The Syracuse Poster Project

Please cast your vote in support of the Syracuse Poster Project, a great local art initiative, seeking to attain special funding for a new city wide multi-cultural arts project for recently nationalized American citizens in Syracuse, New York.

Vote here throughout the month of December 2012.

More information on the Syracuse Poster Project here.

In memoriam

In memory of Carmen Basilio, Middleweight and two-time Welterweight Champion of The World. #CanastotaNY #TitletownUSA

http://www.ibhof.com/pages/news/carmenbasilio.html

Fall 2012 Art Classes!

Hi everyone!

Time is still available to enroll in my "Intro to Acrylic Painting" class at the Madison-Oneida BOCES Consortium of Continuing Education in Verona, New York. 

Classes run on Thursdays, beginning October 25 and running through November 15, 2012 from 6:30-8:30pm. 

Please register through the school's website: www.moboces.org

As a reminder, both this class and my "Sketching and Drawing" class will continue to be offered into the new year. Please remember to register in advance.

Register Now!

Register Now! This year, as part of its Street Painting Festival, the Syracuse New Times is offering a Figure Drawing competition in addition to the Sidewalk Art and Paper Box Painting contests. All competitions take place Saturday July 28, so download your application today at www.syracusenewtimes.com. I will be judging the Figure Drawing competition, so come on down and say hi. I hope to see some great work from all of you!

Art Classes

Hello everyone,


Currently, I am teaching art classes as part of the Madison-Oneida BOCES Consortium of Continuing Education in Verona, New York. I am instructing one class as of right now, "Sketching and Drawing", and may be teaching others in the near future as interest builds. So, if you are in the area or know of someone, please have them take a look at their website (http://www.moboces.org/) or call 315-361-5500 for more information. Classes will restart in Fall 2012. 


Hope to see you there!


Joe

The New School- artist lecture

On January 10th and 11th, 2012, I was invited to The New School in Syracuse, NY to give an artist presentation to children in grades K-8. I spoke about my work as an illustrator, creating architectural images for colleges and businesses, as well as pursuing a career as a children's book illustrator.

After a delightful question and answer period, I demonstrated the wet and dry watercolor painting techniques to one group of young artists. To practice what they had learned, students were asked to paint a very special railroad lantern that I brought in especially for the occasion. I explained that, as an artist, we paint the shadows and highlights of an object, which can be many different kinds of shapes. So, if we look at these shapes and their color, it becomes easier to paint something that might appear very difficult. By using a red light source inside the lantern, students were able to see these shapes and color changes very easily and were able to create their own works of art of the lantern. The delight on the children's faces in accomplishing this difficult task was very rewarding to all. By introducing this masterly technique early on in their artistic development, the students have successfully begun a new way of seeing the world around them.

On my second day at the school I worked with the remaining group of children, grades K-3, demonstrating the same wet and dry watercolor painting techniques, but using a bowl of fruit as a still life. Students were first asked to block in the shapes of the different fruits with one color and then add small lines, or dots, of another color to create areas of shadows between the fruits. Once again, the students were very enthusiastic and were able to paint remarkable still lifes.

Thank you to The New School Staff for extending the invitation to come and be a part of this special workshop. I hope to see the work of these fabulous artists flourish in the years to come!

For more information about The New School, please visit their website.

http://www.newschool-syr.org/index.shtml