Painting from the Figure with Donald Beal

This workshop begins with quick warm-up oil sketches of the model, and progresses to a series of longer paintings as we revisit and “remake” the figure. The goal is to develop an eye that can more critically see the color, tonal, and planar relationships that exist between the model and his/her environment. Using these relationships, we learn to build integrated and clear paintings. Rather than focus on making a careful, finished “product,” you are encouraged to break down and rework paintings in order to open up possibilities within the work that you might not otherwise have found.

Donald Beal was born in 1959 in Syracuse, NY, and grew up in Westford, MA. He studied painting at the Swain School of Design in New Bedford, MA, and received an MFA from Parsons School of Design. He moved to Provincetown, MA in 1985 and continues to live here with his wife Khristine. Beal was a Professor of Fine Arts at the University of Massachusetts in North Dartmouth where he taught from 1999-2016. He is a 2013 recipient of The Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed Foundation Grant.