Advance your skills and expand your confidence & joy in abstract painting
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EXPLORING ABSTRACTION
Online course with Jenny Nelson
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You can develop a strong abstract language that is unique to you
Hi, I'm Jenny Nelson. I've been practicing and teaching abstract painting for 25 years. Through the years, I've painted daily and experienced all the self-doubts and personal challenges that the creative process presents.
Having taught hundreds of students over the years through my live workshops, I've learned the common challenges that arise when trying to implement abstract elements into your work. Maybe it’s color, composition, how to jumpstart a stalled painting or even start a new one.
As a result, I've developed a simple, sequential framework to develop your skills and build your confidence in abstract painting.
And now I've created an online course upon this framework that allows you to study whenever and wherever you want. It's called Exploring Abstraction.
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Jessie Kotler
"Color and shape can be so overwhelming, but Jenny teaches you to keep going and not be afraid. I learned to trust myself."
James Ransome
"Jenny is warm, comfortable and really eager to share. Her lessons teach you the principles of making good abstract work."
Jane Hofverberg
"Jenny took the fear out of a blank canvas. She has several exercies that enabled me to not feel stressed about starting with nothing."
The Course at a Glance
Curriculum + Community
The Exploring Abstraction online course will give you the building blocks and tools to create dynamic abstract compositions. You will strengthen your mark-making, shape and color vocabulary by developing a language that is authentic to you.
Your work will change in ways you could not have anticipated — incorporating your present sensibilities while pushing your work to the next level.
The course is delivered in 6 modules, each released weekly, with exercises that build upon each other
- The video trainings are pre-recorded so you can access them anytime — and you own the course for life
- The exercises are simple, yet can produce expansive results
- The course was filmed in a beautiful industrial space with 4 actual students, so you'll feel as though you're in class with them, sharing the same experience
Plus, you get 6-month access to my private Exploring Abstraction Community, just for new students. This is a vibrant, private community (NOT a Facebook Group) for sharing your work and getting support in your creative journey. After 6 months, you can join our Alumni Facebook Group for life.Â
Here's a peek at what we'll cover in the course:
Week 1
Introduction & Supplies (31 minutes)
- Introduction to the course
- Detailed description and demonstration of the supplies needed for the exercises
Week 2
Exercise 1:Â Charcoal Drawing (106 minutes)
- Discussion of abstract paintings, lines and mark making from several masters
- Demonstration and exercise in lines and mark-making creating an abstract charcoal drawing
Week 3
Exercise 2:Â Exploring Collage (40Â minutes)
- Discussion of shape and composition, including edges, value, texture and contrast. Using magazines and media sources to create dynamic collage.
- Demonstration and exercise in creating collage
Week 4
Exercise 3:Â Interpreting Collage (98Â minutes)
- Demonstration of creating a warm and cool gray scale palette in both oils and acrylics
- Exercise in interpreting a collage into an abstract painting
- Critique/discussion of student work
Week 5
Exercise 4:Â Overlapping Shapes (118 minutes)
- Creation of a harmonious limited color palette in both oils and acrylics
- Demonstration and exercise in using 3 overlapping shapes as a starting point for creating a composition, then evolving this into a workable abstract painting
Week 6
Exercise 5:Â Lines from Life (42 minutes)
- Demonstration and exercise in painting/drawing everyday objects through observation as a path for creating an abstract painting with life force energy
- Evolution of this work into a workable abstract painting
- Discussion of one of Jenny's works
What Students are Saying about Exploring Abstraction
About Jenny
Jenny Nelson is a painter, arts educator. Trained at Maine College of Art and Bard College — where she earned a scholarship to the Lacoste School of the Arts in France — she has spent over two decades living and working in the Hudson Valley, including a residency at the prestigious Byrdcliffe Art Colony.
Her work has been shown nationally at galleries including Hidell Brooks (Charlotte, NC), Anne Loucks (Chicago), and Carrie Haddad (Hudson, NY). She has taught at celebrated arts institutions across the Northeast and beyond — from Provincetown and Nantucket to Woodstock — and has guided thousands of students in improving their abstract painting.
FAQs
Answers to some of the most frequently asked questions
Is the course live?
What if I'm just starting out in painting — is the course too advanced for me?
My background isn't in abstract art; can this course still help me?
What if I get stuck or have a question?
How do I access the course?
Is this course taught in oils or acrylics?
What if the course just isn't a fit for me?
Still have questions? Email me at jenny@jennynelson.comÂ
Ready to take your skills in abstract painting to the next level?
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