Exploration into the Art of Image Making
ZOOM ONLINE COURSE
2 hours | Wednesdays at 1pm
$25 Per session. Serious students given priority.
About The Course
This course covers the basic principals of making effective images in drawing and painting.
About The Teacher
UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY WITH DEIRDRE MCCAY (B FA M.ED)
DEIRDRE MCCAY IS A WELL-KNOWN MONTREAL ART TEACHER AND PRACTICING VISUAL ARTIST
Deirdre is an artist trained in the USA and England in Renaissance drawing and painting techniques. She is not only a skilled painter, but she has completed a Masters degree in teaching – she knows how to teach! She specializes in helping students acquire basic /or advanced skills to draw (or paint )from life using traditional techniques of shading, cross-hatching etc. to create volume and space. In addition she prepares them to plan pictorial light using Renaissance –style techniques to create images with powerful focal points (see Caravaggio).
Up until this moment, Deirdre has been teaching a closed group of serious students of the visual arts for two years (over the pandemic). Now Deirdre is opening up the group to new people who would be interested in joining.
HOW THE CLASS WORKS
Every session on-line has a specific theme. Deirdre shows examples from the work of famous artists that exemplify this theme and we discuss the ideas that are connected to it. Then student use the following week to do a homework on the chosen theme. Each student sends their homework to Deirdre by email the day before the class. She downloads these images so that everyone in the class can see the image produced by each student during the zoom class. During each class everyone discusses the work of each student and suggests ways the image could be more successful.
The beauty of the curriculum is that it is centered around the needs and of the individuals who participate. The group started as a drawing group and slowly paintings were introduced for those people who wanted to start to use colour.
Examples of topics that we covered were: how to create images with space, how to place objects/people in the composition; using visual texture to make images richer, typical recipes in composition ( zig /zag for landscape; spiral images )using gesture for movement, organization of picture planes for near and far objects; alternating light and dark picture planes for light composition; creating focal points etc.
Regarding subject matter we covered both realism and fantasy or dreams.
Colour use was discussed covering the composition of colour, use of complementary colours, and the necessity of balancing neutral grey colours against pure colour.
Client Testimonials
"Depuis la pandémie, Deirdre nous a offert un cours via Zoom. Et depuis, nous continuons de cette façon. J’ai grandement progressé avec elle. Elle est très valorisante et cherche continuellement à faire ressortir ce que nous avons réussi. Ce qui est particulier avec Deirdre, c’est que ce n’est pas un cours conventionnle. À partir de notre devoir, elle construit le cours suivant, dépendant de nos difficultés rencontrées. Nous sommes en groupe, mais une touche individuelle est apportée à chacune de nous. N’importe qui, à n’importe quel niveau peut s’introduire facilement à tout moment et s’améliorer en fonction d’elle même Et c’est là, une grande force de notre prof!"
Christiane
"If you have no time to lose to find a reliable, competent art teacher, Deirdre McCay will certainly help you progress rapidly becoming the artist you always wanted to be."
Alexine Joubert ( student of Deirdre’s for over 10 years)
Sign up for the Class Today
If you have any questions you can call Deirdre at
or you can email