About the Workshop

Skill level: All skill levels are welcome.

Materials used: The supply list is included at the bottom of this page.

From the Classical Greek Era to the present, artists have been using armature or grid systems based on musical and mathematical principles to help create harmonious paintings. The armatures form a scaffolding for paintings, providing stability and a road map for the design. They aid with planning the spacing of the elements within the painting. The armatures also may contribute to a sense of movement and dynamism. Armatures may be used to analyze the design of paintings after their completion during a critique for example. Some master artists have explicitly stated that they began with a specific grid system while others kept the hidden mathematics or geometry a secret.

Can we think of Mathematics as the root of all beauty, of all art? We painters encounter Mathematical terms repeatedly from simple measurement to more abstract concepts of dynamic symmetry, repeated motifs and divine proportions; from common geometric shapes to more complex repeating patterns based on chaos theory. I have found myself going back to my “roots”, embracing Mathematical principles in my paintings.

The 2023 themes of my paintings are Turbulence, Chroma, and Luminousness, applying Dynamic Symmetry Armatures as scaffolding. The cliffs, canyons, waterways, and landscapes of New Mexico lend themselves well to these themes.

Workshop Outline

Morning Session: Basic Concepts and Building Blocks

• Introduction to the armature systems and their history including rationale for their use.

• Brief slide-show of participant painting examples with grids overlayed on the paintings -to be kept in mind as we analyze armatures with

historic examples throughout the morning.

• Building Blocks and terms for the armature systems: Rectangle and Proportion, Aspect Ratio, Diagonal, Reciprocal, Golden Points, Self-similar

shapes and Gnomon's, Rabatement, Root Rectangles, Golden Mean Rectangle. And focus points or polar points, gamut, and coincidences.

• Harmonic and Dynamic Symmetry Armature construction methods with paper, panels, and pencil using either T-squares, rulers, or other panels as straight edges.

• Transparencies

• Differences among the systems illustrated for one or two examples.

• Armatures for popular panel sizes such as 8x10, 8x12, and 11x14 with more emphasis during the class on the 9x12 panel.

• Demonstration of how to use the iPhone tools in the field for plein air work.

• Works with armatures by Historic and Contemporary Masters such as Goya, Seurat, Parrish, Da Vinci, and Bellows as well as contemporary artists, Kegler, Byrne, and Hudson.

• Root Rectangles and why they are powerful. These will not be analyzed in detail but references will be provided. Comparison of Root Rectangles with popular panel sizes.

• Golden Mean Rectangle and the Fibonacci Series

• (Optional) A brief look at more advanced, combined armatures including Root 5 with its Overlapping Golden Rectangles.

• Example of my own paintings overlaid with Dynamic Symmetry Grids (with Harmonic Armature grids to be added). See https://www.karenhalbert.com/myexhibits.cfm?exhibit_id=114 or https://www.karenhalbert.com/myexhibits.cfm?exhibit_id=113. The flip book versions can be perused also; they are listed on these 'exhibit' pages.

Break for lunch: A lunch buffet from Cowgirl will be served. Lunch is $15 per person, paid in cash to Beth.

Afternoon Session: Hands-on Construction of Armatures and Transparencies with Applications to the Participants' Paintings at the classroom tables.

• A few participant examples provided in advance will be analyzed for everyone to see and evaluate. Grids will be superimposed on the paintings on the computer with an enlarged TV monitor for viewing.

• Participants will construct armatures in tandem with the instructor initially step-by-step.

• Participants will analyze their own paintings at the table using transparent grids (provided) and continue to construct armatures with help from the instructor.

• Participants with an iPhone or iPad Wise Photo Tool will experiment with the tool with the help of the instructor at some tables (others may watch).

Workshop Wrap-Up: Participants will show their work with an armature and possibly point out how a dynamic symmetry armature might have improved the examples.