studio classes


These 3 hour classes meet weekly and focus primarily on painting the effect of light on color.  Exercises involve refining the ability to see color relationships and then interpreting those relationships in pigment. Oils or pastels recommended, but any medium is fine. This study process allows the student to achieve greater effects of light, form and atmosphere in their work. The classes are setup in six week ongoing sessions. Cost is $150 for each session. Classes are held at Ceraso Gallery & Studio, address and map at bottom of page.

mondays
1:30 to 4:30 pm

tuesdays
6:45 to 9:45 pm

thursdays (except oct 17th - nov 21st)
12:00 to 3:00 pm

 

ghost ranch plein air workshop
september 12th - 18th, 2020



If you haven't experienced the magnificence of Ghost Ranch, just outside of Abiquiu, New Mexico, here's your chance! This was the beloved land that inspired Georgia O'Keefe for most of her life. The Ranch offers amazing vistas from the painted desert to the red and ochre rocks and buttes and the stunning sites along the Chama River. See and paint the Pedernal, Chimney Rock and other sites that O'Keefe made famous.


Ceraso will teach and demonstrate each day. You will learn how to simplify the landscape into its basic masses and develop your ability to see and paint these masses in color, going beyond just the value changes and seeing the full spectrum of color. You will learn not only how to capture the full effect of light in your painting, but also how to depict volume and atmosphere through color relationships. This week will be only the beginning of a lifetime of endless discoveries of color seeing and mixing!

Prices start at $959 for the week. This price includes room and board, three meals a day and the workshop fee.

for more info click here

register soon, tends to fill up by June






 

fall classes 2019

art students league of denver

sculpting with color  
thursdays, 1:00 - 4:00 pm, oct 17th - nov 21st

This is an unusual approach to painting, in that its more akin to sculpting with colored shapes in order to capture the effects of form, light and atmosphere. In this class you will learn how to hone color perception and notice the umbrella of light (Monet's term) that everything sits in. You will learn a way of using your eyes that allows this perception to develop, as well as learn a way of applying paint or pastel so as to find these colors in your pigments. Primarily through the study of simple still life set ups, a different one each week, you will learn a new language, one based in real world sensations of color that will give you a much broader facility with color and shape in whatever way of painting suits you.



arvada center for the arts and humanities:

drawing for people who think they can't  
wednesdays, 5:15 - 7:15 pm, oct 16th - nov 27th

Regardless of how many years people spend telling themselves they can’t draw, it’s not true. You can! The ability to draw is natural to everyone, not just the “gifted.” The key to bringing out that ability lies in the eyes, not the hands. If you can sign your name, you have all of the manual dexterity needed to draw as well as Rembrandt. What remains is to develop the ability to see. Through the concepts of positive and negative space, contour and design (among others), learn the way of “seeing” that unlocks the ability to draw with accuracy and freedom of expression. Experience the stimulation, personal satisfaction and sense of well-being that comes through the
process of drawing. The concepts and exercises are given in a way that even children can grasp. You may discover a wonderful pastime that you can enjoy for many years to come. Supply List will be mailed prior to class



painting like the impressionists, the art of color seeing
 
saturday, oct 19th, 12:30 - 5:30 pm

If you’ve always liked the work of Monet and the impressionists, this six week in-depth class is for you! We will do painting exercises first developed by Charles Hawthorne. Hawthorne, Monet’s contemporary, started the first school of light and color in the United States
in the early 1900s. Ceraso studied with Henry Hensche, Hawthorne’s protégée who took over the school when Hawthorne died in 1930. Hensche further developed the teaching methods as well as the impressionist style in his own painting. You will learn to see the three qualities of color and gain an understanding of how light affects the appearance of color. Discover the extraordinary
world of light and color. Supply List will be mailed prior to first class.




boulder lifelong learning                                                              (classes held in ceraso gallery & studio)


drawing for people who think they can't

saturday, nov 2nd, 12:30 - 5:30 pmd                                                                                             
Regardless of how many years people spend telling themselves they can’t draw, it’s not true. You can! The ability to draw is natural to everyone, not just the “gifted.” The key to bringing out that ability lies in the eyes, not the hands. If you can sign your name, you have all of the manual dexterity needed to draw as well as Rembrandt. What remains is to develop the ability to see. Through the concepts of positive and negative space, contour and design (among others), learn the way of “seeing” that unlocks the ability to draw with accuracy and freedom of expression. Experience the stimulation, personal satisfaction and sense of well-being that comes through the
process of drawing. The concepts and exercises are given in a way that even children can grasp. You may discover a wonderful pastime that you can enjoy for many years to come. Supply List will be mailed prior to class


the art of color seeing (painting like the impressionists)
saturday, june 22nd, 12:30 - 5:30 pm

This is an unusual approach to painting, in that its more akin to sculpting with colored shapes in order to capture the effects of form, light and atmosphere. In this class you will learn how to hone color perception and notice the umbrella of light (Monet's term) that everything sits in. You will learn a way of using your eyes that allows this perception to develop, as well as learn a way of applying paint or pastel so as to find these colors in your pigments. Primarily through the study of simple still life set ups, a different one each week, you will learn a new language, one based in real world sensations of color that will give you a much broader facility with color and shape in whatever way of painting suits you. All levels, beginner to advanced.



 

video demonstration of capturing the light effect

Painting demonstration: this was painted with an iPod touch with the application, Brushes. It attempts to show how a light key is achieved by developing the colors of all the masses in stages. A light key, or the envelope of light that the subject sits in, is the result of all the colored shapes within the subject, those that are the result of direct light and those the result of indirect light. By finding these colors and shapes with our pigments, one is able to capture the luminosity of the subject, as well as the sense of atmosphere and modeled form.