In the first-ever global virtual art conference for contemporary realism, hundreds gathered online to learn from today’s master artists. Realism Live took place over four days (as well as offering a Beginner’s Day) with live presentations and interviews, recorded demonstrations during which the artist interacted in an ongoing chat room with all the viewers, and nightly Cocktail Hours and Paint Along sessions.
Included was an exclusive faculty art auction with works from 90 artists who have been on the faculty as well as many other esteemed Streamline art events. Next up is Watercolor Live in January 2024! We hope to see you there!
Highlights from the 4th Annual Realism Live
In a special presentation, we awarded Max Ginsburg with the Fine Art Connoisseur Lifetime Achievement Award. This was followed by a fascinating interview with Max and Peter Trippi, during which Max shared his inspirations for 10 of his powerful narrative paintings.
In one of the highlights of this year’s Realism Live, Peter Trippi had an on-camera conversation with Burt Silverman on his approach to art making. Burt shared insights on how his early life influenced his body of work, which he felt was an important preface to how he approaches subjects such as the nude figure.
With a focus on simplification, Pat Fiorello taught us how to paint realistically without getting caught up in all the details. She used a two-stage approach to paint a still life of yellow roses.
C.W. Mundy gave us a lesson on painting “3-D realism,” a process that begins with taking a photograph of a highly dimensional scene, creating depth perception by having the camera pull the main subject into focus while softening the background elements. Using this type of photo reference, C.W. then walked us through his painting process in great depth.
Nanci France Vaz is both an artist and a storyteller through her portrait paintings. Her demo was titled “Imagine” and focused on creating an illusion of reality for the “imaginative portrait.” Nanci used a photo reference of her model, who is a singer/songwriter on the road. Their intention was “bohemian spirit,” inspired by Nanci’s current solo show at Dacia Gallery (NYC).
“There are a lot of tools, but there are no rules,” explained Glenn Vilppu in his encouraging workshop on how to draw, titled “Beginning of a Journey.” Glenn used an iPad to demonstrate how you can go from a stick figure to a gesture drawing, from a “snowman” to a recognizable human form. He says, “There are absolutely no restrictions on what you can think or imagine.”
Wende Caporale is a Master Pastelist with the Pastel Society of America. In 2019 she was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award along with her husband, Daniel E. Greene N.A., from the Figurative Art Convention (FACE). For her Realism Live demo, Wende shared her techniques for painting a portrait with pastels, beginning with a schematic drawing in charcoal on a textured surface.
Remember to save the date for Watercolor Live, which will include another faculty art auction, and much more for artists and art enthusiasts: WatercolorLive.com
