From Snapshot to Painting: Seeing Beyond the Photograph

with CAE Artist-in-Residence, Siana Smith, of San Francisco, CA

2-Day Workshop
Monday, July 6 & Wednesday, July 8
5–9 PM
All Levels Welcome | Ages 16+ 
Min 5 / Max 10 Students

$240 Non-Member / $216 Member

In an era of instant digital capture, we accumulate countless images, often without fully seeing them. In this immersive two-day workshop, artist-in-residence Siana Smith invites students to slow down and transform a personal photograph into a finished painting.

Participants will begin by selecting and refining a smartphone photograph using simple editing tools such as cropping, exposure, contrast, and saturation adjustments. Through guided instruction, students will learn how thoughtful image selection and composition can strengthen a painting before the first brushstroke is made.

Using the grid method, students will transfer their image onto canvas or paper while developing a deeper understanding of proportion, shape, value, and observation. The workshop will then explore grisaille, a monochromatic underpainting technique that establishes light, form, and spatial depth. Students will build confidence in their painting process before gradually introducing color and atmosphere.

Through this process, painting becomes more than image reproduction—it becomes an act of sustained looking, interpretation, and transformation.

Please select 1–3 photo references and email them to Siana prior to class for feedback and guidance. Domestic scenes, still lifes, landscapes, and personal photographs are all welcome. Siana Smith – siana@jsgwis.net

All painting mediums are welcome. Acrylic and oil painting are recommended. 

Below is the recommended palette for participants:

• Titanium White
• Ivory Black
• Cadmium Yellow Light
• Yellow Ochre
• Cadmium Red Light
• Alizarin Crimson (Permanent Alizarin)
• Ultramarine Blue
• Cerulean Blue
• Viridian
• Burnt Sienna
• Raw Umber
• Burnt Umber