“Fantastic class, very informative . Gerald was very friendly and patient. We walked away with a painting that we were proud to display on the wall. Will definitely book again.”
“The class was really fest pace but Gerard was very patient and informative. I really learned a lot from the session. It was great to learn some new skills from a true artist. I really enjoyed the class.”
“This is not a personal take-down, it’s an honest opinion without malice.
Interesting impression of the Loomis technique (Andrew Loomis 1892-1959 USA artist) pity Mr Loomis was not credited.
When a dance teacher or choreographer takes a class they personally demonstrate the dance move for the student to copy. This is not what happened in my one student class which put an inordinate amount of pressure on me & none on the otherwise competent teacher.
I would have thought starting with the original subject was preferable for impressionistic painting, instead of starting with an impression of the original but what would I know? I am just a novice.
I was disappointed that despite that I said, “I’m happy with how it turned out.” My impression. The teacher decided to alter the face shape and add touches to the eyes, nose, side of face. Before that he’d altered the width of head on my painting and about 3 times he’d changed the left ear shape. That to me is not teaching impressionistic painting - it’s forcing your own impression-style onto a student. Like Bible people do with their children.
If I equate this art class – teacher interaction with my painting - to my personal life, then it’s almost as if he’d been speaking to the Freemasons who medically mutilated my ears, my nose, my eyes and the shape of my face back in 1990s. Completely opposite to his advertisement on his “classbento” Expressive Portrait Painting Class page, quote:
“By the end of the session, you'll have created your very own intricate colour portrait to take home, alongside a deeper understanding of facial structure and artistic techniques.”
It is not my “very own” painting work – I have no 100% control over copyright attribution, it is a forced collaboration. I’ve learned that artists are aggressively dismissive of other artists. So disappointed was I, that I left early but didn’t verbalize or demonstrate my annoyance in any way other than leaving early.
This was false advertising and an offensive rip-off.”
“This was a fantastic class with Gerard; he's relaxed and very knowledgeable, it was very easy to become immersed in what I was doing. I really appreciate that Gerard didn't cancel the class for less attendees - I was visiting Adelaide and really wanted to do this class! My painting is face-on (Gerard to my left, his has the purple hair)”
“Such a fun class! I requested a 1:1 class to complete a specific acrylic painting, based on the picture. This is my third class and it’s such a great environment to learn in”
“I attended a one on one painting lesson with Gerard recently. What a morning filled with lots of banter. Learned a few things…drove him nuts…lots of laughs. Be warned Gerard…I’ll be back….!”
