Push/Pull Theory III: Exploring Hofmann’s Contribution to Painting

Master painter and teacher Hans Hofmann had a school in Provincetown from 1935 to 1958, influencing a generation of art students who went on to become important painters. Course instructor Laura Shabott learned of Hofmann’s push/pull theory through her studies with painter/teacher Robert Henry and as a former gallery assistant at Berta Walker Gallery.

Designed to deepen your understanding of Hofmann’s contribution to painting, and how it relates to your own work, this third in a series of workshops begins with one hour of figure drawing. Then, we will go through visual exercises that demonstrate the difference between perspective and the push/pull theory when creating on a two-dimensional surface.

Day two, we will work from a model beginning with a warm-up of figure drawings and move right into painting to discover how color and form relates to push/pull. There will be breaks for discussion on how to integrate this way of seeing into your own visual vocabulary. Feedback in a safe group environment, as well as individual conversations with the teacher, will occur throughout this affirming, process-based course. Class size is limited to ten .

Supply list: When a group of artists work from the same size and materials, we can learn from each other's approach.

18 x 24-inch white acid free drawing paper with 25 free sheets. A 200 grade of Strathmore is good.

Four 18 x 24 inches of stretched canvas prepared with gesso and on stretchers.

Vine charcoal in the biggest size you can find.

Artist Chamois Cloth

Oil Paints: whatever you have. Make sure to have the primary red, yellow, blue, black, white, a raw umber or burnt sienna with a palette.

Brushes: The largest that you have.

Tools: bubble wrap, knives (not too sharp), straight edge.

Handwipes

Gloves

Gamsol as solvent, jars, rags, bag.**You will take this with you and bring back each day: Gamsol as solvent, jars, rags, bag.

Artist Bio: After two decades of a multi-disciplinary practice, Laura Shabott returned to painting and drawing through a Romano Rizk Scholarship from PAAM with a Cape Resident Scholarship and Returning Residencies from the Fine Arts Work Center. A graduate of School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA), Boston at Tufts, she shows with Four Eleven Gallery in Provincetown.

Shabott considers drawing the foundation of her studio practice and. She is a process driven teacher of drawing and painting at PAAM, Castle Hill and the Cape Cod Museum of Art.

Education: 1974-2016: Parsons School of Design (NY), Philadelphia College of Art, now University of the Arts (PA), School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts (MA) Diploma, LOWF Museum School at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) and Fine Arts Work Center (FAWC), Provincetown.