Online Class: Hawaiian Flowers in Pastels

In 1939, Georgia O’Keeffe spent nine weeks traveling through Hawaii at the invitation of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company (now Dole) to create illustrations for print advertisements. During her time on the islands, O’Keeffe painted striking works featuring the Hawaiian landscape, coastline, and an abundance of tropical flowers.

Inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings of island flowers, this soft pastel class will start with a brief overview of her tropical works. Next, instructor Deborah Shea will show participants how to use soft pastels and alcohol to create an underpainting, how to define large shapes and tones, and how to layer pastels to develop vibrant color and harmony for a beautiful floral artwork. 

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This class is suitable for youth ages 12 and up. Children are welcome to participate alongside their adults.

Space is limited, reservations required.

This program will take place via the video conferencing app – ZOOM. Details for accessing the Zoom meeting will be with your receipt upon registering and again sent via email the day prior. Please register in advance in order to access the program.

Note that all program times are in Mountain Time.

Supplies needed for this class: 

• A beautiful Hawaiian flower (or an image of a flower) to reference during class
• Uart 12 x 16 Premium Mounted Board, #600 and scrap pastel paper
• Soft Pastels (not oil)
• Kneaded eraser
• Xacto knife
• HB graphite pencil for sketching
• Rubbing Alcohol, Brush and cup for underpainting
• Pastel pencils in various colors for detail work
• White charcoal pencil
• Mask (always wear for pastel work!)
• Paper towel for tapping off dust
• Winsor & Newton Artguard Barrier Cream
• Fixative for the finished drawing
• Hand wipes

About the Instructor

Deborah Shea was born and raised in San Francisco. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art and Design at UC Davis, where she studied with Wayne Thiebaud and Roland Peterson. A San Francisco Native, Deb spent over 20 years as a creative director, designer, and illustrator before becoming a full-time fine artist in 2017. She prefers to work in large-scale paintings, drawing the viewer in to experience her art. She has won numerous awards in juried and solo exhibitions and was one of seven artists chosen for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Exhibition for 2023 in Redwood City, California. She conducts pastel workshops and courses at Filoli, Pacific Art League, The Society of West Coast Artists, and her studio at Art Bias in San Carlos, California. Deb is pursuing her MFA at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. She currently resides in Redwood City, California.

This class is being offered on a sliding scale:

$10; minimal fee.

$20; covers the cost of the class.

$30; covers the cost of the class, plus a contribution to support educational programs.