View part one of artist-instructor Dan Thompson's figure-painting demonstration. This installment focuses on the grisaille. Stay tuned for the next installment, which will move into the color phase of the painting.

Sign up for a five-day drawing and painting workshop with Dan Thompson July 19 through July 23 at the The Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art.

NOTE: Please give the video a minute to load before pressing the play button.

Comments

Congragulations and thank you American Artist Magazine and LAAFA for hosting this wonderful demo session with Dan Thompson. It's very helpful to see how Dan proceeds to draw the portrait with the Grisaille technique.
I am very much looking forward to our workshop with Dan at the end of July.
Linda Dulaney-Founder
Bay Area Classical Artist Atelier
www.bacaa.org

Wow!. Thanks,Dan. Very educational demo. I've learned a lot.

I just completed a workshop with Dan at The Grand Central Academy of Art in NYC. I was able to see the finished painting which is truly beautiful. I can't wait to see the rest of this demo. Dan is a fabulous teacher. I would encourage anyone who can to take one of his classes.

Your video was wonderful and I am anxious to try the grisaille technique. Is there any way the piano accmpaniment could be eliminated or muted while Dan was speaking? It was too loud and distracting.

Thank you so much for sharing your talent. I am 70 years old and find the best artists are willing to share their discoveries. As a docent in a museum I find I am always trying to share my knowledge about art with visitors. You really helped me with this phase. I am looking forward to the color portion of your presentation. Thank you

I too, attended the workshop at Grand Central Academy in NY at the end of June. Dan is a consumate artist and very importantly an excellent and enthusiastic teacher, both sensitive to the needs of the individual student and generous with the amount of information he imparts. I left feeling that in 5 days I had received a year's worth of teaching.

Thank you for the wonderful demo by Dan Thompson. I find this technique very interesting.

I will say the music, while Dan was talking, was quite distracting.

I can't wait to try this technique.

I really learned a lot from watching Dan. It was interesting to me how often he looked at his model. Often, very often. And I noticed how often he self corrects, puts a mark down, looks at it with everything else he has down and the model and corrects if needed. I think that practice is part of why he nails his proportions so well. Very nice demo, thanks so much!

vERY GOOD BUT COULD NOT HEAR THE ARTIST. tHE PIANO WAS LOUD AND CLEAR

The piano music was too loud and the artist's instructions were covered over.It looked like a very good instruction, but turning down the sound meant I could not hear the artist's comments. :-(

Great demo.....can't wait for the next installment. Very imspirational! Thanks for sharing.

I have taken workshop with Dan before and he is an excellent teacher as well as artist.

thanks for this demo, great job...can't wait for the color phase.

the sound came on - but the video never appeared. disappointing

I'm going to be really blunt here. PLEASE get rid of the piano! For a while, I thought I had a computer glitch. It isn't needed because Dan's demo should be heard clearly. It is a wonderful learning experience. Thank you.

thanks Dan and American Artist Magazine for this very special opportunity to watch a moderns day master teach painting! I wish we could see the rest of the demo -
I too can't wait for the color portion of the demo.

Wonderful demonstration. Dan really clarifies the need for getting the values correct in order to define the form. That's the beauty of the grisaille technique, and seeing his approach in a video is so much more instructive than reading about it. Thank you for providing this resource. One question--how long was the actual painting session?

I could not hear any of his comments. The piano is drowning him out.

It was kind of boring to just watch his hand and brush flit about the canvas while piano music played and no explanations of why he was making those particular strokes was given. It would have been nice to see a photo of the model superimposed on the side so we could compare it to the paining, and have him explain exactly what he was doing as he went along.

I attribute Dan to my artistic growth. Not only is he a brilliant and unique artist, he is an eloquent and profound instructor. I find that artists from all levels continue to learn from him. I would recommend him highly to everyone. Thank you so much for posting this demo. I didn't have any trouble with the clarity of the sound. Looking forward to the next installation.

I can't say enough how significant it was to learn from Dan. He approaches every piece with such energy and insight which is clear at every stage of the process.
" The function of an artist is to be able to show an infinite variety of life. The dull world presented to us by so many painters is boring and quickly forgotten."(Hensche)
Dan is NOT and will never be a boring artist. Thank you for your generosity with this demo.

Dan, It was fantastic! I can't wait for part 2! Thanks a million for your great ideas. You demonstrated them excellently.

When can we expect video #2?

I agree that the video was boring and not professionally produced. You guys are too easily pleased.

I take it back. I loved everything about it!

I do not take it back! That message was by some other fake Cornelius.

But seriously, I'm just a jealous wanna-be. I don't know what I'm talking about.

Finally viewed the video. It was excellent except for the piano music which was excessively distracting.

That's right, you don't, jerko.

Great demo, but please kill the music when he is speaking.

Very good music, but a little hard to enjoy with that guy talking so much.