Art School Archives - CORDELL GARFIELD

Painting portraits with Cordell Garfield

Painting portraits in oils workshop Northampton

Portrait painting of woman — Sense of doubt

I will be running another Introduction to Portrait Painting Workshop in Oils at Northampton’s Museum and Art Gallery on 19th February 2022. My workshop is an ideal introduction to portrait painting for newcomers and more experienced painters alike. A portrait in oils will be produced, with attention to facial proportions and tone to create a realistic image. Working from a reference photograph and a step by step process, I will guide you through painting a portrait. The workshop is perfect for both beginners and painters with some experience. Price £65 per person.

To book a place contact the museum on 01604 838111 or click on the link https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-introduction-to-portrait-painting-in-oils-tickets-169660287487?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

The museum is a great venue to hold the workshop and have a central focus for Northampton art again. After opening on 10th July 2021 following a major redevelopment which began in 2017. It’s now up and running with a selling gallery and permanent collections on show. To find out more about the museum click on this link. https://www.northamptonmuseums.com/site/index.php

My portraits and landscape paintings are also on show at the museum until January 2022. Here is a selection on my website. https://www.cordellgarfield.com/gallery/portraits/

Portrait painting workshop at Yardley Arts

I recently hosted another portrait painting in oils workshop at the Yardley Arts Centre. This was another enjoyable experience in difficult times with the Covid pandemic. Social distancing was maintained throughout, and with some hard working and enthusiastic students some great portraits were produced.

The Cordell Garfield Portrait Painting Workshop

As with my other portrait workshops https://www.cordellgarfield.com/workshops/ the portrait painting in oils workshop set out to really help beginners and the more experienced. Above all portrait painting and its anatomy are difficult to master and I tried to simplify the process. We approached the portrait painting through understanding the landmarks of the face. This could be the position of the eyes, distances between the eyes, nose and mouth and so on. We also worked on the use of tone and value in a monochrome palette to produce portraits from a photograph. I gave a series of demonstrations to guide students through the process. Here are some examples of the work produced:

Portrait painting workshop Yardley Arts — Yardley Arts portrait painting workshop

Yardley Arts

I also want to give a big shout out to Yardley Arts. Yardley Arts is a not-for-profit arts organisation that is really placing a focus on the arts in Northamptonshire. The spacious and light-filled centre is based at Yardley Hastings. Its range of courses covers drawing, painting, sculpture, jewellery and photography. There is even an animation workshop! Moreover, there is something for everybody with previous experience not necessary on many workshops. It’s not been easy in the current climate, but the centre has continued to keep running within the new pandemic guidelines.

I will be running another workshop at the centre again in 2021, but I would recommend checking out other courses. The courses are all run by experienced artists who will help improve your skills whatever your ability. Have a look at their web site https://www.yardleyarts.org/about

New Studio Space for artist Cordell Garfield

Cordell Garfield Art Studio — Studio shot

New studio space for artist Cordell Garfield! As an artist it’s great to be in my new studio space with the move of the NN Contemporary Art site http://www.nncontemporaryart.org/spaces/. The new central museum next door, opens on 20th June 2020, and my new artistic space is ideally located for me.

Above all the larger new space displays my artwork in a way I haven’t been able to before. This link shows a selection of my portraits, some of which I can now show in the flesh! https://www.cordellgarfield.com/gallery/portraits/

I intend to use this new studio space not only creatively, but also for the Open Studios in September. Keep your eye on developments as I will be selling some of my work in the Open Studios. As always there will be a range of portraits, but also some of my landscapes as well.

Portrait painting in oils workshop at Yardley Arts

I recently hosted another portrait painting in oils workshop at the Yardley Arts Centre. This was another enjoyable experience with some enthusiastic and willing students and some great results.

In the same vein as my other portrait workshops https://www.cordellgarfield.com/workshops/ the portrait painting in oils workshop set out to really help beginners. Above all portrait painting and its anatomy are difficult to master and I tried to simplify the process. We approached the portrait painting through understanding the landmarks of the face. This could be the position of the eyes, distances between the eyes, nose and mouth and so on. We also worked on some colour theory and using a limited colour palette to produce a variety of flesh tones. Here are some examples of the work produced:

portrait painting in oils workshop yardley arts

I will be running another workshop at the centre in the future, but I would recommend checking out other courses. The courses are all run by experienced artists who will help improve your skills whatever your ability. Have a look at their web site https://www.yardleyarts.org/about

Portrait Drawing Workshop at Alfred East Gallery

Just a quick update on a very successful portrait drawing workshop at Alfred East Gallery https://www.kettering.gov.uk/artworkshops . This was a group of varying abilities who produced some great work. What was particularly satisfying was to see everybody’s work develop. Moreover, to see students with very little drawing experience really get to grips with developing a portrait was very rewarding.

In the same vein as my other portrait workshops https://www.cordellgarfield.com/workshops/ the portrait drawing workshop set out to really help beginners. Above all portrait drawing and its anatomy are difficult to master and I tried to simplify the process. We approached the drawing through understanding the landmarks of the face. This could be the position of the eyes, distances between the eyes, nose and mouth and so on.

I wanted to give a big shout out to the Alfred East Gallery following the workshop. The Alfred East Gallery hosts a range of art based workshops over the year with something for everyone, and I would recommend keeping an eye on what’s available. I will be looking to run another workshop at Alfred East Gallery in the future, but I would recommend checking out other courses.

Drawing workshop Alfred East Gallery — Drawing Alfred East workshop Oct 2019

Drawing Alfred East Gallery — Drawing Alfred East workshop Oct 2019

Yardley Arts Portrait Painting workshop

I recently hosted and run an introduction to portrait painting in oils workshop at the Yardley Arts Centre. This was an enjoyable experience with some enthusiastic and willing students and some great results.

Cordell Garfield Portrait painting workshop student work Yardley Arts — Portrait painting workshop Yardley Arts

My own portrait painting in oils workshop was successful but I wanted to give a big shout out to Yardley Arts. Yardley Arts is a not-for-profit arts organisation that is really placing a focus on the arts in Northamptonshire. The spacious and light-filled centre is based at Yardley Hastings. Its range of courses covers drawing, painting, sculpture, jewellery and photography. There is even an animation workshop! Moreover, there is something for everybody with previous experience not necessary on many workshops.

I will be lucky to be running another workshop at the centre in the future, but I would recommend checking out other courses. The courses are all run by experienced artists who will help improve your skills whatever your ability. Have a look at their web site https://www.yardleyarts.org/about

David Byrne. Stop making sense!

A recent gig to see David Byrne on his ‘American Utopia’ tour at the Birmingham Symphony Hall immediately reminded me of an earlier oil painting I made of the great man. I thought I’d give it an airing and revisit him and his old band, Talking Heads. This image was when he was lead singer with Talking Heads around 1979, and I just had to paint it. It was also about the time they released one of their finest albums ‘Fear of Music’.

On this tour, Byrne himself is in good form, more comfortable in his own skin than ever before. The show, Samuel Beckett minimalism meets London Palladium variety revue, has no drum kits, amps or PA system on view. The band 12 strong, barefooted and in matching suits move around the stage with their instruments strapped to their bodies. Backed by excellent lighting, heavily choreographed and with a quirky upbeat mood throughout, Byrne has deconstructed the modern live performance while at the same time embracing existing modes of stage performance. This is no small feat, and Byrne’s claim that this is his most ambitious tour feels spot on. Here’s a link to a snippet of it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vlNvQkT_c8

This tour follows in the great tradition of David Byrne as art pop rocker, collaborating on films and in theatre. However, there is still the legacy of Talking Heads not only in some of the old songs performed. In the 1970s and 1980s Talking Heads were an intellectual art school dance band. They fused post punk, new wave, krautrock, afro, funk, and an avant-garde sensibility crossing over into pop. Lead singer David Byrne was an anxious, nervous, arty oddball, “borderline Asperger’s” by his own recent admission, but constantly looking to reinvent his music. They produced one of the finest and slightly left field rock concert films in recent history “Stop making sense” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKKgwuAoshA. Give it a look but stick with it.

Whatever your view on the band and their music, it worked and was quirky. Taking the mundane and suburban, Byrne used the classic artifices of juxtaposition and counterpoint in his lyrics to make a point or not. He continued this throughout his career with Talking Heads even when they became commercially successful. Citing life giving air as painful, taking happiness as something mundane or viewing the world from the point of view of a psychopath or urban guerrilla, his take on events was never obvious.

He’s back on tour in the UK in October and November. Enigmatic with a good back catalogue as well as new stuff, I’d recommend trying to catch him.