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Special Presentation: How to Transcend Subject Through Shape, Color, Abstraction & Point of View
Thursday, June 8
5 – 7pm MDT
7 – 9pm EDT
12 – 2am BST (Friday)
9 – 11am AEST (Friday)
Mentor: Mitchell Albala
$19.00
Transcending Subject Through Shape, Color, Abstraction and Point of View with Master Artist Mitchell Albala!
The most important question a representational painter can ask themselves is: "What are my paintings about?" Are they primarily about the recognizable elements that populate our pictures, such as trees, figures, or apples? Or are they about the foundational aesthetics of our practice—things like shape, pattern, color, abstraction, and mark-making?
In this special presentation, landscape painter, Mastrius mentor, and best-selling author Mitchell Albala will demonstrate how a focus on these aesthetics—along with the all-important point of view or “vision”—can help us transcend subject and tell a different kind of story in our paintings.
HOUR 1: Mitchell will introduce the aesthetics of transcending subject with a presentation that features his own semi-abstract work and the work of other contemporary artists.
HOUR 2: PLEASE SUBMIT a reference photo and/or painting for Mitchell to review and critique. Together we will explore how we can begin the process of transcending subject. Using submitted images, Mitchell will demonstrate the process!. Please note: your image may or may not be selected by the mentor.
- Click here to submit your artwork.
- ANYONE registered for the workshop can submit art.
Always LIVE & INTERACTIVE!
🚩 Tickets ONLY $19 | FREE for Mastrius Members
🎙️ Event recording available for Mastrius Members only
Meet Mitchell Albala
Oil | Pastel
My work has always been driven by three visual imperatives: the inherent abstraction within nature, pattern, and unified light.
A painting can reach a viewer in different parts of their mind. One part responds to things we can name like houses, trees, clouds, and the narrative itself. Another part responds to aesthetics such as color, shape, or movement. This is the part of the mind I want to reach. I consider a picture most successful when the viewer is struck by these aesthetics before they recognize the actual subject.
Color harmony is a core instinct for me. The landscape, with its atmosphere and unified light, is an ideal subject with which to pursue this interest. If I cannot make all the colors in the painting feel as if they are bound together through a unifying color of light, then I will not consider the painting entirely successful. In my work, this cohesiveness often is often achieved with a very limited palette. Each of my paintings also has a distinct color chord, which is meant to capture a particular color of light or time of day.
In my current work, the Azure and Asphalt and Rooftops series, I bring my interest in unified light and pattern to the urban landscape. These works explore the abstract patterns formed by reflected light on the streets and rooftops at sunset. In these works I strike a delicate balance between simplification and detail: I have to include enough visual cues to make it clear to the viewer that it is an urban landscape, but few enough that it doesn’t distract from my primary interest, which are the abstract patterns and the light.
Event Details
Date: June 08, 2023
Start time: 05:00 p.m. MDT
End time: 07:00 p.m. MDT
Venue: Online
Email: mastrius@mastrius.com
TRUSTED PARTNER!

Since 1994 Tri-Art Manufacturing is a Canadian family run company producing a wide range of artist paints in Kingston Ontario. Tri-Art is known by artists nationally and internationally for it's high quality products. Starting with 3 founding members and a single paint line, in a 100 square foot area, Tri-Art has now grown to employ over 70 people, and produce over 20 different paint lines in a production area of over 100,000 square feet.