Roberta Dyer | The Expressive Figure

Workshop: The Expressive Figure

Instructor: Roberta Dyer

Dates: July 11-13, 2025

Days: 3

Hours: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Level: All

Tuition: $500

Size: 8-12 people

Food/Drink: Complimentary coffee and lunches provided in studio daily.

So you want to "loosen up"?

Discover your unique artistic voice and discover a "looser" intuitive approach to painting. You’ll define what “loosening up” means for you personally, and explore exercises, techniques, and ideas that support your creative goals. We’ll look at iconic artists for reference and experiment with unusual ways to to present a face, then a figure, learning how to be loose and expressive. Emphasis will be placed on key elements such as composition, color, mark-making, and collage. Whether you're looking to shake up your routine or spark new directions in your work, this workshop will offer fresh inspiration and practical tools to accomplish your goals.

Roberta's Teaching Style

Roberta's emphasis is on helping you find your unique artistic voice. She encourage personal expression and, simultaneously, instruction on specific techniques that can be broadly applied. Roberta provides some demonstration and will spend one-on-one time helping you work toward a confident approach to your own work.

A Note From Roberta

"My art is best described as expressive and my approach is intuitive, using a combination of color, drawing and mixed media techniques to present my subjects in unusual ways. Combining abstraction with figurative work is something I love, as well as working loosely and letting the painting dictate my direction. I don’t try to paint likenesses. Rather, I use figures as shapes in a painting. Acrylics, oils, collage and tools for making marks lend themselves well to my technique and I may end up using all of them in a single painting."

Supply List

• All Paints (Whatever you have, acrylic, watercolor, etc.)

• White Gesso Gel Medium (I prefer matte.)

• Brushes (Whatever you have including color shapers, palette knives, credit cards, etc.)

• Marking Tools (Vine charcoal and some of the following: pens, pencils, crayons, markers, pastels, ink)

• Surfaces

  • Two or more 10x10 or 12x12 cradled boards or stretched canvas, or 140# or 400# watercolor paper

  • One to two larger substrates (boards, canvas or watercolor paper) 18x24, 22x30, 24x36 are all good sizes

  • A few sheets of sketch paper

• Collage papers (optional)

• Stamps (optional)

Plus! Students may bring one piece for a professional critique.