Oil Abstract Classes with Liz Hauck

At SAOS, I signed up to Liz Hauck’s e-mail list. Liz sent me a message about an Oil Abstract class, Colours of Autumn, that she was teaching. The class was small, organized and very educational. Liz talked about artists that inspired her and different techniques used in painting. She discussed how inspiration can be found and how to warm up before creating art. We drew something that we liked without looking or taking our pencil off the paper. It was amazing to see everyone’s results and to my surprise people actually knew what I intended to draw.

Liz went through a quick lesson in colour mixing; then we used cut-outs of images of autumn that she asked us to bring. My two paintings came out pretty nice and the afternoon was really enjoyable.

The first class was so much fun that when she had a second one, I went as well. This class focused on composition in abstract; we were asked to bring images we liked; of colour or shape. Liz spoke about great artists and types of compositions that work (i.e. the rule of thirds). We started with a drawing exercise, then a demonstration with pallet knives and other tools.

This class wasn't as enjoyable for me because my ideas were too preconceived and couldn’t be recreated on canvas. My creativity was just not flowing; possibly because my dog died the week before. Note to self...don't paint when you are sad.  The colours on the first image were all wrong and then in the second painting I put a tree on the left hand side and quickly regretted it.

After both classes Liz gave us very comprehensive worksheets detailing what she spoke about along with an extensive list of materials, sources and book recommendations. We were introduced to canvas pads, which tear off to use as you would paper, but are stronger with a nicer texture. I would definitely recommend Liz as a magnificent instructor and am going to take another class when she has one.