I expected that I would learn a bit about how to paint like Bill does, how to create cool, exquisite, high finish work. I learned so much in class, but how to work only in his style is not what he taught.
That's fine because what I did learn is even more valuable to me.
On the last day in class, during a discussion on lunch break, Bill talked to me about how important it would be to try and understand the type of paintings I loved and why. And through Bill's demos and explanations I learned how to do it. I have always loved paintings that are more fluid and "juicy" (Bill's word) with much of the brushwork showing, and that include dramatic light, high contrasts and strong color.
Right now I "blend the life out of" almost everything I paint. He taught me how to "lay it and leave it" and that when I tried to do that with my brushstrokes in the past I was putting far too much paint on the canvas for it to work properly.
Now it only remains to be seen if I have the courage to take this new direction in my work (and if my portrait clients will go for it!) But now at least I know where I want to head and why.
So, ironically, I learned how I might begin to take my work in the opposite direction from what you would expect from a student of Bill Whitaker's. He helped me start to see the direction in which I want to go, and how I might do it. And that, I think, will prove to be even more valuable than everything else I learned in class.
Thank you, Bill.
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