Johnnie Liliedahl: Illumination Beginner Series 12 DVD Combo Set

You will learn, simply by observation, what a color is by its generic definition and what colors are necessary to mix it. Instructions will be included that will show you how to mix any color you desire. You will never again have to buy browns, greens, or other earth colors.

The included video insert page provides study exercises that, if performed, will make you color-savvy and provide you with an invaluable color reference that you can use for the remainder of your painting career.

This second video in the “Illuminations!” series builds on the information provided in Vol. 1, “Understanding Color”, and explores the role color plays in creating form, depth, and excitement in paintings. You’ll learn about temperature, value, and intensity with respect to how they affect different aspects of your paintings, as well as look at how you select a color scheme. We’ll also see how you can use the color panels, developed in Vol. 1, to give you precise mixtures for the components of a painting.

Discussion includes aerial perspective (creation of depth of space in landscapes through the use of color), how the color of the light affects color choices, the creation of form with color instead of value, how to use temperature and intensity, and uses of transparent and opaque paints.

Drawing is that essential ingredient that makes a piece of work worthy of the title “art”. Drawing is not only the ability to render something in charcoal, pencil, ink, or paint; it is the ability to see what you are attempting to capture. Then, once you can actually see what is before you, drawing also encompasses the ability to compose what you see. Being able to render the appearance of an object is an important skill, but it is a mistake to think that rendering is all that drawing is about.

Do you want to be a better painter and create your own original compositions, but find yourself at a loss to compose them beautifully? What you are searching for won’t be found in most painting classes. The emphasis is more often on color and paint methods and techniques than on composition basics, and rightly so. What you really want to know is founded on sound drawing principles such as those included in this intensive video class.

Learn how basic shapes can further your understanding of all forms in nature, and how certain natural laws affect the values of any object, regardless of its local value or color.

Packed full of information and observations that every painter should know, Johnnie takes you through the myriad of concerns that every painter must address in any painting: viewpoint, unity and repetition, rhythm and variety, weight and contrast, positive and negative space, contour, value, line and key, The Golden Mean. There are even exercises for you to practice to enhance your imagination and to provide ideas for painting when you can think of no others.

Certain natural laws affect the values of any object, regardless of its local value or color. That’s why an understanding of the basic shapes can further your understanding of all forms in nature. This video is packed full of information and observations that every painter should know. Johnnie Liliedahl takes you through the myriad concerns every painter must address in any painting. Understand the role that viewpoint, unity and repetition, rhythm and variety, weight and contrast, positive and negative space, contour, value, line, and key all play in a composition. Johnnie even helps you better understand the Golden Mean. There are exercises for you to practice that will both enhance your imagination and provide ideas for painting when you can think of no others. This video is for the novice and experienced painter alike.

The natural world exists with certain immutable givens: gravity, sunlight, seasons, phases of the moon, etc. These are obvious to everyone. There are other, more subtle, givens in our natural world that can make or break a beginning painter’s work if not truthfully observed. Knowledge of the rules that nature imposes on light, shadow, and form will elevate your painting attempts to new levels.

Some of the questions that will be explored and answered are:

• What is meant by a “shadow”?
• Are cast shadows and shadow sides the same?
• Are shadows always cool?
• If not, why?
• Can you have different temperature shadows in the same painting?
• How does light affect the color of the shadows?
• What determines the core shadow temperature?
• Can I have warm lights and warm shadows?
• Can I have cool lights and cool shadows?

If you have subjects (either photos or live models) you want to paint that are between the ages of 3 and puberty, this video will give you insight into specific features to look for that will capture their youthful appearance.

The Illuminations! Series addresses many of the basic elements of painting that many beginning painters fail to learn because they may not have access to good instructive art sources. Collect the entire series to acquire a good foundation in painting principles, regardless of your chosen medium.

This video is one of the first to pull together the information presented in earlier, preparatory titles about the treatment of still life objects and how to paint them. Watch as Johnnie paints every stroke in this attractive setup of her painting tools. Paint along with her or setup your own.

Identify the local color of every major value mass in the painting, i.e., background cloth, background wall, table surface, copper portion of pot, brass portion of pot, etc. Lay these in with a single, transparent color in the value they represent. This is a quick way to establish not only the value range of the composition, but also the color relationships of the big masses. Decisions made after this point will be easier than trying to paint one area to completion before considering adjacent areas.

Choose only three primary colors, plus black and white, and you’ll be amazed at how many colors you can mix from this limited palette. Refer to DI-1 Understanding Color, for more information on these exercises. The Old Masters used a few transparent colors to achieve richness and depth by glazing luminous dark areas. White makes any mixture opaque, so with white added to the palette, you can double the number of colors you can make from the three primaries. Try three primary colors (different from the ones used in this video) on your limited palette and see how the change in palette offers new color ranges without sacrificing the unity of a color scheme. More colors often create discordant color notes, so avoid that pitfall by limiting your palette to only five paints: red, yellow, blue, black and white.

The limited palette used for this painting will help you create integrated color schemes and powerful compositions with the tips and techniques Johnnie provides in this demonstration.

Printed instructions accompany the video so that you can paint along. Learn old master methods of underpainting, glazing, scumbling and impasto using only three colors (red, yellow, blue) plus black and white.

The Illuminations! Series addresses many of the basic elements of painting that many beginning painters fail to learn because they may not have access to good instructive art sources. Collect the entire series to acquire a good foundation in painting principles, regardless of your chosen medium.

This video explores not only the theory and measurements to determine likenesses of the model in three views, but also how to control the medium of oil paint during the drawing process.

Three head views are fully demonstrated, using the live model, graphic illustrations to capture the likeness, and full verbal narration of the painting/drawing process. This video is a must for painters wanting to venture into portrait or character painting.

In Drawing Faces, Remember These Important Rules:

• The facial mas is divided into three equal parts.
• The width of the nose is the same as the distance between the eyes.
• The corners of the mouth are located directly below the pupils.
• The eyebrow begins under the browbone and arches over the bone.
• The arch of the eyebrow is outside the edge of the iris.
• The eyes are located ⅓ down the length of the middle third.
• The face is five eyes wide.
• The eyes and mouth lose width as they turn toward ¾ and profile.
• The nose does not lose width, regardless of view.

 While the palette choices of colors to include is important, the concept of color temperature and value is far more critical to capturing the specific coloring of an individual. Johnnie has chosen two models with very different skin colors and values to show you that BOTH can be painted from the same array of fleshtone mixtures, even though they appear to be unrelated by complexion.

Throughout this video, Johnnie offers tips and suggestions to capturing any portrait likeness with facility and truth to the model’s unique features. Enrich your own knowledge of portrait painting by learning how simple it can be to switch from one skin type to another.

In Painting Ethnic Faces, Remember These Important Points:

• All human faces, regardless of ethnic origin, are more similar than they are different. The shadow shape on the face follows the same pattern on all heads, with only minor differences.
• Value range and temperature changes are more important than specific colors on the face. Accurate measurements determine specific likenesses rather than color of flesh. The hair is an important fleshtone, and is the most important big, dark mass on the head.
• As the face turns from the light, you see more of the receding plane of the face, and more of the back of the cranium. The features occupy a smaller portion of the face than seen at full-face. The eyes and mouth lose width as the face turns, but the nose does not.

Intended as an instructional program, Johnnie invites you to paint along with her as she develops this painting using methods practiced by artists Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Ingres and others. Working with photographs of her model, she shows how to use these easy-to-understand techniques to build a solid value structure of the painting before applying color in thin layers of glazes, scumbles and impasto.
Printed reference photographs and helpful notes are included with this video program. Use this video to practice new techniques and skills by painting along, or apply the concepts to your own portrait references, and see the difference it will make in your understanding of the processes used by the Old Masters.

In this production, Johnnie Liliedahl uses Old Master techniques to paint a modern portrait of one of her favorite models. Intended as an instructional program, she invites you to paint along with her as she develops this painting using methods practiced by artists Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Ingres and others. Working with photographs of her model, she shows how to use this easy-to-understand techniques to build a solid value structure of the painting before applying color in thin layers of glazes, scumbles and impasto.

Tip: Work from black and white photos rather than colors photos to get the correct values in your painting.

This video addresses not only the Flemish Old Master’s Method, but also the concept of narrative painting, where contemporary, costumed models are placed in a historical setting—all created to tell a visual story. All the references for this painting will be shown, with examples of how to integrate compositional elements from varying sources into a harmonious composition.

Painted over a period of six days, the program includes generous printed materials as guides for the painter who might wish to paint along and recreate this painting for educational purposes.

The Courtship completes the subjects covered in Johnnie Liliedahl’s School of Classical Oil Painting curriculum. This painting was used as the demonstration of the Flemish Old Master painting techniques in a previous curriculum year.