Patrick Lee | The Creative Process and Language of Painting: Line, Shape, and Pattern

About this event

Instructor: Patrick Lee

Workshop: The Creative Process and Language of Painting: Line, Shape, and Pattern

Dates: November 18-21, 2026

Days: 4

Hours: 9:30am-4:30pm

Level: All levels

Size: 12

Tuition: $1,425

Includes: Complimentary lunches and beverages served daily in studio

Your development as a visual artist depends on your ability to observe, analyze visual information, and break it down into its most fundamental components so it can be clearly recorded and understood. Developing a visual language (similar to learning a vocabulary) gives you the tools to both analyze what you see and communicate your ideas with greater clarity, precision, and intention.

Topics will include:

- Making a lot of work (Quantity over Quality) - By focusing on a process rather than a particular end result, our subconscious mind (the root of our true selves) is given an opportunity to come to the surface.

- Focusing on design - the overall abstract relationships in your painting are what matter, and what have the most impact.

- Realizing that the creative and the critical (analytical) aspects of our practice require two different ways of thinking that must be considered separately.

- Working with no specific end in mind, and allowing ideas to develop.

- Use of the Notan in design and creative thought (improvisation)

- Solid drawing and values as a basis for “looseness”

- Subjective color

- Breakdown and building back up of the image

- An understanding of the creative concept in our work

Notes:

***Students should bring their own photos to work from*** PLEASE MAKE AT LEAST TWO PHOTOCOPIES OR BLACK AND WHITE PRINTOUTS OF THOSE IMAGES THAT YOU’D LIKE TO WORK FROM. THESE IMAGES DO NOT HAVE TO BE THE SAME SCALE AS YOUR FINAL PAINTING, BUT SHOULD BE OF A SIZE WHERE ONE OR TWO WILL FIT ON A STANDARD PIECE OF COPY/PRINTER PAPER (8 1/2 X 11). THE MORE YOU HAVE OF THESE, THE BETTER!!

-I'll do a demo of a painting for the first half of each day, with the students painting the second half of the day.

-Attendees may use oils or acrylics

Instructor Website

Bio

Patrick Lee, American painter, b. 1972.

Patrick Lee takes a unique creative approach to making paintings in the studio and en plein air. He draws heavily on intuition and imagination to develop an image, often altering the drawing, color, and spatial relationships to create a mood and express a feeling about the subject. This often leads to strong elements of abstraction and suggestion in his work, rather than explicit detail. This gives the viewer an opportunity to connect with each piece in their own way, inviting them to let their own imaginations make personal associations and connections.

Bachelor of Fine Arts | Edinboro University of Pennsylvania

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