In David Lussier’s Art Circle, students paint independently during the week in their own work spaces, allowing for flexible painting time. Prior to class, students send me an image of their painting, along with a photo reference of their subject matter. Regardless of whether they've worked from life or from a photo reference, providing a photo helps to give a better idea of what we are working with and how a student thinks about composition etc. Students are welcome to send up to 3 images of the work in progress. By class time, I have already saved all the images provided and arranged them in order, so that when we meet online, we can begin the critique process for each individual painting.

We use the free Zoom application for our critique sessions and paintings are viewed and discussed one at a time. Each painting gets the proper attention it deserves. I give effective critiques that are organized, structured and to the point. I use the Procreate App and literally paint on top of a student's image to make suggested changes and to give thought to new ideas. We will look at the five most important elements of painting. They are Design, Values, Color, Edges and Brushwork. Constructive criticism is an invaluable part of learning from your mistakes and getting rid of bad painting habits.

My critiques are a truthful assessment of each painting presented in a friendly, nonjudgmental manner. I talk about what is working in the painting and why it works, as well as what is not working in the painting, or could be improved upon and I provide ideas of how to make these improvements. Every member of the group has a voice during the critique process and can share thoughts and ideas. The weekly online camaraderie between artists is such an important element to this group and a great way to inspire and motivate each other as we develop the habit of painting on a regular basis.

After all the work is critiqued, we end each class session with a brief look at work by a deceased master and discuss everything from the color palette used, compositional structure to individual style and expression. I then assign a weekly challenge for any artist who wishes to tackle it for the next week. It’s a good way to wrap up a class and another way to help keep us all inspired and motivated. Please read more about weekly challenges below.

David Lussier’s Art Circle also has a private Facebook group page where members can post other work or images of paintings that have been taken further post critique. Positive comments on posts are encouraged as we continue to build a shared camaraderie, as well as a shared passion for painting. I also post paintings to the page each week from all three critique classes, as well as images of paintings from other artists that are meant to inspire.

The elements and principles of art are an integral part to all forms of art. They are essentially the language of all art. The elements and principles of art are the reason that an abstract painter and a realist or impressionist painter can have a dialogue about each others work, or any artists work for that matter. While their individual styles may be different, each painter speaks the same language when it comes to picture making. The elements of art are color, form, line, shape, space, texture and value. The principles of art are balance, harmony, contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern, proportion, repetition, rhythm, unity and variety. The principles of art represent how the artist uses the elements of art to create an effect and to convey the artist’s intent. All together, they are a mouthful to repeat and the terms can become confusing to any artist without a good grasp of what they mean. Essentially what they all add up to is a strong design. In my critiques I will touch on these elements and principles in a way that will not only make sense of them, but to make them fun. The five main points that make up a good painting are design, values, color, edges and brushwork. These five main points will be the emphasis of my critiques along with a discussion pertaining to the compositional structure of the piece.

These are small intimate painting classes limited to just 10 members - reserve your spot now

Location: Work independently from your own work space, both indoors or out.

Subject Matter: Landscapes, Seascapes, Still Life, Figure paintings. The subject matter is completely your own choice.

Time: Independent painting throughout the week and online group zoom meetings one day a week for critiques and camaraderie.

Cost: $50 for each session

Supplies: Use what you normally use. You will need to download the free ‘Zoom’ application to your device in order to access the online critiques. Access to Facebook is encouraged in order to stay connected during the week between critique sessions.

The weekly sessions keep you painting at your easel and help form good painting habits. There is always the anticipation and expectation of learning from a critique of your own painting, but there is also a great deal to be learned from the discussion and critiques of work of the other artists in your class. Regular painting habits and critique sessions help to cement the importance of knowing and being able to explain what motivated the idea of the painting in the first place. Through weekly critiques you will hear numerous ideas for composition structure, simple and complex color theory ideas and the importance of values working together in each painting. If there is a week that your schedule has kept you from painting, you will still learn from attending the session. Each class is also recorded if you are unable to attend a session or if you want to replay it.

As an additional part of the learning process, I assign a weekly challenge as a possible painting idea for students to tackle for the next class. The challenges have been met with great enthusiasm, though they are not required. They are not a homework assignment, but are a way to delve into new ideas and to keep things fresh. As a group, we all then get to see how each individual artist tackled the challenge and we all learn from it. An example of some different challenges would be; using a limited palette of colors, painting from a specific set of supplied photo references, exploring numerous compositional armatures, adding figures into a landscape, using only a select range of values within a painting, along with a host of other possibilities. Each challenge is discussed before the end of class and examples are shown. Weekly challenges are a great way to expand your repertoire and grow as an artist.