David Leffel Painting Workshop - Making Brush Strokes

Good luck to those who follow him .

I come back to this video about once a year. Happy 2023!

So true. That is why John Singer Sargent was the best Master ever.

I watched a couple of demos from Leffel but there he does exactly the opposite of what he is teaching here starting with very random uncontrolled and fiddly brushwork not at all coming from the shoulder with even pressure .....

Get the book Brushwork Essentials by Mark Christopher Weber. I took a five-day David Leffel workshop in Taos, but it was the Weber book that was a life-changer for me.

A living legend. We don't even deserve to hear his voice. We're nothing. We're no where. We're lost without David Leffel. Thank you for enlightening our sad, frivolous little lives.

every stroke is important. give it life. is it a stroke of light which wants to be seen or is it a stroke of shadow which wants to be hidden. light keeps you warm shadow keeps you cool. your stroke becomes the atmosphere.

Best definition of a brush stroke, discipline your movement

A specific piece of business.

I usually paint with both types, blending or even, brushstrokes depending on the painting.

Hes like Dumbledore and Schmid is Gandalf of Painting🤗

I promise to paint specific brush strokes.

"In this clip from LAAFA's upcoming David Leffel video series" which video is this? Is there a DVD?

I don't know how to make a brush stroke! I can't do it!

can I download the video and share it to my instagram accredinig the artist and the L.A academy of art? since the links in Instagram are disabled ?

He doesnt say not to blend, he says to use a single stroke from the body for your initial lines, not to be staccato about it. In his short clip about edges he demonstrates edges by blending.

Keep saying brushstrokes ....

Great Artist! Has his own technique. ( Not the only technique!) Yes, very close to Rembrandt's..but not Rembrandt's! You can learn alot from a painter like him. But why would you want to paint the same way? When you go to higher learning.. siminars, classes, schools.. you concentrate on different ways, techniques, color theories, etc. Hopefully it will help you in/ on your style. A artist should never put down another artist! Monet, Van Gogh, Wyeth, Letrec was always criticize and look at their status today. When I walk into a gallery, museum, someone's home and there is alot of art work around I am instantly drawn to what talks to me. What charged MY emotions. Not what is politically correct! Everybody has different likes, emotions, etc. No one can tell you what to like. What is not good! I am a realist painter with a impressionist style. Look at Richard Schmid, Casey Baugh, Michelle Dunnaway ....All "Super Great." Because they don't use a brush stroke the same way something is wrong? NO!!!!! This artist's wife is well known and she has a different style!

Sargent

There are quite a few critiques of the instruction he uses here. If you watch this guy paint, he obviously blends his colors both on the pallet and on the canvas. I would contend then that he is trying to help his students (probably not masters) think outside of their normal modality. Think of when you learned how to drive. Someone taught you how to hold the steering wheel, right? That may or may not be the way you hold it when you drive today, but it was helpful for you to learn that way before you go and experiment with other ways to hold a steering wheel. I think he's giving good instruction for people new to the medium of paint.

Yet when you see him paint he strokes and smoothes with his little brush ,when I paint ,one brush stroke is done with one brush then thrown down ,I hold twenty brushes in one hand ,I make kidney shape palette out of cardboard ,which rests on my arm ,so when it's too clogged with paint I make another ,when my brushes are all used , I clean them and start attack again ,I never paint from photographs ,and I think of something that makes me angry to use that energy ,I see every thing firstly as form ,Sky ,trees ,face, still life ,and I draw the shapes that make up that form and I simplify the canvas into two main shapes ,a vase of flowers on a cloth ,the vase and the cloth become one mass of paint ,colour and shapes the flowers and background become the other shape making just two shapes ,my paintings have energy and vibrancy ,To be an artist go to a real gallery and have a really good long look at how great artists paint ,it is the only way to understand ,never stop experimenting .

this silly old fool actually thinks he knows something new

It is said that no one can teach you how to paint, but only how they paint. I don't believe he means to demean other methods. He is trying to impart to those who are listening how he paints. I have been in the gallery in Taos that carries his works and when you see them you never forget them. Great artist but hard to decipher all his teaching psychology. Any of his artist critics would give their painting arm to be able to paint as he does. If you like how you paint then go for it.

Not sure I completely agree with all he has said, about what
makes a good brush stroke, especially about the constant even pressure. There
are many great painters whose brushstrokes, when it was appropriate, tapered or
lessened is pressure to achieve an end result...you can't have a one
brushstroke fits all mentality when painting.

Where has this guy been all my life?

Soooooooooooooooo overrated.
Hey all you Leffel fans, good news!
Rumor has it he is now charging one thousand dollars a day.
A three day workshop would be ONLY $ 3,000.00!
What a steal! What a deal!
Spaces are limited. [wink]

YEEEESS! Finally, Truth.

After watching this video 7 years ago, it changed the way I painted. Great artist

He is absolutely correct. I am going to Malibu in July to see his retrospective show. His instruction has proven invaluable to me.

very insightful and inspiring. this guy seems like a cool dude.

sfumato

In my opinion David Leffel is the closest we will get to a master the stature of Rembrandt in our life time.  I am a guild member of Bright Light Fine Art, where I can watch his videos and those of Sherrie McGraw for a minimal yearly fee. I love his teaching. I was privileged to meet him at a Portrait Society of America conference several years ago. He is generous, humble, kind and brilliant.   

Brilliant teacher!

Is David implying that artists who "blend" are not painters (or artists!?)? I think that if he were confident in his skills he wouldn't need to talk down about other artists and simply show his craft - which should stand on it's own without the ego. I was excited to start watching his videos but the ego and elitism in this clip really turns me off and I won't be clicking on any more. 

good teacher... good artist

hi.. I would love to buy this dvd.. please could you send me the link or tell me the title of this dvd?

good video

............brush strokes...lol .....kidding me. You could use a stick and still get it to look good.

I see this guy getting a lot of flack but I believe he has an important message that does not need to be dismissed. His point is all about control. You must be able to control your brush, which is hardest in broad strokes, and not to depend on blending but of placement. He is talking the basics, not the tips and tricks picked up over years.

I'm afraid I must agree with portervillelouis, Terrible yes but not necessarily wrong. David appears to talk in absolutes like there is only one way to hold a brush, only one way to make a stroke. There are many ways of each, a brush must not be held too far back or forward but must be comfortable allowing it to become part of your hand. Even pressure of a stroke? No way, Even pressure is fine but often at the start you push down and less pressure towards the end. There are no absolutes!

Brrravo, braveheart... :-)

thxx a lot. But ias my English is terrible, its so hard to me get the meanin of things...

TERRIBLE TERRIBLE ADVICE ON HOW to apply paint. The Great Masters [ David is not a great master] used all approaches, creatively, with imagination, trying all things to get effects . Rembrandt DAUBED, SCRATCHED, WIPED, USED A PALETTE KNIFE, his fingers, rags, and a great variety of brushes and tools. DISREGARD this terrible advice on HOW TO HOLD YOUR HAND, that destroys creativity and joy in painting.

I love David Leffel!

I am not sure if you are asking this, but ARC stands for Art Renewal Center, which is an online art museum.

what does it mean ARC ppl?

David Leffel is great. His explanation of making brushstrokes in a painterly way is what a lot of artist need to hear who strive for that. If you like to blend, great, but that really isn't a painterly approach. In general, painterly painters do not blend much, if at all. Do a google on 'painterly painters' for a better explanation.

here he goes again discreditng people who use a different technique than himself... he just said people who blend see their subject this way... but because that is painterly they arn't painters even though thats how they interpret their subject... your a moron leffel

I thought that too! :)

Have you seen his paintings?