• Monday AM: Welcome, introduction to drawing in charcoal from life. Still-life.
• Monday PM: Introduction to portrait drawing in charcoal.Focus on how to begin a portrait.
• Tuesday AM: Drawing the portrait in charcoal. Focus on planes, shapes, & values. Portrait.
• Tuesday PM: Introduction to oil painting. Focus on materials, technique, values. Monochromatic still-life study.
• Wednesday AM: Drawing the portrait in charcoal. Focus on drawing features of the face. Portrait.
• Wednesday PM: Oil painting- intro to color, composition, learned how to paint the various textures (cloth, fruit, glass...). Still-life.
• Thursday AM: Drawing the portrait in charcoal. Focus on finishing, composition, Portrait.
• Thursday PM: Oil painting. Focus on finishing, highlights, dark accents, even how to sign your work! Still-life.
• Friday: Field trip to Washington, D.C. Morning tour of Smithsonian art museums; afternoon planned events with other PHC campers.
  • For a materials list and artwork image tips, click here.

The AM and PM sessions each ran 3 hours. Each day consisted of a variety of activiites with other camp students. Though there can be as many as 120 campers on campus, the Arts Camp was limited to 15 students which allowed me to offer one-on-one guidance and instruction. Each student responded marvelously to every challenge I presented them.  

Students worked on their paintings and drawings studiously. During break times, I taught various lessons on form, light and shade, anatomy, color, and more. My assistant, Tracy Klicka, shared her wonderful art journals and offered tips for students to create their own journals.

My goal was to teach the principles of painting to enable students to find the answers to issues on their own. This wasn't a paint-by-numbers class; this was a challenge, students responded with sharp focus and application. God has revealed Himself through His Word and through His creation, and I believe, being made in His likeness, that it is to His glory that we seek the truth and respond to it. As artists, we have the opportunity to show the world the beauty that exists before our eyes, and it is a delight to do so! I believe the students did a wonderful job of putting this into practice.

One question students asked is why did I have them bring a half-dozen painting panels when we only used two of them? The answer lies in that I tailored the Art Camp to best serve the students, which meant helping them develop one or two paintings to finish rather than offer a plethora of principles. I decided it best to build confidence brought about by the completion of a painting and having a student gallery show to top off the week. I'll be displaying pictures of each painting soon (you can also check my Facebook page to view samples of the students' works. As teacher, I reserve the right to bring the best out of my students! :)  Besides, the students had blank canvases to complete when they returned home.  :) 

If you want to review the materials list, click here.  To easily purchase items online at DickBlick.com, click here. I've already created a shopping cart for you. 

You can see more on the Facebook PHC Teen Arts Camp page, including a recent article highlighting the Camp.

Stay tuned- more pictures to come!

Affectionately,

Tim Chambers

To see more of Tim Chambers' paintings, click here to view his online portolio, or visit him on Facebook for a variety of his works.