Mentorship is the fastest way to go from where you are today, to where you want to be! Learn How Mentorship Works or join this mentors group below. Not sure what stage you are? Click here for descriptions.
I collect moments. If you look through my collection you’ll see paintings of people I’ve met, places I’ve been, and things I’ve seen. Because of my background in classical realism, it is important for me to paint these moments realistically. But solely painting realism feels incomplete, and I find that it can become a bit too academic. It’s not only about the visual recreation that is my intention in oil painting. I want to make my audience feel they are walking down a rainy street, climbing up a sun drenched hill, or sitting in front of a beautiful figure.
I want a viewer to feel the moments I collect.
In my work, I find myself breaking free from traditional ways of painting and incorporating much more expressive means. I place highly developed detail next to looser, almost abstract, areas. I’m fascinated with how to combine near photographic rendering alongside the roughness of the palette knife, or the randomness of a loaded brush. This combination of realism and Impressionism techniques creates a natural tension in my paintings, as well as directs where I want the eye to travel. Even my choice of composition and subject matter are influenced by this part of me. I find that I create compositions outside of conventional rules and gravitate towards subjects that do not necessarily follow a standard of beauty. There is a bit of provocation in this, as I play off of the traditional ways art should be, but there is also an invitation to see what else beauty entails.
Calvin’s EXPERTISE
Listed below are this Mentor’s specialty skills. Join this group if you want to grow in these areas.
Specialty: ✔ Generalist
Technical:
Z
Color & Composition
Z
Providing Art Critiques
Z
Teaching How to Self Critique
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Supplies and tools – what to use, where to save, and where to spend
Marketing:
Z
Social Media (Instagram Advice)
Z
Website Design
Business:
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Pricing Artwork
Excellent demos. Phenomenal mentor. I always learn something.
Calvin is amazing. He got me all loosened up and stoked to keep painting. I’ve learned SO much and my painting has improved a LOT.
Calvin is very down to earth and explains his techniques in a way that I find very easy to understand. The critiques today were helpful! Looking at your own work and others’ is a great way to train the eye.
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If the group you're interested in has a waitlist, you have the option to join another group to get started. When your group opens we can transfer you over.
Emerging
Mentorship Membership
$ USD64/Month
Next session: October 16, 2024
On the 3rd Wednesday of every month 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM MDT Wed
GROUP IS FULL Join the waitlist to receive an email when a spot becomes available.
Not your timezone? Click below
Aspiring
Mentorship Membership
$ USD64/Month
Next session: October 15, 2024
On the 3rd Tuesday of every month 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM MDT Tue
Not your timezone? Click below
MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST
Calvin Lai's art is a mixture of medicine, meditation, and personal growth.
He found early on that drawing was something he loved, and to make a picture appear lifelike became his goal. Through constantly drawing, his work began to breath, and Calvin's fascination with value and perspective led him to become a student of realism. Eventually he moved from where he grew up in Los Angeles to San Francisco. There he studied drawing and printmaking at San Francisco State University. In 2008, he enrolled in the Academy of Art for illustration, but began painting instead. He found that he preferred the fine arts over commercial illustration, and now works as a full time oil painter.
Since then, working from his studio, he has continued to develop and refine his oil painting skills. Lai’s work has been shown nationally in galleries, group exhibitions and juried shows. He has executed a large number of portrait commissions over the past several years, and his paintings have appeared in national and international publications. Throughout his career, Calvin Lai has expanded his focus from figurative and portraiture to encompass a variety of subjects such as still lifes to the San Francisco cityscape. Now he has no borders to what he chooses to paint, and he is driven to capture everything around him through his paints, brushes, and determination.
FREE eBOOK: Secrets You Won't Learn In Art School
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✔ Two things to focus on that improve the VALUE range making your art more interesting
Plus 16 other tips from successful Master Artists that you won't learn in art school.
