Workshops

LARRY MOORE 2024 Abstraction From Nature!

  • Rockland ME
  • August 5 to 9, 2024
  • Oils, Acrylics, Gouache
  • All levels/Beg Pre-requisites Plein air/Studio
  • Tuition: $790
  • larrymoorestudios.com

Here is a link to an interview Larry had with Eric Rhoades where he explains a lot about his work…you might enjoy listening to i:    https://www.outdoorpainter.com/pleinair-podcast-215…/

And follow him on Facebook…he posts regularly both images and information!

In the Studio. and outside painting in and around the diverse sites in Rockland, you’ll learn to create powerful, thoughtful paintings.  But, this is way more than a “how to paint stuff to look like stuff” class! Larry likes to teach the “other part:  what are you after, what do you bring, what is your voice, how do you stand out in a crowd by being yourself!” He will challenge your whole approach to creativity!

If your goal is to create more realistic paintings, you are most welcome to go for it;  Larry is a master landscape painter and you’ll be in good hands…but if you want to push the edges, and the centers and the all-arounds, he’s prepared to take you on that journey of discovery!

The class is about creating with purposeful intent, deep thinking, about developing and perfecting an idea, refining your strengths and working to eliminate or at least reduce your weaknesses. There will be a lot of exercises, some from Fishing for Elephants, his new book, but some not, since he is always thinking about new ways to teach creativity in a class. It’s also about having Larry’s expert, thoughtful and energetic, out of the box and humorous guidance all the way. He’ll wake you up to New!

Everyone comes to class with a different set of challenges and skills. Larry will build on that, teaching you to  identify and perfect the basics of good painting: color, value, drawing, shape, form, edge, hierarchy, handling of the medium, brushwork, surface & narrative. He’ll take you beyond the literal, to extract the abstract.

Larry will likely focus the first half of the class on the discovery and methods of execution, moving on to further refinement of purpose, concept and a system to get you there more quickly, wherever “there” might be and what ever your style.Larry brings tons of information and humor; you’ll laugh a lot while your mind is being blown and you’ll leave with a brain full of ideas you’d never thought of! Bring a sense of humor and an open mind!

This class will push you into new territory where growth lives. With a focus on the principles of design and abstraction, you will be shown a system for developing your voice as an artist. The emphasis is on creative process, exploring new ways to develop a painting, create inventive compositions, and build authentic intent in your work. Many of the exercises in this class are found in Larry’s book on creativity, “Fishing for elephants. Insights and exercises to inspire authentic creativity”. It’s not a requirement, but a cursory read of the workbook will give you a leg up on this class… and life. Available through Amazon.com 

Larry’s intent is to help artists find a way that works for them, whether they wish to interpret more, push their process or go fully abstract. He’s worked extensively in almost every medium, so all are welcome. The class is as much a challenge for the advanced artist as it is for the beginner, no specific skill set is required since exploration is the goal. However, some understanding of color and paint handling will be helpful. We start small and end big.

This is an open medium class, but gouache, oil and acrylic are best suited. Larry will be working in gouache on watercolor paper for the majority of the class and considers gouache the most versatile medium of all. You’ll be creating a lot of small studies and explorations during the week and have the option of working on a larger piece on the last day in the medium of their choice. But, to keep it simple and focused, Larry recommends using one medium all 5 days.

Artist statement:

“I teach creative thinking, critical thinking, design, and composition, abstraction, methods, and materials but I focus on how to think for yourself and find your own voice as an artist. I bring my diverse creative background of graphic design, illustration, and fine artist to the table, I’ve worked extensively in oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, pastel, and mixed media as a fine artist and an illustrator, which was one of the greatest training grounds for creative thinking out there. When I teach, I give 110%, and if you use metric, 220%. The results this class brings are profound.”

A great hint from Larry: If you’re not up to speed, do get some drawing and painting experience under your belt in the months before you come; it will really help you! Since you have time between now and the class, practice drawing a lot but play with color separately. You’ll learn both faster and be on your game when you get here! (Betty Edward’s Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain…original edition if you can find it…is a confidence and skill boosting primer on being able to draw what you see…hugely helpful!)


 

Larry Moore is an accomplished artist and instructor who brings a wealth of knowledge and creative problem-solving tools to the classroom gleaned from his  years as a nationally recognized illustrator (Gold Medalist, Society of Illustrators, New York), and as an instructor: (Illustration, Critical Thinking, The Visual Language, Color Theory,  Finding Your Voice, Abstraction from Nature, Plein air classes galore and a variety of studio-based classes) A professional visual communicator since 1976, he worked from his roots as a mural and apparel artist in the surf industry into graphic design, advertising, illustration, and fine art, achieving national recognition for his work in each of these areas of visual communication. He has been a college and workshop instructor since 1990 and has published a successful book on creativity for artists titled: Fishing for Elephants: Insights and Exercises to Inspire Authentic Creativity.

He has worked extensively in every medium: watercolor, gouache, acrylics, pastel and his personal favorite, oil so he can help you no matter what you bring. Larry has been a Plein air painter since the ‘80s and has published articles in American Artist Workshop magazine, Plein Air Magazine, American Art Collector, Pastel Magazine and Create Magazine. He has honed his communication skills to express solutions in an understandable and digestible way so that you go home with tools to create on your own and be your own best critic. Larry has developed practical color systems, methods and thought processes to speed up the creative process and skirt the mental speed bumps we all have. He will demo in gouache but can help you with whatever medium you choose to bring to the class.

“Fishing for Elephants explains the creative processes of art and life with a conversational, humorous, and informative voice. While it is geared towards artists, it is not a how to paint something to look like something book. It’s a how to think for yourself, move forward, get out of your comfort zone, get out of your own way, define your voice, refine your voice, focus on those characteristics of creating that are authentic to you and try new directions kind of book for all levels. Designed to help you discover new artistic directions and open the neural pathways to creative problem-solving, Fishing for Elephants is presented in two halves. The first contains everything you need to know about the process of creativity; what keeps you from it, what it is, how to use it and how to get unstuck. It’s flipping all your light switches on kind of stuff. The truth is anyone can be more creative with just a few easy steps. The second half, Voice Finding, is the first half put into action for artists who want to get to their core authentic self, or just want to push out a little. There are more than 150 examples and unconventional exercises designed to break this process into bite-sized chunks so your genius skill-set will expand exponentially. It’s year-long class in a workbook format, with areas to answer creative challenges, set goals, write artist’s statements, sketch out ideas, apply processes like free association, mind maps, reportage, mixed-media, and continuous line drawing in new and thought-challenging ways.”

Larry Moore.

  Workbook:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0692100385/ref=mp_s_a_1_2…

Awards: Numerous Best of show’s, Best of various categories, Artist’s and Collectors choice awards while participating in plein air events around the country.

Society of Illustrators, NY 2005 Gold medal

Society of Illustrators, NY annual exhibit 1995, 1997-2005

Communication Arts Illustration Annual 1999-2008

Luerzers Archive Top 200 illustrators worldwide, 2005

Museum Huntsville Museum of Art, AL

Shows: Society of Illustrators Museum, NY

Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando Fl

Laguna Museum of Art, Laguna CA

Academy Art Museum, Easton MD

Thomas Center for the Arts, Gainesville FL

Maitland Art Center, Maitland FL

Orange County Regional History Center, Orlando FL

Alexander Brest Museum, Jacksonville FL

Tallahassee Museum, Tallahassee FL

The Museum of Florida Art and Culture, Avon Park FL

The Museum of Florida Art, Deland, FL

The Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville, GA

Published

Books: Fishing for Elephants, Insights and exercises to inspire authentic creativity. An 8.5”x11”, 264 page workbook on creativity.

Poster & Process: The opera posters of Larry Moore, 72 pages, 11”x14”

Intrusion, 5.5”x 8.5”, 50 page survey of the series.

Publishers: Bentley Fine Art Publishers, Disney Press, Harcourt, Harlequin, Hyperion, Harper Collins, Scott Foresman, St. Martins Press, Penguin, Putnam-Berkeley, RandMcNally, Scholastic, Tor Books, Winn-Devon Fine Art Publishers.

Articles: American Art Collector, Create Magazine, Pastel Journal, American Artist Workshop Magazine, Plein Air Magazine, International Artist Magazine

Teaching: Valencia College 1995-2005: Illustration, Advanced Illustration, Critical thinking, The visual language.

Workshop instruction 2000- present: Plein Air, Finding your voice, Color theory, Abstraction from nature, Studio methods and materials

Web class through Craftsy

Galleries: Anderson Fine Art, St. Simons Island, GA • Horton Hayes Fine Art, Charleston, NC • Gallery Wild, Jackson Wy • ArtSource, Raleigh, NC • Arts on Douglas, New Smyrna, Fl

Public art Orlando Recreation Center- 25’x15’ mixed media installations

Central Florida Historical Museum- 11 wall murals, various sizes

Adega restaurant, Denver, Co- wall mural, 11’x 40’

Cape Canaveral Port Authority- 4 building murals, total size, 50’x 400’

Krispy Kreme- 2 in-store wall graphics, 6’x25’ each

Volusia Children’s Library- 7 mixed-media installations

Amway Center, Orlando, Fl- 7 large works

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Some General Class Information:

We will make sure you know our 2022 Covid protocols well ahead; please be assured that we will do everything we can to provide a safe environment for you! Compliance with our protocols is required. We’ll decide on carpooling depending on necessary 2022 Covid protocols.

  • Do bring layers for 3 seasons and rain gear…Maine weather changes in a blink and we really never know with any certainty from day to day! We’re fairly informal most everywhere tho, depending on where you eat out…many times, students just clean up in the studio, then head straight to a restaurant…

  • We‘ll process your payment after we get your online Registration and will email you a receipt. A $300 deposit will hold your space. Cancellation and Refund info is at the bottom of the Registration Form…(please do read the Policies before you check that you have!)

  • We’ll send a Supply List and more detailed info after you Register, and again about 2 weeks before the class. Print and tuck into your painting kit…then you’ll know where to find it all! It has the answers to most of your questions!

  • If you will need mediums, let me know and I will have them here for you to buy when you get to class. You are also welcome to ship materials to arrive the week before…ask about details!

  • The first day, the Studio will open at 8:15 AM… Classes run M-F usually between 8:30-4:30, but the exact hours are at the Instructor’s discretion…always an average of 6 hours/day, but starting and ending times may vary according to your instructor.

  • We always have a 1 hr lunch break, to use or not, it’s up to you…and a lunch plan depending on where we are painting. We order in the AM and deliver to your location…you pay in cash on the last day before you leave!

  • We no longer provide bottled water: make sure you have at least one refillable water bottle! Tap water is fine to drink…

  • Our Studios are large, with good light, one with waterviews; you’ll have table space and you are welcome to leave equipment etc. there for the duration of the class. 

  • The Plein Air plan for the day is weather-dependent and decided at the end of the previous day if possible, or more likely, when we meet in the Studio each morning! Make sure your Class Monitors know where you have set up, and try to stay close to the demo area. Less running around for them, more time for feedback to you!

  • There is free parking at the Studio building, which is within a few blocks of downtown.

  • We usually carpool  (or sometimes walk if it’s close) to Plein Air painting sites, many of which have shade and at the least, a porta-potty or nearby facilities. You will get good directions. Please, do NOT depend on your GPS unless we say so!

  • Each class has an experienced Monitor (or two!) as your Go-To person for any problems or needs…please ask…we all will do our absolute best to see that you have a great class experience!

  • Downtown has great galleries, shops and food and the area is full of wonderful places to paint, many accessible to the single painter that a class can’t utilize…if you can, take a look around!

  • For Lodging (scroll down that page for Belfast) and Travel info, click on the buttons on the Home Page.

  • If you have any problems, tell us!! We can’t fix anything if we don’t hear till you get home. Be sure to contact us with any questions. Thanks!

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