Matthew Brehm, USA
Matthew Brehm is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Idaho, and has been teaching architectural design with an emphasis on freehand sketching since 2000. Each summer since 2007, he has led an 8-week architecture program in Rome, Italy, which includes a course on observational sketching. He’s been a workshop instructor and lecturer at four previous USk Symposiums, in Portland, Lisbon, Barcelona, and Paraty, and has served on the non-profit organization’s board of directors. His sketches have received several awards at the Design Communication Association’s Biannual Juried Drawing Exhibit, one of his watercolors from Paraty was named as a Finalist in the 2014 Ken Roberts Memorial Delineation Competition, and one of his watercolors from Rome was recently recognized with an “Award of Excellence” by the American Society of Architectural Illustrators. Matt’s first book, “Sketching on Location” (Kendal Hunt Publishers, ISBN 978-1-4652-0526-1), a full-color, comprehensive guide to drawing from direct observation, was published in July 2012, and he’s currently working on two new books on drawing.
Workshop J: The Structure of Light in Watercolor
Location: Armenian Street
This workshop will focus on techniques for using watercolor to achieve sketches that are bold, clear, and dramatic. The major goals will be twofold – first, approaching watercolor as a process of subtraction that reserves specific areas of “light” intrinsic to the page, and second, effective brush/wash handling to achieve a reasonable degree of accuracy and precision, and therefore “structure.” If we treat the blank page as the only “light source” in our drawings, and if our brush-handling skills allow us to confidently structure the washes, our sketches can be infused with the warmth, clarity, and crispness of bright, dazzling sunlight, and we’ll be more able to represent the volumes and depth of architecture and urban space. This approach to structuring light is founded on the notion that value contrast is far more important than specific color, and it requires some advance planning before painting, which is best practiced through the regular use of thumbnail value studies. We will go through a series of straightforward, useful exercises that can become part of the participants’ regular sketching practice, so that their learning process may continue long after the conclusion of the Symposium.
More details.
For more information about the Symposium, including schedule and registration information, please visit the Symposium site.
For more information about the Symposium, including schedule and registration information, please visit the Symposium site.
