulating for students as well as the coaches, and have become a place to share ideas, friendship and camaraderie.  (I am still a total wreck when I prepare for and start a workshop.  After the first hour, I am blissful and in my element.