Ercole Pignatelli was born in Lecce in 1935. As a small child he was fascinated by the delicate embroidery work of his grandmother Maria as well as by the collection of paintings of his grandfather, Ercole, a surgeon. He soon became fascinated by Art, in particular painting, and from his junior school days he began using oil colours: his first painting depicted trees reflected in a pond. At the age of eighteen he left Lecce, first for Rome before then settling in Milano. In 1954 he won the San Fedele Prize, presented by Carlo Carrà . In the same period he met his first gallerist, Carlo Cardazzo, who exhibited his work in Milan and in Venice. These first exhibitions were later followed by two Venice Biennale (1978 and 2011) and dozens of individual and collective exhibitions in Italy and around the world. The Maestro lives and works in Milano.
In this lesson, Master Ercole Pignatelli will instruct you on what to look for in a canvas and how to prepare it for your painting. He also shares insight on how to choose your subject.
This lesson will explore different types of materials and pigments to use in your work. Master Ercole Pignatelli will detail the specific uses of various tools.
In this lesson, Master Ercole Pignatelli will demonstrate how to properly adjust and tighten your canvas.
In this lesson, we begin laying out the foundation of our painting. Master Ercole Pignatelli will immerse you in the drawing process as he covers the light, shade, and balance of your piece.
This lesson will continue your progress on the still life painting. Here, we add various flowers, fruits, and leaves to create a lively and interesting piece.
Continuing the still life painting, Master Ercole Pignatelli will detail the process of adding light and shadows. He will also demonstrate how to add reflections and volume to your subjects.
This lesson takes a detailed look at painting bunches of grapes. Grapes are a common subject found in many traditional and classical works, and Master Ercole Pignatelli will show you how to master ...
In this lesson, Master Ercole Pignatelli will spend time balancing the composition and developing volume. He will also study light and tonality.
In this lesson we will conclude our still life painting. Master Ercole Pignatelli will perform final touches to the work and demonstrate how to properly varnish your piece.
In this lesson we begin exploring the subject of a mermaid in a seascape. Master Ercole Pignatelli will guide you through the process of sketching out your drawing in charcoal.
Master Ercole Pignatelli will continue to adjust his charcoal drawing before adding introducing color to the piece. He will show you how to accurately play with light and color as you prepare your ...
This lesson focuses on accentuating the bust, torso, and arm of the mermaid subject. Master Ercole Pignatelli instructs you on where and how to add the strongest area of light.
We continue working on our mermaid painting by retouching the seascape. We also dive into painting the face of our subject.
In this lesson we will continue to develop the mermaid’s face and the volume of her body.
Master Ercole Pignatelli will focus on the waves and the horizon in our background.
Here we will continue to detail the shape of the mermaid’s leg and side.
This lesson focuses on detailing the seashell at the foreground of the piece.
Master Ercole Pignatelli will perform some retouches and work to develop the mermaid’s tail.
This lesson will address necessary retouches to the face, sky, and sea in our painting.
In this lesson, Master Ercole Pignatelli will perform final touch-ups and complete the mermaid painting. He will demonstrate the proper way to varnish the piece.
In this lesson, Master Ercole Pignatelli will introduce you to a new work of art featuring a surreal landscape. We will plan out the painting and begin working on the sky.
We will now develop some of the key components of our landscape including the olive tree, water troughs, and hedges.
In this lesson we will focus primarily on adjusting and defining the lighting in our scene.
Master Ercole Pignatelli will reveal some key tricks and methods to help you depict realistic-looking water.
This lesson will demonstrate how to bring your olive tree to life, making it shine as the centerpiece of your foreground.
Here we will explore a crucial part of the composition- the window frame. Master Ercole Pignatelli will show you how to add shading to your frame.
We will continue to detail our work, paying special attention to the light and shading on the olive tree and window frame.
As Master Ercole Pignatelli says, it’s never too late to make changes to a painting. We’ll take a step back and examine areas that need adjustment, while also touching up necessary areas.
Master Ercole Pignatelli will show you how to make necessary changes to the window frame to ensure the tonality is just right.
We will now conclude our landscape painting by adding final retouches and varnishing the finished piece.
Master Ercole Pignatelli will introduce you to our next piece- a nighttime animal scene. He will demonstrate how the unique technique of engraving can be utilized to sketch the foundation of your d...
This lesson will focus on adding volume to your creature to create a more realistic form.
In this lesson we will focus on some of the details of your animal such as the hooves, bust, and tail. We will also go over painting the grassland and creating effective light.
We will now cover detailing the background and sky of your piece.
After stepping back, Master Ercole Pignatelli reconsiders the tones of the sky and demonstrates how to make adjustments.
We will continue to add depth and volume to our creature using various materials and tools to bring it to life.
Master Ercole Pignatelli will now add his final touches to the painting.
Master Ercole Pignatelli goes in-depth and clearly demonstrates the differences between the three main types of varnish.
The signature is a crucial element of any complete work of art. Here we will cover the information it is wise to include with your work.
This is the last lesson in the Intermediate Course. Master Ercole Pignatelli shares valuable insight about the works we have created and will also provide you with information on the Advanced Course.