Mural Painting course part I / Cours Peinture Murale

The in-depth approach to perspective allowed participants to have a real hands-on approach to this amazing subject, which is also such an important tool in mural painting.  After spending time working on perspective drawings, participants of our 6-week Panoramics and Painted Murals course were then immersed in yet another fascinating subject: framework of the image, the composition, and the use of color. 

The painting section of this class allows participants not only to paint, but to also study the techniques of painting the sky, trees, foliage, landscape, architectural elements, study and understand the different planes, etc.

Here are some photos of the first panel covered in class.

Michel preparing his canvas

 Michel showing how to paint the background

Michel doing a demo on the lion-head fountain

Work in progress: Mural with fountain, by Michel Nadaï

Close up of mural by Michel

Another close up of mural by Michel 

Ferrie, from Holland working on his panel

Perspective

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of our friends!  We wish you a year of happiness and joy, health, success and prosperity!

After our 2-week Christmas and New Year break, classes at Atelier Nadaï resumed on January 4th with the Panoramics and Painted Murals module.  This 6-week long program started with an in-depth study on perspective.

Perspective is a fundamental tool for us decorative painters, and this is especially true when you decide to include painted murals in your range of services.

Prior to the Renaissance, paintings lacked accurate spatial representation. Although there was an attempt to represent distance by adding larger figures and objects in the foreground and smaller ones in the foreground, the perspective rules were not really understood. When the method for drawing linear perspectives was developed in the Renaissance, it completely transformed the way artists drew and painted. These methods are still used today and help make our drawings and paintings more realistic.

The hands-on exercises and detailed step-by-step explanations presented during our 6-week Panoramics and Painted Murals module will help our students gain a better understanding of perspective. Once they understood the fundamental principles of perspective, our students will have acquired a very powerful tool that will help give their drawings and murals a much more precise and realistic rendering.

We will be posting photos taken during this 6-week course.  But before that, here are a few photos taken in front of our studio on Christmas Eve...

Bright sunset on Christmas Eve

Beautiful rainbow on Christmas Eve!

Trompe-l'oeil course - week four

Last Friday was the last day of our Trompe-l'oeil class.  In the final panel covered in class, I incorporated various new elements such as the drapery, the rendering of a statue inside a niche, and the study of a trompe-l'oeil panel in perspective.  This introduced my students to the notion of highlights and shadows done in perspective.

The 4-week ornaments and moldings painted in trompe-l'oeil course is indeed a very intensive program, loaded with information and tons of hands on practice.  As students learn  advanced techniques, they will put them into practice on exquisite panels that will greatly enhance their portfolios.

A big hand to all of you for having completed this course!   

And a very Merry Christmas to all our friends and followers!

May the new year bring you lots of happiness and joy, abundance and prosperity, good health and everything you wish for!

 
On the last day of our 4-week Trompe-l'oeil class...
we had snow!

And, continuing from our previous 'page'
 here is Michel's finished panel

     

close up of panel

One more 'snow' photo!

Michel giving step-by-step instructions

Another gorgeous panel taught in class
Shown below is Michel's work

Close up of trompe-l'oeil niche

Close up of entablature comprising ornaments,
dentils and moldings

Trompe-l'oeil is all about light and shadow

We have less than 2 weeks to go in our Moldings and Ornaments painted in Trompe-l'oeil course and I am very happy with the way my students have progressed these past few days!  It seems just like yesterday that I was explaining to them the importance of getting their filets or linings right.  Today they understand this new 'language' of trompe-l'oeil and are continuing to explore new techniques I'm showing them in class. 

Michel giving a detailed explanation during a demo

Michel showing how to tackle the central ornaments

Students watching attentively as Michel adds on
the details that will define the ornaments

Students at work

and another demo...

To be continued...

Trompe-l'oeil moldings and ornaments galore!

During this 4-week program Michel led the class inside the magical world of trompe-l'oeil which, as described in his book, Art & Techniques: Decorative Painting, encompasses the study of highlight and shadow, imitation moldings, and decorative ornamentations of style.

After teaching the filets, or linings, Michel took the time to explain various architectural molding profiles in detail.  The techniques covered in class are similar to studying a new language - like a new set of codes - that will help students create the illusion that will give their painted objects a three-dimensional character.

Michel giving detailed, step-by-step instructions

Students watching closely during a demo

Michel checking student's work

Michel relaxing, as he waits for students
to gather for the demo

Students' panels lined up on our studio's wall

Another demo by Michel -
a decorative ornamentation of style painted in trompe-l'oeil

Michel's panel - work in progress

Ornaments and moldings of style painted in Trompe-l'oeil

Greetings to you all!

We would like to start this week's blog by wishing all our American friends a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Although we don't celebrate this event here in France, we think it's such a great idea to give thanks and simply be grateful about everything we have in life.

This week my wife Kyoko and I are grateful for the wonderful 8 weeks we just spent teaching the wood graining and faux marble course at our studio in Le Passage, France.  We had a wonderful, harmonious, fun-loving group that made teaching and learning such a joyful experience.  Merci beaucoup to all of you! 

And now, everyone's ready for yet another adventure as we explore the magical world of trompe-l'oeil during our 4-week ornaments and moldings painted in trompe-l'oeil course. 

This course is an in-depth and intensive program during which students will get the opportunity to really explore the amazing world of trompe-l'oeil thanks to the unique program we have put in place at Atelier Nadaï. 

It all begins with a line...

Filet sec - a simple lining...

which then turns into molding profiles...

which then turn into painted moldings...

and which, at the end, looks like this .
Voila! An étude on moldings by Michel Nadaï.

Last day of our 8-week long Wood graining and Faux marble course!

Today was the last day of our 8-week long wood graining and faux marble course for 2009. 

It was a real joy to see how students progressed during those 8 intensive weeks.  While the first week was filled with hesitant gestures and lack of confidence, today I look at my students prepare their own glaze, mix their own colors, and handle their countless tools with ease and confidence.  The gestures they use to wood grain and paint faux marble have now become second nature.  This is thanks to the countless repetition of exercises and drills I had them do in class.  A big hand to all of you!  You've all done very well, and remember, this is only the beginning of a beautiful adventure in graining and marbling.


Next week, we begin another journey with yet another intensive and in-depth class - our 4-week ornaments and moldings painted in trompe-l'oeil course which will be followed by the panoramics and painted murals course.  But, before that, here are a few more things students saw in class .

Let's begin with another bonus photo -
gorgeous sunrise in Agen, taken on our way to the studio

Back to photos of some of the other subjets covered in class

Lapis Lazuli and Malachite samples by Michel

      

Medicis Breche and mixed campan by Michel Nadaï

Michel doing a demo on pickled oak

Michel's pickled oak panel depicting
the heart grain, the straight grains and the silver grains

Student working on sarrancolin marble

Michel doing a demo on the sarrancolin marble

   

Close up of Michel's sarrancolin marble

All About Walnut

As we have seen with the other faux bois studied in class, the étude or the study of each species of wood includes an in-depth approach, covering techniques that will help students understand the structure of the wood, and thus properly imitate its recognizable features, such as its straight grains and heart grain.

Another characteristic of wood, which students saw in class, is the loupe or burl. 
Michel selected the loupe de noyer, or walnut burl, to show the techniques used to imitate the burl.

The walnut panel that Michel prepared for class contains the three main elements: the burl, the straight grains, and the heart grain.  As they worked on this panel, students were not only able to practice each element separately (before doing their final panel for their portfolio), they were also able to practice graining various parts of the walnut in a specific design layout.

Another fabulous panel added to each student's gorgeous portfolio!

Michel doing a demo on walnut

Michel Nadai's walnut panel
comprising the burl, the straight grains and the heart grain

Close up of the straight grains by Michel

Close up of the walnut burl by Michel

And here's a bonus photo
taken on our studio's patio in Le Passage...
a beautiful rainbow after a morning rain shower