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Students working at easels in Jenny Berry's oil painting class at North Port Art Center

Artists working at easels in Jenny Berry's portrait painting workshop at Art Center Sarasota Florida

the BASICS :

All levels: Beginner - Advanced

All supplies provided.

$100. per three-hour private lesson. No committment needed.

Very limited spots available. Message me or sign up online.

Bring a friend! I have room for 2 in my studio.

Message or call if you have any questions at 505-400-3355

Location: Downtown Sarasota near Lime and Fruitville

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as you PROGRESS :

It's so rewarding to watch your progress over time. Your eyes will get more sensitive to color, light, and shadow, you'll start to notice perspective and composition everywhere.

Here are the 9 fundamental principles I want my students to learn.

COMPOSITION: The foundation your painting is built on.

VALUE: The darkness and lightness of things. In painting it's commonly said that your colors can be way off but you have to nail your values.

COLOR: Color theory, color temperature as well as color harmony. Simple principles that often get overcomplicated.

DRAWING: As you train your eyes to be more keen at observing subtle colors and values your drawing naturally improves. I like drawing to be painless and let people develop at their own pace. We learn faster when we're having fun. If painting is enjoyable we paint more and practice is the best teacher.

PERSPECTIVE: There are three different types of perspective in art. To make your paintings look realistic you have to understand all of them.

TEXTURE: Edges, brush strokes, color variance, and mark-making. Do you mix one flat color for large areas? Crisp hard edges along everything in your painting? Or are your edges all soft? I'll explain why it's working against you (and what all the different brushes do).

RHYTHM: Balance, variance, repetition, these things seem so minor but they can literally kill your painting.

NARRATIVE: Every painting tells a story, intentionally or not. So why not give it some thought? Even your brush strokes and color choices speak volumes.

STYLE: Students often say they want to loosen up their brushstrokes, and I've helped many of them do that. A more impressionistic style of realism is a completely different approach from start to finish than the "tighter" style of traditional or classical realism. I love painting both ways and everything in between. They're both beautiful and enjoyable (and equally challenging to do well). Once you gain mastery of the principles listed here you'll be in control, so you can have fun developing your own unique voice.