Blue Sky Art Center ~ a sacred creative community

AP/IP High School Oil Painting

Rich Brimer — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:54:36 +0000

Beginning Monday Jan 31, 2012

2222 Ventura Blvd., Studio B4, Camarillo, CA 93012

Description: This pre-college oil painting course helps high school students develop their painting portfolio. Each week we will begin with a brief demo by the instructor to teach a concept. Classes will be a mix of still-life and studio work on paintings started from photos. Composition, contrast (value) and color will all be covered in a comprehensive way.

NOTE: M. Graham oil paints will be used in this class, due to their low toxicity walnut oil base. This enables rich juicy full-brush application with no addition of solvents. A parental consent form must accompany the application form. (Download Here)

25% SIBLING DISCOUNT: If you are registering a second student for the same class from the same household, you may receive a 25% discount.

Mondays 4:00pm – 6:00pm (ongoing)

Instructor: Rich Brimer call 805.300.4931 for more info
Instructor fee: $20 per class (must purchase 5-class passes @ $100)
Materials fee: $5 per class (materials – all brushes, oil paints, painting panels. Additional brushes, paint and primed painting panels are available at additional cost to take home)

High School Figure Class for AP/IP students

Rich Brimer — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:16:22 +0000

Description: This Pre-College program Figure Class is specifically designed to get junior and senior high school AP & IP Art students the experience necessary to develop their skill level in working on the human figure. This course introduces high school students to basic human anatomy and gives students the tools they need to make decisions on how to draw the human form. We will explore ways to represent the character of a pose, proper proportions, analyzing solid forms as well as ways to give the figure weight using lights and darks. Students will create a series of pieces suitable for a college portfolio and will work from the nude model in a studio setting. A parental consent form must accompany the application form. (Download Here)

25% SIBLING DISCOUNT: If you are registering a second student for the same class from the same household, you may receive a 25% discount

FEE: $25 per class
Tuesdays 4:00pm – 6:00pm (ongoing)

Supplies needed: 18” x 24” Drawing pads, Solid Graphite Sticks, Kneaded Eraser.

Drawing (Ages 8-18) Fall 2010 Session One

Rich Brimer — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:39:03 +0000

Begins Tuesday February 7, 2012

2222 Ventura Blvd, A4
Camarillo, CA 93010

Map and Directions

Description:

The way we see the world shapes our world-view and how we approach life and our relationships. The ability to “see” is one of the most important aspects of creating a drawing. Developing the art of observation will be the principal aspect of this class. We will be learning to gaze at a subject, discovering relationships between shapes, looking for subtle shifts in light and shadow, composition, perspective and many other tools for creating an accurate rendering of any subject. With both graphite and ink in hand, students will be working on classroom projects, and will also be required to follow-up each week in their sketch journal. Instructor demonstrations are an important part of any session and take place often and when necessary. Attention will be given to different age groups and skill levels within the class.

Tuesdays. 9:00 am to 11am 12-week session
Maximum 12 students

Instructor fee: $240 each session, plus Lab fee: $18 (includes sketch book, pencils, pens, kneaded eraser) = $258 total

25% SIBLING DISCOUNT: If you are registering a second student for the same class from the same household, you may receive a 25% discount

Art Classes in Camarillo

Rich Brimer — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 17:24:37 +0000

This week we started our first AP art student figure drawing class. I had two students join me from Camarillo High School. Although it IS a drawing class, I started out with a painting demo of a head study. Toni was the muse for the day and I had just begun when they arrived. To start I showed them how to block out the drawing with Burnt Sienna. The drawing is the most critical part of the entire painting. Getting that right makes adding color much easier. After the first break I was ready to add the fleshtones. Then after the last break, I sent them off on their own to do their own drawing of Toni in the last 25 minutes left in the class.

This drawing will be an important baseline for them. It will allow them to see where they began prior to instruction. So often we compare our work to other artists and can often get discouraged. It is important however to look at ones own progress and use that as the benchmark. Individual success is based on our own self improvement, while only using other’s work as an encouragement.

I am looking forward to filling this class with additional students. We have a long list of models scheduled for the upcoming sessions. Let me know if you know of a high schooler or recent graduate that would benefit from this class. Peace, Rich

I was thinking

Rich Brimer — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 00:29:42 +0000

Where have your thoughts taken you today? What is it that motivates you to do what you do? How do we accomplish anything in life? What beautiful thing have you meditated on? How has God revealed something in your life?

Everything you do is guided by thought. What are the 7 thoughts that govern, shape and determine my life. What are those secret thoughts that you secretly keep coming back to? Every day you are using thought weather you realize it or not. The world you inhabit, and see is shaped by the way you see it. The way you see is shaped by the way you think. So if you really want to change your life, the best way to do it is to change the way you think. ~John O’Donohue, Greenbelt 2007

Later on in the talk he says that there was a beautiful young woman who lived her life by leading with her beauty… but with regard to her ability to have an intelligent conversation he said, “If there was a thought in her head, it would be in the loneliest place on earth.” LOL… How true that can sometimes be. I often have too much going on in my life and my brain just shuts down. It is like an old manual typewriter that has had a child press all of the keys at the same time, and not a single keystroke can hit the paper, because they are all jammed up in a cluster. I sometimes have clusters of thought, ideas that I wonder about. It can take a while to sort it all out, but in the end, something rises to the surface and becomes dominate.

I am finding that I enjoy being pushed by a deadline. I am motivated by constant pressure to produce. I thrive in a fast paced world where there are many things going on at the same time. I may not be able to multi-task and give my attention to more than one thing at a time, but I like to have a lot of options.

I also enjoy solitude when I can get it because it gives my mind an often needed break. It also provides a space for me to have those thoughts that can shape me… to hear from the creator and open my imagination to possibilities. As a creator, I am glad to know that we were created in God’s Image (Imago Dei) and have an endless stream of possibilities for creating today’s horizon. Do you know your future? Perhaps… What are you thinking right now?

Why Blue Sky Art Center?

Rich Brimer — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 02:48:49 +0000

There are many ways to tell Story. For over 25 years I (Rich Brimer) have been telling stories through oil painting, children’s book illustration, film-making, graphic design, creating collectible art and even website design. The Story is woven throughout the lives of all who live in it. There are millions of stories that that need a voice. I could say a lot about what this all means, but for now… I am compelled to help myself and others to have eyes to see and a voice to expose the injustices that surround them. I also hope to replace it by showing The Beautiful that is woven into everything around us. With this in mind, I have opened Blue Sky Art Center in my community; Camarillo, CA. I have been surrounding myself with many people with the same heart as myself to impact our world with the Arts. I have many artists, seasoned college professors, a lawyer and community leaders, willing to invest time and effort into making this art center a reality to impact our world. In both lean times and in times of growth, we need prophets to share the stories of creation, redemption and of healing. The Arts have a special ability to affect social change. As a creator who sees value in this, I want to create a permanent space that will become into a regional destination where this can take place… where artists learn to be seers, where the voice of the Creator can speak through creation, affirm His people and lead in change.

The Fringe

Rich Brimer — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:19:16 +0000

Blue Sky Art Center is giving voice to art-makers. We are a collaboration of artists that seek unity. Being often on the fringe, on the outside, we are closer to the community. We are not locked up in ivory towers dictating to the masses… we are the masses. We see our society the from the ground, and the need for cultural change and confront it. We are compelled to speak out.

We have banished our artists to the fringe of society and tell them to eat cake. It is our artists who choose freedom over safety and use their talents to question and confront the culture — Peter Block

Straight to the Heart

Rich Brimer — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 01:12:36 +0000

Thanks to Brother Will for pointing out this quote on his blog:

The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them—words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more living size when they’re brought out. But it’s more than that, isn’t it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. And you can make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you’ve said at all, or why you thought is was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it. That’s the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller but for want of an understanding ear. ~Stephen King, The Body (which the movie Stand By Me was based on)

Like a dart… here’s truth that pierces to the heart of the matter. It is true that our secret heart is like a landmark to a treasure. If I don’t trust someone with the information, I usually just keep it guarded. When we… over and over and over… expose our heart to someone, only to be broken, criticized, misunderstood, bruised or laughed at, it is hard to keep going there with that person. But, sometimes, I just can’t help myself. I am compelled… driven to find common ground.

So, what does it take to find some of that common ground, a space where we can be open to our world? Also, a place where we can be human… generous… understanding… open. With some creativity, I know it can be done. Ready to take a ride?

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day

Rich Brimer — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 07:24:23 +0000

Today, January 11, is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day and we want you to join us in the fight to eradicate child sex trafficking in America and around the world. At least 100,000 children are used in prostitution every year in the United States. Free for Life International is working tirelessly to make a difference in the lives of trafficking survivors that find love and compassion at the shelters we partner with – but awareness is essential and that means we need YOUR help!

Be visible on behalf of the invisible voices of enslaved children – help us raise awareness in America and around the world by taking a few minutes out of your day to spread the word – Children are NOT for Sale. Please take a moment and forward this to your friends. Together we can make a difference, and change the face of what has become a global epidemic.