• Adobe Photoshop as a Painting Medium - Beginner & Intermediate
This is a MUST program for any serious computer illustrator -
This is the same class Steve Buchanan offered at the
1999 GNSI Conference in Washington State, but more hands-on.

Beginner Class (1/2 day- Thurs. Morning)
Aimed at illustrators who are already comfortable using computers and have a rudimentary familiarity with Photoshop or some other photo editing or painting software.

Photoshop is such a large and feature-rich application that many artists are at first overwhelmed by its complexity. But a surprisingly small subset of its tools and functions are all that are needed to create illustrations with the flexibility and sensitivity afforded by traditional drawing and painting materials. This session will identify those features and offer some program settings and painting methods that will allow artists to transfer to the computer the skills they have already developed in other media.

Steve will introduce digitizing tablets and show how to assign the tablet's pressure function to drawing tools to obtain effects approximating traditional drawing tools (technical pens, crow quill pen, pencil/charcoal, paint, airbrush). Setup for brushes and palettes will be provided and specific values or settings will be suggested for every step involved in creating an illustration. Once the program is set up, the demonstration will proceed through the creation of some sample projects from first sketches through preparing the final file to send to a client.

Each participant will be provided with a CD containing all the palettes, intermediate steps, and other inputs for the examples used in the demonstrations. Students will be able to work on a computer with a tablet.

Intermediate Class (1/2 day- Thurs. Afternoon)
Designed for *graduates* of the morning session and for illustrators who are already familiar with the using the basic painting tools in Photoshop.

While only a few tools are indispensable for "painting" in Photoshop, there are many more features that add speed, flexibility or editability to the process. This session will introduce three additional categories of functions and demonstrate their uses in sample images: methods for image structuring and development (layers and such), filters for making global changes to images after they are painted, and the tools for photo editing that can be used locally like a paintbrush to alter selected properties--such as brightness, color characteristics, contrast, etc.--without disturbing already completed details and relationships. Although these features are less directly analogous to traditional materials, they all take advantage of an artist's ability to understand the visual structure of an image in a painterly way. Finally, we will look at a few simple formulas for using noise and texture masks to mitigate the flatness that is too often characteristic of digital art.

Each participant will be provided with a CD containing all the palettes, intermediate steps, and other inputs for the examples used in the demonstrations. Student will be able to work on a computer with a tablet.

• GoLive - Beginners & Intermediate
This software is as popular as Photoshop but for the creation of professional looking web pages. There are several major web page creation software packages on the market. Using one of the most popular, you will explore the fundamentals of web page preperation.

Beginner Class (1/2 day- Thur. Morning)
Britt Griswold will introduce the Adobe GoLive program to the beginners in a half day class. He will cover the basics of: what is HTML, what kind of images work on the web, setting up and organizing a site. Students will have examples to disect at their workstations. A maximum of 18 students sharing 9 computers. Britt Griswold has used GoLive for a number of web site projects, from portfolio sites to public web sites for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Intermediate Class (1/2 day- Thur. Afternoon)
Emil Huston will present a recent museum site done from A to Z using GoLive. This session will be geared toward intermediate students - also half day. Emil will describe the techniques used to make a museum art site come alive and keep the audience's interest. If you like to check Emil Huston's site out, here is the URL: http://romlx6.rom.on.ca/kane/ . A maximum of 18 students sharing 9 computers.

Focus On Educating the Young Natural Science Illustrator Kris Kirkeby • Half day Join Kris for a hands-on workshop that will encourage and equip you to start teaching natural science illustration in the K-12 school systems. Many schools are not hiring art educators but all teach science. Many opportunities exist to help us prepare students in both subjects by teaching it as a multidisciplinary approach. The workshop will include modeling a program and a week's visit to a school, a drawing technique that teaches assessment, designing a lesson plan and a teaching collection. Time will be given to drawing stations applying the pointers learned in the workshop to actual projects. Kristine Kirkeby is a natural science illustrator with a background in biology and fine arts. Combining her two talents, she worked as Director of Biological Sciences Art Services at the University of Minnesota. During her fourteen years on staff, she served as illustrator, graphic designer, photographer, and teacher. She is currently a free-lancing as a natural science and children's book illustrator. Kristine teaches nature drawing and basic drawing classes in schools, colleges, and community art centers for students ages 4-74. She has extensive experience as a Residency Artist working in K-12 schools in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Oregon. Kristine was the International President for the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators. She lives in Eugene, Oregon.

TRADITIONAL MEDIA WORKSHOPS THURSDAY, August 16

Colored Media on Coquille Board Scott Rawlins • Full day Coquille board is a textured paper that reduces drawn lines to a stipple-like pattern resembling a mezzotint. Black and white drawings on coquille board are executed as tonal renderings but can be reproduced as line -- thus saving both time and money. It is possible, though less common to use coquille board as a ground for colored media. Participants in this workshop will experiment with both black & white and color on coquille board, and thus learn to appreciate the versatility of a surface noted for its fragile but uniquely textured qualities. Scott Rawlins is an Assistant Professor in the Fine Arts Department of Arcadia University in Glenside, PA where he teaches scientific illustration, drawing and design. In addition to his training as a medical and biological illustrator, Mr. Rawlins holds degrees in biology and museum education. A former museum curator, Mr. Rawlins maintains contact with the museum world through his work as a research assistant at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.

Creativity At Home and At Work Stephanie Cloes Engstrom • Full day Creativity is what makes life interesting whether we're servicing the car, cleaning the bathroom, devising an employee recognition plan, or doing pastel dust paintings. The keys are: see things differently, and most importantly, enjoy the process. The first creativity workshop I took was given by Dr. Pauline Falstrom, based on The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. Pauline and I cofacilitated subsequent workshops (at Borders Books and Music in Torrance, CA) and discovered we wanted to expand beyond Julia's helpful book. During the workshop, we will identify our blocks, their sources, and ways to get beyond them. This will be an open and interactive workshop encouraging questions, comments and discussion of personal experiences. Some of the issues we'll address are: • How can I pinpoint causes of blocks and get past them? • How can I align personal and career goals? • How can I manage impossible work loads? • How do I handle success and face the next challenge? Come join the fun and share your successes and failures with us! Stephanie Cloes Engstrom is a native Californian whose realistic wildlife paintings and drawings reflect her deep appreciation of nature. She draws from a variety of sources -- ranging from plein air sketches on California beaches to field work in East Africa. Stephanie attended UCLA and studied at various colleges and universities in California and Washington, D.C. She has volunteered at the Smithsonian's National Zoological Park (NZP) where she met Warren Cutler, former Illustrator for NZP, who encouraged her to join the Guild of Natural Science (GNSI). Moon Dancer Gallery in Redondo Beach, California carries her work. She is currently President of GNSI, Southern California Chapter and teaches creativity workshops here and abroad. Her work is in private collections across the United States and in Kenya.

Bird Carving Wendell Jones • Full day (Will be held at the Gilley Museum) Mr. Jones will instruct the carving of an Atlantic Puffin. Carvers will be instructed in the handling of patterns, wood and tools. The class will start from rough block to intricate feathering. There will be a supply charge for the wood & glass eyes. He will also demonstrate the painting tec hniques he uses. There will be a supply charge for the wood & glass eyes. Wendell Jones (Guild member MJ Brush's father) started his carving career after retirement. Discovering the Gilley Museum, he enrolled in classes and has been carving for 15 years. A natural artist, his birds are in many collections throughout the country.

Professional Business Practices for Artists Part 2: Pricing Your Fine Art and Commercial Art Roberta Rosenthal • Half-day This workshop will demystifying how to price your art, and will include discussion of the following: • Copyrights -- What are they and how to use them. • Contracts -- How to read them, negotiation and usage. Roberta Rosenthal, consultant, entrepreneur and artist, is the owner of RSR Designs, New York a professional design and illustration studio initiated in 1977. A professional artist for over thirty years Roberta balances fine art and commercial art careers. Roberta has been an instructor of Professional Business Practices at the New York Botanical Gardens for fifteen years and has given numerous workshops and seminars on Botanical Art and Business at the Horticultural Society, The Art Directors Club, Connecticut State College, Fashion Institute of Technology and many other venues. She is a former executive director of the Graphic Artist's Guilds job placement service, a member of GNSI, the Society of Illustrators, American Society of Botanical Artists and a graduate of the American Women's Economic Development Corporation's business program. She has won awards for her art as well as her efforts to educate artists in business.

Sketchbook/Journal: Materials and Methods Jenny Keller • Half-day This workshop is devoted to the special materials and methods that Jenny has evolved over the years for creating a truly personal and memorable Journal/Sketchbook. Jenny will also be leading a 2 day field sketching trip at the end of the conference where those attending this session can practice what is preached.

Color Theory for the Natural Science Painter Louisa Rawle Tiné • Half-day Color theory and color mixing can often be confusing, and a frustrating, time consuming ordeal. Louisa Rawle TinÈ will de-mustify color theory and teach a simple and elegant process for accurate color mixing. This workshop is geared for all levels of artists. Through a series of structured exercises, she will show how to mix vibrant and subtle colors for the natural science painter. We will also discuss how to mix greens, greys and browns, and how to handle whites. We will be using transparent watercolors for all of the exercises. Louisa Rawle Tiné has taught color theory and botanical watercolor for the past 15 years. She teaches at the New York Botanical Garden, The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and The Institute for Ecosystem Studies, as well as numerous workshops throught the Northeast. She has worked as a commercial and fine artist for thirty years.

All artwork is copyrighted and is property of the artists. Artwork may not be duplicated or reproduced without written permission from the artist. Back to Top Copyright © 2001 GNSI - Guild of Natural Science Illustrators All rights reserved. Last Updated: June 10, 2001.