Last night, David Jon Kassan held a free iPad painting demonstration at the The Art Students League of New York. Although there were several great art events taking place at the same time, having the opportunity to see David paint in person seemed too good to pass up! When I arrived, the audience was listening intently and watching with awe as he explained his process.

I was only able to slip in during the last hour of the presentation; however, I was still able observe how he uses the iPad to select colors and paint with layered, semi-transparent strokes. I have never painted using the iPad, so I was amazed by how the software could pick up the delicate touch of a brush and convert it to paint-like brushstrokes on screen.

What interested me the most was seeing how he approached the drawing. I was fortunate to see him build up the form of the eye. He explained that understanding what you see helps you paint it, and he described the way he would look for simple forms and determine how they relate to one another. In the detail of the painting that was projected on a screen at the front of the classroom (fig.1), you could see the clear shadows that surround the eye and the warm reflected light cast below the browbone. He also mentioned that he doesn’t focus on drawing the iris, but instead lets it emerge as he paints in the surrounding forms.

(fig.1)

I highly recommend taking a class with David if you have the opportunity. He is a very talented painter with wealth of knowledge to pass on.