Art Foundation of Santa Barbara Sponsors Artist Workshop with VADA & Artist Derek Harrison
By Maria McCall
Fifteen students from the Visual Arts and Design Academy (VADA) of Santa Barbara High School enjoyed the rare opportunity to learn the art of portraiture with Derek Harrison, a successful local artist. Harrison says that portraiture is one of the most challenging of art forms both to teach and to learn and especially painting from a live model. Considerations in portraiture are the best position of the model, lighting, shadow, facial structure, color palette, proportion and an individual’s interpretation of the subject.
Students packed into Derek Harrison’s second floor studio, adjacent to the historic painting studio of cowboy artist Edward Borein, upstairs from the El Paseo Restaurant. They were provided canvas boards, paints, a variety of brushes and instruction. Artist Kate Maddaloni posed as the live model. At times, the room was completely silent as the students concentrated and then it was abuzz with lively energy and happy talk. It was wonderful to witness their progress from one day to the next, and see the students become more and more confident.
Derek Harrison also took the time to tell the students about the business side of being an artist; it didn’t happen for him overnight and it took about a decade to become established. He explained how important it is to find reputable and reliable galleries to work with and to make sure to always have a well-written contract. That is especially true of contracts for commissioned works. Harrison emphasized that an artist’s income can fluctuate from year to year. "You can have a very good year and that’s exciting, but you must always remember to spend within your means because the next year can be far different." To help with the stresses of an artist’s life, he supplements his career with private painting workshops and teaches art for institutions such as Westmont College and Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art.
Daniel Barnett, VADA Programs Director and AP Studio Art Teacher, participated and guided his students through the process alongside Harrison. He said it was gratifying to be able to offer this portraiture workshop with a live model, calling it a singular experience for these high school seniors. Both Barnett and Harrison were very pleased with the results from the workshop funded by a generous grant from the Coeta and Donald Barker Foundation through the Art Foundation of Santa Barbara.
Derek Harrison is an artist working in the realist genre creating dramatic figurative and landscape works. He is represented locally by Waterhouse Gallery. He also createdand painted the image for this year's Old Spanish Days Fiesta poster.
The purpose of the Art Foundation of Santa Barbara is to bring awareness to art and artists and educate the public on the heritage of art created and produced primarily in Santa Barbara County, the Central and South coasts ofCalifornia.
For more information:
Visual Arts & Design Academy of Santa Barbara, www.vadasbhs.org
Derek Harrison, www.derekharrisonart.com
