HelenVanWyk.Com

Oil Painting Applications

Helen told her students: "You draw a drawing and paint a painting". By using the proper brushstrokes and adhering to the three properties of drawing - proportion, perspective and structure - Helen shows you how to use your brush to draw the components that make up every painting, even one whose subject is something from memory. In the first segment, Helen demonstrates how to use the principles of painting to create a picture without the benefit of subject matter. Then, she paints a porcelain bowl and lemons, drawing with brush and paint instead of a pencil or charcoal. This is a unique lesson that will guuide you through every painting you create. Only a painter of Helen's caliber would attempt such a profound approach to teaching the craft!
60 Minutes VHS or DVD,

A Rose is a Rose

Helen Van Wyk professes a hearty dislike for painting roses, but she dosen't let it stop her from beautifully interpreting this difficult-to-paint flower, nor from showing you how to paint roses successfully. In lesson one, Helen uses her characteristically clear-cut manner of teaching to demonstrate an easy method for composing and beginning to paint a picture of peach and red roses. In the second lesson, Helen develops the painting, reducing the interesting and complex layers of petals to a simple explanation and procedure. If you've ever longed to paint the intricate constructions of a rose but were awed by its anatomy, you will find this lesson invaluable!
60 Minutes VHS or DVD,

The Essence of Composition

Helen Van Wyk explains why good composition is crucial to a painting's success, whether the artist is a novice or veteran, and demonstrates how to construct a good design on canvas. In the first segment, Helen composes a portrait, still-life and landscape. As she prepares each piece for subsequent applications of paint, she explains the steps to successfully composing a painting. In the second segment, Helen discusses the three properties of composition - unity, variety and balance - and suggests ways to use them to heighten interest in every one of your paintings.
60 Minutes VHS or DVD,

Paint a Self Portrait

Demonstrating how she paints her "mirror image" Helen Van Wyk passes along the knowledge she gained as a student of illustrator Ralph Entwistle and portraitist M.A. Rasko. Self-portraits are the best way for an artrist to learn and practice the difficult dicipline of portraiture. Rembrandt painted himself more than 70 times. In three segments, Helen demonstrates how to develop and successfully complete a portrait from a linear sketch. Along the way, she discusses the role that complementary color plays in creating the lifelike dimension that is at the heart of representational portraiture. Offering more than a simple lesson in portrait painting, Helen presents instructions that will help you in all phases of your artistic experience!
60 Minutes VHS or DVD,

1 2 3's of Painting

According to Helen Van Wyk, the number three is fundamental to many of the arts. In music for example, many compositions are made up of three movements; in drama the number of acts written by playwrights is usually three. It is also so in painting, Helen says in this enlightening video. She goes on to demonstrate the 1-2-3’s in her painting of white flowers, in which she shows the importance of placing the flowers on the canvas, how to cover the canvas completely, and finally how to add color and highlights. The second section is a Bermuda landscape in which Helen demonstrates how to paint with the three primary colors, plus black and white. The result is amazing. The final section discusses and demonstrates the three properties of color: hue, tone and intensity. Helen defines each term and demonstrates how to mix color.
60 Minutes VHS or DVD,

Still Life Procedures

Students of Helen’s constantly heard from their teacher that “still life painting is the backbone of good painting”. Using her own paintings, and those of the Old Masters, Helen shows how still life skills helped each artist paint portraits, figures and landscapes. You will be part of the passion that Helen felt for still life painting in this video featuring white and bronze mums, grapes, ears of corn, apples and pears. Helen opens the demonstration by placing the elements of the composition on canvas, then covering the canvas in tones of gray, explaining the advantages of this process. Helen continues with the oil paint application, citing her reasons for certain colors and techniques. She ends by adding highlights and dark values throughout.
60 Minutes VHS or DVD,