Ellen Jean Diederich

Mentoring Emerging Artists
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MEDIUM: Acrylic | Mixed Media | Watercolor
SPECIALTY: ✔ Generalist

I genuinely look forward to meeting and mentoring your artistic development. With effort, I hope to help you progress on your creative journey. My primary goal is to help you discover yourself and help you grow as a painter. I have enjoyed helping numerous artists over the years and look forward to meeting you. Everyone will have different strengths and weaknesses and we can all learn from each other. Lessons build from the previous ones, starting with the power of the basic elements of art. I will provide demonstrations, critiques and assignments for each lesson that you can review with the help of your navigator. I hope to create a comfortable non-competitive atmosphere where you paint at your level and gain confidence and the skills to create your own unique compositions and paintings.

Look for my book Progressive Painting – Your Creative Journey in the Mastrius Library. Painting classes will be in Watermedia primarily watercolor and/or acrylic. In my watercolor classes we will start with the most basic techniques. Students of all levels have told me they are grateful for these and they provide excellent future warm ups. Group goals are always considered, but my most popular lessons include: using the grid, color, painting visual volume into your subjects, using contrast, and working the edges painted and unpainted, and paint quality. We will progress with compositional studies, working on choosing and building the interest area and creating supportive and attractive backgrounds. Art business questions are welcome too.