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‘Texas Comes to Tryon’

 

TRYON – Tryon Painters and Sculptors is offering a 4-day realistic drawing techniques workshop this June. Instructed by Maureen Killaby, the workshop takes place Wednesday, June 7, to Saturday, June 10, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, at the Parish Hall of Holy Cross Church on Melrose Ave. in Tryon.

Maureen Killaby is an addict. No, not that kind of addict. The former lawyer picked up a pencil one day and began drawing. She can’t stop. Not literally, of course, but—no pun intended—figuratively. And then the teaching bug bit her. Today, she spends 60-hour weeks teaching a variety of classes and making her art at her own Killaby Art Studio/School Center in Lindale, Texas.

A professional artist and teacher, she specializes in realistic approaches to painting and drawing. 

In this 4-day workshop, she will be sharing her drawing techniques in graphite. From porous skin to fine and deep-set wrinkles, hair, eyes, lips, ears, the textures of fabric, and even smoke, this workshop will give artists the techniques needed to make realistic portraits and other artworks in graphite. Maureen will focus on textures in light and shade drawing techniques. 

Her own career arc is almost backward, in a way, in that she began making art before she researched how to be an artist. It’s an arc she doesn’t recommend, although the practical experience of the doing eventually contributed to the learning. She moved from the gray graphite of the No. 2 pencils before moving to colored pencils for a while, a medium she soon abandoned, but it taught her a lot about color and led to her next step.

“I studied color for two years and went into oil paintings,” she said. “That’s when I considered myself more of a professional. In the beginning, it was a hobby. I was self-taught and eventually spent every waking moment studying art in every aspect. I began taking classic courses and attending workshops.”

Killaby gets a thrill when she sees the light bulb turn on in her student’s eyes when it’s clear that the student “gets it.” Killaby’s own work ranges from drawing birds and landscapes to figurative work, to studying impressionists and classic Russian and Spanish artists.

This 4-day workshop is for beginning to advanced artists. For more information, visit www.tryonpaintersandsculptors.com, or Killaby’s site at www.maureenkillaby.com.

Register now as the 20 available spots will fill up soon. Let’s welcome Texas to Tryon. 

 

Submitted by 

Nancy Holland