You can find here, on this page, all the news concerning the artistic workshops carried out in the premises of the Arrimage N.P.O. by Catherine Dorochenko.

These are workshops of:

• Academic Drawing (all media)
• Watercolor
• Pottery/modeling/sculpture

Culbuto “My baby” self-portrait with Clément” - Catherine Dorochenko, Painting on Wood/ Culbuto, Height 17 cm/ Diameter 17 cm

The tumbler is an important element in popular Slavic painting, in the same way as matryoshkas, these famous nesting dolls.

The tumbler is a deliciously round and hollow shape. Molten lead is poured inside. This way he cannot overturn, only swing. Originally it is a child's toy but more than that when it is a work of art, it also symbolizes "Balance" always lost but constantly found, like in our lives.

Personally, as a painter, I prefer it to the Matryoshkas. It is a unique shape and the pattern does not repeat itself infinitely... Which allows me to express without any weariness whatever I want and with lots of details as I like to do.

The Culbuto is painted with a very creamy acrylic, for a great finesse of rendering. It stands on a tripod to be painted in all directions. The finish is always a high gloss varnish.

Here I pictured myself with my baby. Clément, who is now 32 years old but his tumbling has not changed. He never left me. It’s a wonderful work where I put all the love and pride as a young mother. I am dressed as a Russian or an Ukrainian for that matter, since these are my two origins. My baby smiles while sleeping. He was like that, always satisfied and happy. I wonder if Culbuto, like any work of art and love, did not encourage these happy dispositions which lasted until the age of 13. After, after... it was the time of his teenager years and only the tumble kept its balance I must say...

See you soon on the Workshop Blog!

Catherine

« Pinocchio articulés en bois» - Catherine Dorochenko ,Peinture sur bois, 30,5cm

Hello everyone !

Today we will talk about “Painting on wood” and “patina” with this delightful little creature sculpted by the very versatile René David, molder in archeology and prehistory.

So he grabbed a piece of larch wood that was lying around in his workshop, without worrying about disturbing all the spiders sleeping on it, and armed with his gouge he worked in secret to offer me this “Pinocchio”, raw from formwork removal. What a joy for me !

It is now a matter of bringing the puppet to life, by painting it. This requires a lot of technique and also a tiny pinch of talent…

First of all I used shellac which gives the wood this golden color. Shellac is an excellent pore filler and before being painted, any wood must receive preparation.

After the shellac dried, I finely sanded Pinocchio then I coated the slightest little scar caused by the sculptor's work. My shape is beautiful, smooth and clean.

I prepare my acrylics and start painting with the face. Indeed, if the face is successful, the rest is acquired.

Now look how nicely Pinocchio lets himself be painted. He holds out his little legs to me and at the end he sits down a little dazed and looks at me, amazed to be there!

These eyes are collectible bear eyes, made of black glass. He has the good rosy cheeks of a beautiful child. I'm going to finish his shirt and knit him a red scarf in pure wool so he'll be nice and warm! I love it madly and passionately!

WAX PATINA: How to do it?

Pinocchio is there, very much alive but a bit too “firecracker” in color. Too new...You have to give it the mystery of things that come from far away and even very far away since it comes from the depths of my childhood dreams.

I will “patina” it and before that give it a “flea market” or “worn effect” finish.

I sand all the edges with biting grit sandpaper. I expose the wood on these edges.

And now I'm preparing my wax patina, my favorite when it comes to patina. The soft glow of wax is unlike any other. In addition, the wax perfectly preserves the wood and protects it very effectively from humidity.

My recipe: Liquid antique beeswax, 4 tablespoons

Yellow ocher pigment, a pinch

Burnt umber pigment, a pinch

A soft hog bristle brush.

Mix and get started without fear (however, you don't have hours...in a quarter of an hour the wax will start to dry...)

I stroke Pinocchio with my brush. I paint with wax with delicacy and care. The patina must dry for 12 hours. I put Pinocchio on a tripod so that he doesn't touch the table. He is waiting. Me too. Then I shine it with an old sock. The wax brings out the worn effect. And There you go. My Pinocchio now has a soul!

See you soon for a new workshop column!

“After the rain” - Brigitte Lubrano, Watercolor on Arches Paper, 21cm/29 cm

Dear All,

It is a pleasure for me to present to you this delicate watercolor by my student Brigitte Lubrano. “After the rain” is worked “wet in the wet” like the sky, then certain areas are worked in the “wet” like the brush and finally some details are painted, “wet on dry” like the windows, the roof or the birds.

By working during these three states, we exploit all the states of the paper: first very wet, then humid and finally dry. It was while the paper was drying that this watercolor was created.

Thank you to Brigitte Lubrano for her loyalty to my classes, her constant progress and her cheerfulness.

See you Wednesday on the columns!

Catherine

« Sans Nom » - Nicole Ivaldi, Watercolor on Arches paper and enhanced with Indian ink, 21cm/17 cm

“How happy I would be

to wake up a second time

of a sum

whose dream of this world

would be the sky of dawn"

Haiku of the samurai TOKUGAWA Ieyasu.

See you soon on the Chronicle!

Catherine

Catherine

“Uninhibited fisherman” - Catherine Dorochenko / Vieux-Boucau, Watercolor on Arches Paper, 9.5cm/17.5cm

That afternoon, returning from the sea, I rested for a moment on the banks of the “stream”. The tide was high and the water was sparkling. I saw this lady fishing and I looked at her for a long time.

I like this lady... she cares as much as a cherry's tail about her appearance. She has an atrocious swimsuit, bulges on her back, fluorescent yellow clogs, a trace of sunburn on her neck and she doesn't really care... She's all about her fishing, her pleasure and doesn't care even though we find it ugly.

She is “uninhibited” and I find it good that she is enjoying her summer as she sees fit. Now I often think of her and her freedom to “be”. And so I paid homage to him with this little light and luminous watercolor that I love. I'm thinking of buying some neon pink clogs...

See you soon on the columns!

Catherine

“Still life with fruit” - Michelle Rosso

It is a pleasure for me to present to you the work of one of the students of the "Atelier d’Arrimage".

Today a “Still Life with Fruit” by Michelle Rosso. Her favorite medium is colored pencil, which she uses quite audaciously to create an “exploding” image full of vitality.

She also mixes all the brands, both oil pencil and wax pencil, which I never do. But the desired result which is above all “Color!” » seems to prove her right...

She works on all kinds of papers but she particularly likes “Paint On” from Clairefontaine, an inexpensive but full of quality paper with a tight grain and a very white tone.

In short, surrounded by her countless colored pencils, Michelle Rosso is our colorist.

She is also a fine portrait painter and I would have the opportunity to present her portraits in graphite where despite everything she often slips in a touch of colored pencil...

See you Wednesday for the next Workshop post!

Catherine

“Nathalie in the garden” - Catherine Dorochenko

Graphite on Strathmore Paper.

16.5cm/18.5cm

This little intimate and summer scene, started on the spot and finished in the workshop, I wanted it to be alive and in a very sketchy spirit. This is why I treated it in “hatch drawing” which is the very essence of the sketch. As you can see, the garden is bordered by an enormous 'fusain' hedge...It’s time to learn how to draw plants! How to do ?

It’s simple: you have to quickly and flexibly stylize the shape of the leaves and not draw the leaf but shade “around” the leaf. This way we easily create the profusion of leaves and especially the depth of the bush. Then we shade certain leaves in my case by hatching them. In general, the shade is dense at the bottom of the bushes while the light illuminates the top of the bush or hedge.

I added a photo of a large garden bush treated in this way - in negative for fans of the Workshop blog who would like to practice!

See you next Wednesday!

Catherine

“Mary Magdalene” - Catherine Dorochenko

Pastel on Canson paper in a grayish blue tone.

50cm/65cm

This work is an interpretation of a detail from the altarpiece of “The Great Crucifixion” by Ludovic Bréa. The original can be seen at the Cimiez monastery in Nice.

Mary Magdalene having probably wiped Jesus' feet with her hair, she is very often represented with abundant hair. Here at the foot of the cross she cries, her beautiful blond hair spread like a cloak over her frail shoulders.

From a technical point of view I am in a large format contrary to my habits. In fact, the pastel stick is a “big” medium. It was then with finely sharpened pastel pencils from the "Caran d’Hache" range that I sculpted the transparent tears and decorated the golden halo. This work was a gift, and I loved “painting” this moving Mary Magdalene. You can see the progress of my work in the following photos. I always finish a part before tackling another. Nothing is worse than getting lost everywhere both in general, but especially in this powdery, volatile and delicate medium.

To fix the pastel I left it lying flat in a drawing board between two sheets of glassine paper for 3 weeks. The humidity did its job. The powder has settled into the paper to an acceptable extent. Nothing would have been worse than risking staining my color with hairspray….

Remember the lesson of the day about these tears which I am quite happy with:

“Good pencil lead, good drawing”…

In other words, sharpen, sharpen, sharpen, and never draw with poorly sharpened pencil stumps.

See you soon on the Workshop column!

Catherine

“Billy” – Line Beugnies

Watercolor on Arches Paper

25cm/28cm

It is a pleasure for me to show the work of my students in the Workshop columns.

Today Line Beugnies for her superb watercolor “Billy”.

Young Billy, comfortably installed in his observation post, is apparently waiting for the next “stupid thing” to do…Perhaps a little pilferage that could happen without anyone noticing anything…

Line perfectly captured the hyper-attentive look of the little dog, the moisture of her nose and the softness of her coat. It’s a big job since this soft coat is painted “hair by hair”.

On a background wash, in this case “Terre de Sienna”, it is therefore necessary to trace each hair in the required direction with small brush strokes, that is to say following the contours, the bones and the musculature. of the dog's head. When the light hits the coat then conversely we act by “withdrawal” and in the wash we scrape the hairs with a cutter so that they appear white and therefore illuminated.

At first this precision work may seem tedious, but very quickly the reward for this difficult technique is there. The portrait is vibrant, alive, resembling. What will Billy do in the next few seconds?

Bravo Line for your work and see you soon on the workshop column l’Atelier!

Catherine

“Philippe and Djin.”

22cm/25cm

Graphite on Strathmore Paper.

Catherine Doroshenko

This little drawing wonderfully illustrates all the material effects that you can learn in an "Academic Drawing course" like that of the Arrimage workshop. Philippe, dressed in a leather jacket, gloves and wool scarf and wearing sunglasses, holds his little Shiba Inu dog in his arms, tightly against him. From the reflection of the sun in the glasses, from the dense and strongly contrasted “light and shadow”, we know that this day is beautiful and cold. All material effects are pushed to maximum detail without erasing the great tenderness that emerges from this intimate drawing. Philippe's well-groomed beard, the frayed wool of his gloves, Djin's shiny, wet nose, everything is described in detail. I am citing for your information the lessons associated with a very technical achievement like this. They are brought together in a very large chapter called: “Material effects” Draw “Fur” Draw “Hair and beard” Draw “Glass” Draw “Fabrics” Then “Shadow and light” And finally “The folds” Rest assured there is the teacher to explain all this to you in detail!

See you soon on the workshop columns!

Catherine

“Mistral” Blue Beach, Nice.

Catherine Doroshenko

Graphite on Strathmore paper, 21.5 cm/15.5 cm.

Drawing from my photo. I started this drawing 3 or 4 years ago then worked on it over the Christmas holidays and completed it on the first day of the year 2024. It's a very good way to start the drawing. year ! I often keep unfinished drawings carefully in my boxes, which I will finish one day or another...

I love the “icy” atmosphere of this scene. The two young women persist in remaining on their mattresses in the sun despite the wind. The fringes of the Blue Beach parasols fly and the sparkling sea adds to the coldness of the mistral. I am also particularly happy with how my pebbles turned out. The almost silvery values ​​of my "Graphite Line" range from "Caran d'Ache" as well as the very tight grain of my extra white Strathmore paper perfectly serve the cold effect and the very fine details of this small format. You recognize my hand. I like very small, ultra-detailed formats, like precious miniatures, and I always draw with Line graphite on Strathmore... A designer is happy when he has exactly recreated an atmosphere and a moment that spoke to him and that he liked. For me it is a very good drawing and I am pleased to share it in the Workshop columns.

Pottery/Modeling.

" Ours "

Catherine Dorochenko: Small fruit dish in enameled earthenware, Mishima technique and low relief sculpture.

IN MEMORIAM

Ours becomes mine through a strange inheritance. A young girl left my son's apartment, conveniently forgetting her rat. We can guess what happens next...

At the beginning, "Ours" did not receive a first name and she did not live alone because rats, like humans, can die of loneliness. The young girl had therefore taken in a shelter a white rat with red eyes which bit very cruelly as soon as anyone tried to touch it. The white spleen became “the Other” and suddenly “Ours” was named, by contrast I would say. Very quickly I began to love "Ours" almost in spite of myself.

"Ours" fit in the palm of my hand. She was warm, sweet and tender, shy too. Her black eyes shone like pearls. Her long whiskers tickled me, she nibbled the tips of my fingers or my nose, warmed herself in the folds of my sweater and she fell asleep in the crook of my arm while I delicately scratched her head.

Sometimes I was amazed to see her so "rat" when she trotted at high speed with her claws out from my shoe all the way up my leg, clinging to the fabric of my jeans... Something in me screamed "Horror, a rat ! ". But immediately I recognized her pink muzzle, her chiseled teeth, her bright eyes and she would curl up in the crook of my neck for a little nap.

"Ours" love came at a price, however. "Ours" gnawed away everything in front of her, beside her, behind her. She relentlessly gnawed at my shoes, my laces, the loops of my jeans, my cashmere sweaters, the armchair where we were both, my bamboo knitting needles which she reduced to cores, my balls of wool of which she made nests, my pencils, the window sill where she liked to get some fresh air, and even the window jambs... Nothing stopped her. I gave up many objects that were dear to me and for our evenings together (almost all) and I dressed like a tramp.

Suddenly, after a lot of happiness, "Ours" began to age, offering me a striking insight into my own future. But she always remained dignified, wisely reducing her scampering and acrobatics, continuing to gnaw stubbornly and sleeping more and more wherever it seemed good for her to take a little snooze. I was afraid for her, I was afraid that her end would be difficult because I know that it is not easy to leave this world. At the moment of her death she was in my hands but I know she thought she was alone. So we are all probably at that moment.

I put her to bed in a nest of pink linen which I believe was her favorite color and to calm my sorrow and my tears I ran to buy her a very pink rose. When my son returned, we buried him solemnly in the garden, in his pink shroud, the rose between his paws. He planted a rare palm tree on her little grave so that we would forever remember where she slept.

Even today I miss "Ours". It is in her memory that I created the dish “Petite spleen” based on a sketch I made of her. I crunched it a lot. This is how she gnawed my precious pencils...I also kept various gnawed objects including my bamboo needles transformed into matches. I sewed up his “rongeries” by embroidering pieces of fabric. I embroidered her name, and the date of her death.

"Ours" taught me that behind the quivering of a rat’s mustache could hide a simple and gentle heart. She taught me to overcome human prejudices about rats. She had a faithful, beautiful and tender soul that many men could have envied. We shared an intense love and I created to celebrate it and proclaim that "Ours" has its place in the pink part of my heart.

Catherine

It’s back to school for the Arrimage workshops!

We wish you a 2023-24 school year full of discoveries and arts, and we are pleased to share a series of 3 videos on the creation of an openwork tealight holder created under the direction of Catherine Dorochenko.

Get your tools and get to work!

Dear all, here is a small look back of a (brilliant!) year of art in our workshops

A big thank you from your teacher
Catherine.