David Leffel Painting Workshop - Making Brush Strokes

In this clip from LAAFA's upcoming David Leffel video series, David talks about the importance of making a brush stroke. Shot in high definition full 1080p HD. Due out for release in fall 2013.

[@donniebobb74]

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

[@BryanCoombes]

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

[@TheGlowstickOverdose]

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.

[@nelsonenzo6315]

dont know if anyone gives a damn but if you are bored like me during the covid times then you can stream pretty much all the latest series on Instaflixxer. Been binge watching with my gf for the last few days =)

[@roycericky8991]

@Nelson Enzo yup, I've been watching on instaflixxer for years myself :D

[@pookiepoodle46]

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.

[@danthemanzxc679]

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.

[@PhatPhunk]

Great lecture! I can't wait to purchase this DVD!!! Please keep us posted LAAFA!

[@Portfolioartschool]

Wonderful advice. It's nice to know how much you know about painting. We have been doing talks like this for 30 years now. Keep up the good work! Sheldon Borenstein

[@Float129]

After watching these little videos of David Leffel I bought the book oil painting secrets from a master . I find what he says very interesting I see it as another way of painting not to solely copy his technique but maybe incorporate some of these ideas into my own style of painting I find that one style does not suit me but thanks to all these short videos by all the many artists on you tube it has really helped me progress .

[@byronbuchanan3066]

All this time I've been wondering the secret to a great painting.... wow... I never thought of making a brush stroke.. revelatory.

[@jburowz]

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.

[@iENJOYpaintingSTUFF]

:D This video made my day! New LAAFA video and it's david leffel.

[@Night-Taco]

Where has this guy been all my life?

[@LevitatorMusic]

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

[@willberain]

the HD makes it even more wonderful:))

[@HorribleMuttonChops]

made my day too! thanks for the vid. I can't wait to start classes, although they may not be strictly LAAFA.

[@elizabeths174]

Best definition of a brush stroke, discipline your movement

[@TheMichaelsvieira]

I love David Leffel!

[@ARTEllipsepaintings]

good teacher... good artist

[@FredericWatts]

@AylasMagicalCeviche Exactly. That is why so much of figurative painting today is focused on pure aesthetic prowess. And when some few dare to actually say something, or create a narrative, it falls flat behind the aesthetic focus. Great painters know how to connect the content with the beauty of the paint. But today it's mostly split, when you find someone who knows how to say something they lack in saying it with power.

[@hurdellift]

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

[@NashvilleClay]

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

[@truthfalse30]

Brilliant teacher!

[@JiveDadson]

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.

[@23again]

How thrilling it is to be able to listen to this Master from Argentina! Thank you so much for uploading this.

[@ArtbyDelilah]

excellent

[@williambo5989]

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.

[@DavidWoodArtist]

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.

[@combaja]

@firuinthehouse I do not think so. So I'm wondering if it ever will be.. sure hope so, it looks very interesting.

[@FranklinsLighthouse]

YEEEESS! Finally, Truth.

[@ARTEllipsepaintings]

good video

[@55vermeer]

What he means by "business, business, business" is that each brush stroke should be about the visual information you are seeing from the object you are painting.

[@firuinthehouse]

Did this DVD ever come out ?

[@bozoclown2098]

Good luck to those who follow him .

[@PostalPete]

@willberain and the wonderful makes it more HD

[@lostintranslation10]

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

[@drctka]

I thought that too! :)

[@AudiobookLibrary24-7]

I promise to paint specific brush strokes.

[@FredericWatts]

@junfanjkjd Very well put. Yeah, he's a guy with a real heart and work ethic...very generous. I don't think people know he looks and learns from all kinds of painters, especially those who are so called bad in technique, Carriere and Watts are his gold. Yes, haha, had some similar talks over coffee too with that friend. Oh fantastic, I haven't met Assael yet but hopefully in the near future. I'm sure Odd would enjoy meeting you as well.

[@accesskb]

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

[@Theimpromptulife]

Man... you can tell he is such a great teacher.

[@drctka]

Have you seen his paintings?

[@eyeshowyou]

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

[@guzsaj]

@hankx32 Maybe you are right.

[@norahblount1558]

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.

[@RanchoZabara]

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.

[@SonicVision360]

A specific piece of business.

[@FredericWatts]

@junfanjkjd Yes, and that his type of loose paint handling when used was something with heart, not out of looking fancier than the next west coaster. If I've heard right Gerard Borch got the glory in Rembrandts day, and then R was forgotten about until Reynolds brought him back. I don't think Rembrandt would make American Artist, he'd need some myopia and to clean up his act. Definitely agree. Manet to the Uni painters, Sargent to many new classicists. Won't even get started on ARC picks.

[@johncastle8254]

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 .

[@williambo5989]

Great tip. i will do this on one painting and see how it works.

[@guzsaj]

I genuinely wonder: what good is it to tell students how to hold the brush and how to move the hands? Isn't it their job to figure it out? Who can say there is only one way of doing it? How do we evolve, if we hold onto certain methods?

[@kingsleysaxon9710]

There's an evolved way to perform most highly skilled human activities. Surgery is another, there is, believe it or not a correct way to hold a scalpel for a certain job...and you will do it or go home!

[@keci57]

Brrravo, braveheart... :-)

[@iadanza]

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

[@iadanza]

what does it mean ARC ppl?

[@Santosdartista]

Bravo M A E S T R O

[@flipperdale51]

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

[@genobourn7423]

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!

[@AudiobookLibrary24-7]

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

[@PD19954]

the rembrant of our times.

[@Lytton333]

Brush-strokes are fine.. all well and good, but blending has it's place as well. A good painter knows how (and when and why) to use both approaches. Just because a painting is a slab-work of brush-strokes doesn't mean to say it will succeed purely because of the percieved 'expressivity' such a formula is supposed to elicit. Van Eyck blended everything.. was he a bad painter? I think not....

[@rottencore0]

Lets see him paint then. Then I will believe what he is saying.

[@tomwhalen2151]

rottencore0 that's the thing, you never see him paint in these little videos.

[@donnchadhmcginley3153]

@@tomwhalen2151 yes you do, just look for them

[@AussieGuy53]

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!

[@paintingtutorials2d3dprodu22]

even blending methods should starts with brush strokes to organize the path of colour mixtures otherwise it would be helly messy and can produce just so called ''dirty or can not be told what it is .with brush stokes u can reach the absolute realism. if you dedicate time and wait for paint to dry and adding more layers. you can arrive to super realism painting. but the real taste of brush strokes is in its alla prima style.

[@TaureanRuler]

I don't agree, who's to say the master didn't blend... we where not there when they where painting...everybody has a different way the feels natural to them

[@kingsleysaxon9710]

History and close observation says the Master's didn't blend. Blending is for babies!

[@brenttaylordotus]

Sargent

[@FredericWatts]

@junfanjkjd To continue, Rembrandt's brushstrokes would change pressure by the nature of his paint application, maybe Sargents wouldnt change pressure but why has Sargent become the God of this new painting era and bravura the praised technique. I don't know why Leffel has been attributed as the Rembrandt follower when I see nothing Rembrandt like about his wok. A gloomy portrait with a hat and side curls does not honor Rembrandt, it parodies him.

[@FredericWatts]

I think the ARC people run it much as marketing rather than caring about a revival of masterly painting, and I think Bougoureau is propaganda for someone who owns a few. The fox news advertisement on the side says something think about uncaring businesses posed as those that care.

[@bardart703]

Hes like Dumbledore and Schmid is Gandalf of Painting🤗

[@waltervandijk5098]

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 .....

[@kidzsanlorenzo]

how to talk half an hour without saying nothing...

[@tomwhalen2151]

Sam Marcon that's what I think Everytime I see this video. He literally says nothing. A fool and his money will soon depart ways.

[@MrVideoforhire]

Uhhhhhhhh... David IS a good teacher.... He is obviously a victim of poor editing here!

[@bridgittah]

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.

[@TheUltraCA]

***** I don't think he's trying to insult them. I think he's just trying to make a distinction between technique. I think he gave it away when he mentioned it as a "different school." As a student I think I would understand after what he said that to achieve the work I'm aiming to learn to do, blending won't get me there.

[@cryan9137]

***** Maybe, but it's not really a good point that you're trying to paint. Rembrandt was tighter in his youth, and gradually started to show more brushstrokes in old age(for whatever reason). In that case, Leffel is still continuing on this tradition, because the old Rembrandt is really the tradition Rembrandt was known for. Regardless of that though, refined and detailed paintings often preceded the 'painterly' paintings of the past. So in that sense, I would agree with you calling Leffel hogwashy, as to completely denounce the merit of non-painterly painting is absurd.

[@carmona_design]

I never realized it before watching this video but David makes a very insightful point. A simple revelation in my mind, actually. For me, it's about scale, scope and not imposing physical limitations. When you rely on your wrist movement to create strokes then you're limited in the size of the work. When you use your entire arm then you can cover more ground and produce larger paintings. You have more freedom to express.Just look at some of the videos of Picasso painting AND drawing. Mostly all arm action, very little wrist action. But it also seems to me that it's a more difficult road to mastery, and therefore the appropriate one.

[@michaelmccauslin3676]

you misunderstood him completely.

[@Night-Taco]

Don't take things so personally, or you will never get better

[@tawanaxxi1]

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

[@bardotte5757]

Keep saying brushstrokes ....

[@sammysmith586]

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]

[@tomwhalen2151]

Sammy smith lol

[@lindacowan5012]

Sammy smith a