Richard Christian Nelson will be teaching three weekend workshops in Tryon, N. C.

this autumn. They will begin with a three-day portrait workshop Oct. 7-9. Next will be an autumn landscape workshop Oct. 28-30, and lastly a still life workshop Nov. 18-20. The classes will meet in Tryon from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. each day.

You can get more info, register and pay at richnelson.com, email rich@richnelson.com or call 828-817-3784. The workshops are open to all media, but oils will be emphasized, and they are open to all ages and skill levels.

The portrait workshop artists will work from live models on the fundamentals of anatomy, form and light to improve our skills at painting the portrait and figure.

In the landscape workshop artists will work on the fundamentals of painting outdoors. According to Nelson, “We will paint the beautiful North Carolina foothills for three days just as the greens are fading to reds and golds. If it is raining we will stay indoors and decide if we prefer to work on still life or hire a model.”

For the still life workshop, we’ll concentrate on all of the steps of the painting process by creating compositions with simple objects such as fruit, vegetables, pottery and such.  There will be lectures and demos by Nelson, and group ‘critiques’; mostly just putting the work up and having each artist say ‘how it’s going’.

Richard Christian Nelson is a gallery and portrait artist who has lived in Tryon, N.C. since 2004. He earned his BFA from the College of Creative Studies in Detroit, Mich. in 1988. You can view his work at richardchristiannelson.com or read about his recent awards and notable commissions at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Christian_Nelson.

Most recently, he was on the faculty for the Portrait Society of America’s Art of the Portrait Conference in April, where he became one of just 17 artists of the Portrait Society with signature status. His portrait ‘Look Homeward Angel’ was accepted into the Oil Painters of America’s 25th Anniversary Exhibition in May, and last year he was selected as “One To Watch” in the June issue of Fine Arts Connoisseur magazine.

Rich taught anatomy, figure drawing and painting at CCS part time after graduating. He does a number of workshops in various locations each year. Usually he begins each workshop with introductions, a lecture on his materials and approach, a lecture on light and shadow, and a lecture on color. He then does a demo on site. After that each artist sets up and paints, with a number of class reviews throughout the week. Rich often keeps painting and demoing if the class would like, as he is interested in demonstrating and participating in the “process” of painting.

Class sizes are limited to 12, and the cost of each workshop is refundable until two weeks before the start dates. Please visit richnelson.com/workshops, email rich@richnelson.com or call 828-817-3784 for more information.

– article submitted by Richard Christian Nelson