THE HUMOROUS ART OF CARICTURE - New class at the Arvada Center

This class is offered at the Arvada Center for the Arts & Humanities
6901 Wadsworth Blvd. Arvada, CO 80003-3499
View class information and register here


Class Description:
In this fun and exciting class, you are introduced to the unique art of caricature, exploring humorous exaggeration, while maintaining a recognizable likeness/resemblance.
Line quality, texture, shading, proportions, shape, angles, simplicity, relationships, “stretch & squash,” the “Z-stroke” – you learn to use these methods and more to create humorous likenesses of faces.

This class combines instructor demonstrations with hands-on drawing. Enthusiasm and expression grow – and so do the laughs – as you learn new skills and a fun new way of seeing the world. If you are new to caricature, you get plenty of foundational basics. If you have taken this class before, you take your drawing skills to the next level.
Minimal basic drawing skills are required. If you can draw a circle, a rectangle, and a triangle, I can teach you to draw caricatures!
Drawing on my experience - over 8,000 caricatures - I share numerous techniques, tips, and tricks. You benefit from my experience!

More about the class:
Caricature is an art of simplification and stylization.
I take you through each of the features of the face, from the largest to the smallest, showing you how to depict each feature, and the different ways they can be exaggerated and played with.
This class changes the way you look at the world. No matter what specific techniques or tools you use, the concepts you learn in this class help you to see better, and to draw better!

Supply List:
Bring at least 20 sheets of paper, 8 ½ x 11” or larger. Drawing paper, sketchbook, or copier bond paper are perfectly acceptable.
One pencil, B or 2B, and an eraser. A small sharpener is also helpful, or you can bring a ‘click’ pencil.
At least two black markers: Dixon Markette, or Sharpie fine point (not the ultra-fine point.)
Optional supplies include a sketch board or clip board.

Tutition: $190
(AV12) Tues. Jan 5 – March 9
6:30 – 9:00 pm; 10 weeks
Classes are held at the Arvada Center for the Arts & Humanities
6901 Wadsworth Blvd.
Arvada, CO 80003
720-898-7200

Contact me with questions, or for more information:
Mike Kloepfer
Cel: 407-
Email: mkloep@hotmail.com

Private Art Instruction

I am currently accepting new students for private instruction.
I teach all ages and all levels.
Lessons are tailored to meet the needs of the individual.
Contact me for more information.

About Your Instructor:

About Your Instructor:
Mike Kloepfer is an award-winning professional artist with a career spanning three decades. He has done over one thousand professional portraits, and over 8,000 professional caricatures, for collectors from every continent on earth except Antarctica.
Mike received formal training in figure and portraiture from nationally acclaimed instructors including Anthony Ryder and Julette Aristides at the Academy of Realist Art (now the Gage Academy) and as a charter alumni of the ARC-Approved Aristides Classical Atelier, at the Gage Academy of Fine Art in Seattle.
He received his Associates degree in Commercial Art from Auraria Community College, he has studied at the Art Students League of Denver and the University of Washington, as well as being a member of the legendary Acme life drawing group. His art has received numerous awards, including a purchase award nomination from the Art Renewal Center in New York, pieces of his art reside in the permanent collection of the Gage Academy, and has appeared in articles in The Artist’s Magazine, and the book Classical Drawing Atelier by Juliette Aristides.
Mike spent three years training and mentoring portrait and caricature artists in Orlando and Denver for Kaman’s Art Shoppes, Inc.
Always an active artist, he currently teaches classes, workshops, and private students in the Denver area. Mike is the founder of the Caricature Artist’s Pow-WOW!!! a forum of local and national caricature artists of all levels.

Advanced Portrait Drawing

Advanced Portrait Drawing
Portraiture is ultimately a celebration of a single human life. A good portrait is valued for its aesthetic merits. To achieve this, the student builds on the foundations learned in Beginning Portrait Drawing, refining their skills, honing their accuracy, and sharpening their ability to see and visualize. Principles of proportion, envelope shapes, planes of the head, anatomy of the features of the face, connecting the head to the body, and more are explored through discussion, demonstration, and exercises.
Portraits are works of art designed through a process of selection, emphasis, and subordination of detail. The concepts of focal point, unified light, value, form and shadow, perspective and gesture are explored. The student learns the different types shadows and their edges, and gains mastery over line quality, edge control, value and form. The result is amazing realism.
A masterful portrait is also valued for its insights into the psyche of the sitter. The features of the face convey a wealth of nonverbal communication. The aim of portraiture is to capture not only a likeness but a state of mind and emotion. The student develops the knowledge and skills to portray the complex range of emotion and expression found in the face.
Examples of classical and contemporary masterworks are given to inspire the student and illustrate the principles discussed; as well as recommended books and resources to expand the student’s knowledge and help them to take their drawing skills further.
Supply List: 18 x 24" newsprint pad, at least two sticks of vine charcoal (medium), B or 2B drawing pencil, kneaded eraser, paper towels.

For more about my artwork:
My Fine Art Blog

Beginning Portrait Drawing

Beginning Portrait Drawing
The portrait is a uniquely intimate art form with a rich history and tradition. What does it take to create a portrait? In this introductory class, the student breaks away from drawing ‘symbols’ of the features, learns fundamental knowledge and develops skills based on the methods handed down by generations of masters. Discussions and demonstrations include: the building blocks of portraiture – shape, proportion/relationships, angles, size, and placement; fundamentals of light and shadow; the elements of recognizable likeness, and more.
The student learns the ability to see, develops dexterity and eye-hand coordination, and builds proficiency with the drawing tools, resulting in the rewarding ability to achieve a recognizable likeness.
Examples of classic and contemporary portraiture are given, as well as recommended books and resources to expand the student’s knowledge and inspire them to take their drawing skills further.
Supply List: 18 x 24" newsprint pad, at least two sticks of vine charcoal (medium), B or 2B drawing pencil, kneaded eraser, paper towels.

For more about my artwork:
My Fine Art Blog

Advanced Caricature and EXTREME Exaggeration!

Advanced Caricature and EXTREME Exaggeration - For Teens and Adults
Hang on to your seat! In this spine-tingling advanced course, students take off from the fundamentals of caricature and journey into the realms of EXTREME exaggeration.
Speed, accuracy, and confidence are honed as the student travels to the boundaries of exaggeration and beyond!
Venture into advanced line variation, stretch & squash, the "pound of Play-Doh" principle, overlapping form, why "bigger isn’t always better," defying the laws of physics, radical simplicity, and more; as well as advanced shading, color theory and applying color to your drawings.
Examples are provided of the wide range of caricature styles from icons of classic "theme park" caricature to the vanguard of contemporary EXTREME humor, as well as recommended books and resources to inspire, to excite, and to challenge the student’s skills, knowledge and daring.
Completion of Introduction to Caricature is required.


For more about my caricatures, samples, and demonstrations:
My Caricatures Blog

Introduction to Caricature

Introduction to Caricature - For teens and adults

In this entertaining and exciting class, students are introduced to the fascinating and unique art of caricature. Emphasis is on exploring humorous exaggeration while maintaining a recognizable likeness. The art of caricature and portraiture, their commonalities and differences are revealed.
The foundationts of proportion, shape, angles, simplicity, and relationship are demonstrated and learned, then twisted – with amusing results. Students learn and develop line quality, texture, shading, and "the Z-stroke." Enthusiasm and expression grow as the student learns new skills and a fun new way of seeing the world.
Examples of various styles of caricature are given, as well as recommended books and resources to inspire the student and expand their knowledge and skills.
Basic drawing skills are required.

For more about my caricatures:
My Caricatures Blog