Classes, Workshops and Italy

Things come up so quickly.....

.....I'm lucky to make it to stuff it myself.....but I wanted to give a heads up on several events:

Painting to Your Next Level, Session 2, begins February 24th.  Class begins at 9:30 and runs until mid afternoon.  I leave at 1:30 but the studio is open for everyone in the class until 4:30.  Open to Oil, Gouache, Acrylic, Pastel....did I miss any?....and to all comers.

Portrait Intensive, March 6th, 7th and 8th.  Friday will be a demo and talk from 6:30 to 8:30.  I do this so participants will get full days worth of painting on Saturday and Sunday, which will run from 9:30 to 4:30.  Open to all media including good old paper and pencil.

Marker Workshop, March 21st, 9:30 to 4:00.  This is a fun course in how to use valued markers to quickly make sketches and studies.  Painless art instruction!  Beginners very welcome.  If you need supplies I can supply them at cost.

Italy Extravaganza.  Any time I go to Europe it's an extravaganza.....but in this case we will be drawing and painting the Italian landscape, cityscape, people or anything else that happens to get in our path.  The details are currently being hammered together for somewhere around the second week in October, 2015.   Pencil it in!

Information about all these classes, workshops or extravaganzas can be found by going to the website of the Winslow Art Center HERE.

Hope to see you in one of them, at least.

Drawings from Italy

There was heavy thunder and lightning overhead....

.....yet bright low lying clouds in the distance.  It was only a short time before it would rain but I decided to try this one anyway.  I snuck in the last brush stroke just as the first drop of a deluge began to fall.  I hid in a doorway watching the water run down the old cobblestone streets, washing them clean.

I call this kind of thing 'painting with a pen' although I do use markers and some gouache on a brush plus a white pen.  All of my drawings begin with mentally picturing what it will look like on the page.  Then I figure out what is the simplest thing I can find that will form a structure for the rest of the drawing.

This one began like this:

1.  The top of the building....that narrow cornice outlined in dotted red....was the easiest thing to figure out.  I carefully thought through the size, picturing how it would look with the rest of the page.  To aid the composition it was placed just to the right of middle.   A couple of short lines came down from that small rectangle to set up for the next step.

2.  Then the sloping roof line (dotted blue) was done in the same thoughtful way.   The angles and lengths were slight different so I was careful to get it right.  Once the angle and length was in I could draw the overhang.

3.  Lastly, the height on the right side of the the building was placed (dotted yellow).  This was twice as tricky because the pharmacist who ran the shop I was sitting in front of parked her car right in front of me.  Getting it correct involved peering around, over and through the windows.  Fortunately she drove away soon.

After that, everything else could be determined by seeing where it lined up and intersected with what I had down.  The background building to the right, for example, neatly tucked in under, but not touching, the eave of what I had just done.  Kind of like TinkerToys after that basic structure was in.

You will notice that there is no pencil 'sketch in' before the ink pen.  There really isn't any reason not to....I just like the concentration and challenge of putting it down finished from the start.  I make mistakes but they generally get covered up.  Notice how that small bush in the foreground is drawn right over the rectangular box.  I like that stuff.  It says I'm not a robot.

Adding the gouache: I save the straight white paint for the areas that can draw me into the painting.  You know, darkest dark against lightest light, detail against calm.  That is used sparingly.  Most of the gouache is diluted with water to varying degrees.  It always looks intense when first put on but softens a lot as it drys.  Small white accents are done with the white pen.

Tools:  An extra fine point Sharpie permanent pen, a few gray scale markers, some white gouache with a half  inch brush, a white ink pen and a plastic cup with water for cleaning and another one cut off for a 'palette'.  Also a bottle of drinking water.  The toned paper I got at a store....it may have been WMart but don't tell anyone.  Fifty sheets for about three dollars.

Here are some more of the drawings from the Italy trip.  It became easier and more productive to do drawings rather than paint, although I'll begin posting the paintings I got done in a few days.  In the first one you can see some of my color notes in the margin for doing a painting later.  More on that in a week or so.

 

Just Keep Drawing.....

Swan River Evening, 12 x 16

Curious how things happen.

Today I wrote to another artist to let them know how I admired their courage to follow their own artistic nose.  This evening I was digging around in the studio and ran across this painting from a dozen years ago.  I remember putting it in the scrap pile as a piece that didn't hold together and, though I enjoyed the process of painting it, thought it was a bit outlandish.

Now I see it as having elements of exactly where I want to go with color and brushwork. 

Perhaps some force was playing a joke with me and now, as I write this, is having the best time chuckling over the lesson I'm being taught.  While I can't  be exactly clear, at least in words, about what the lesson is, I think I better spend more time following my own artistic instincts just to see where they go.

I heard an interview with Carolyn Anderson recently in which she said several insightful things of which I'll share one.  Essentially self-taught, she spends time just exploring ideas and wading through the painting process until what she is working toward happens.  It's about what pleases her and she trusts that, if it honestly pleases her, it will likely please someone else.  Good advice.

On to exploration....

Alamos Square, 6 x 10

Town Square, Alamos, Sonora

Announcements!

1.  I'm back from Mexico where I ate great food, lived in a small mountain town and painted from dawn to dusk with good friends.  If there was a downside it was that the lady that sold the Tres Leches cake was only in the town square twice.

2.  The Scream Online, an online international magazine for the arts, will be having features on myself and two other artists in their upcoming edition.  The focus will be on drawing...in my case Drawing with Valued Markers.

3.  Finally, for all those who have been asking for it, I will be teaching my marker workshop on Saturday, April 20th at the Winslow Art Center.   I've had wonderful feedback from those who have taken it before so, whether you are a painter, sketcher or dabbler, you'll find something you can use in this course.  It is such a great way to quickly capture the essence of your wanderings in the world.

The drawing above is only two values and white yet so much depth and movement can be expressed.....and in only a few minutes.  I'll be posting more drawings, as well as Mexico paintings, between now and the 20th so stay tuned.

Last Stop, 10x12

The sun was just beginning to rake light across the snow when I climbed on top a bank left by the plow and began this one.  Less than an hour later there was only a hint of light remaining.  We left to go see about a glass of wine but, considering the drive back home across the pass, decided against it.....I still have that thirst (for painting and a glass).

Painting class, in oil, acrylic or gouache, begins Thursday at the Winslow Art Center.  Hope to see you there.

Four Studies, Plein Air

 

 

Do you live someplace other than the great Northwest?  Go outside.  Bask in the sun.  Do it for me because I'm counting the days until the weather begins changing from constant rain to a bit of occasional sun.

These four studies, done one morning in Maine, are from those glorious sunny days when painting outdoors was actually possible.  Each image brings me back to the scene I was looking at, with warmth on my face and a gentle breeze blowing.....OK, so there was a slight gale that blew over my easel.....I was still outside painting.

'What Do You Do When You Can't Paint Outside' is the title of my upcoming class beginning on January 17th.  While I will have a couple of still life setups around, most of the class will be about painting from photographs.  We will explore the pitfalls of photography and the possible work-arounds that can keep them fresh and exciting.  Open to all levels in oil, acrylic and gouache.  Find out more at the Winslow Art Center website.

This will be great practice for when plein air becomes doable again as the same principles of design, value and color will apply.  Come join us if you can.

Canning Time, 12x12

 Number Two in the 'make a comment and enter for a free painting' thing begun in the last post.  All you have to do is make a comment via my blog or my email to be entered.  The more comments you make the better your chances. 

This painting has been shown several times, sold once but the buyer changed to a different one, and then recently resurrected with a few color shifts and additions.  You can see the original version on my website HERE.  I remember when I originally painted it that it was an exercise in using a very limited palette.  The color wheel choices I used are on the back of the painting.

When I adjusted it recently I had just purchased a couple new colors I wanted to try out and thought they gave the painting some subtle nuances it needed.  I was pleased and wanted to share it. 

Summer Plein Air Workshop is coming up.  Two days of painting outdoors with all kinds of good instruction about color mixing, simplification of shapes, design possibilities, outdoor equipment choices, demonstrations and much more.  If you want to learn about color dynamics, plein air is the way to do it.  July 28th and 29th.  Contact the Winslow Art Center for details.

Spring Snowballs, 14x18

Flowers can be so fleeting that several Springs can go by before I get around to painting certain ones.  It has taken a few years to get around to painting snowballs again.  My friend Debbie showed up and took some progress shots....thanks, D.  I'm sharing them below so you can see the steps.

In this painting I drew a little first.  Another demo, but one in which I didn't draw, I posted  HERE.

A few things to note:  When the flowers are drawn in they have square edges that reflect the planes of their shapes.  I then put a single dot where the center of the flower is which immediately establishes which direction they are pointing.

Another is, that since this was a fairly close valued painting, the first note of paint was the value and color of the sky.  From this I could judge what the rest of the values should be to describe the flowers but still keep them in light spring colors.

The photo of the source doesn't accurately reflect values or color....and there is no sky.  The day was cloudy and very cool. 

By the way, I have a plein air workshop coming up in July at the Winslow Art Center. 

Crepe Shack, 8x10

This place has the best crepes.  It also would be interesting to paint.  A couple weeks ago the markers pulled me to this spot to play around with some compositional ideas.   With twenty minutes on my hands I had time to put this together.  The zig-zags, from the curb to the tree were interesting but as a whole the drawing didn't do it for me.   The drawing did give me the idea for what I would like to do when I bring back my paints.

Cropped, the same drawing becomes much more compelling.  Those zig-zags are more visible and would be fun to work with.  They all converge on the doorway and the little wooden happy french chef.   How convenient.  Almost like it was planned.

 By the way,  I have a marker workshop coming up this next weekend.  Feedback from previous workshops has been very positive and it launches many folks into doing art or revitalizing their previous art practice.  Find out about it HERE.  (Winslow Art Center)

Boat Launch, 8x10

There are some things that give permission.....to succeed or fail, to not take things too seriously, to explore, to just have fun.  Markers are one of the art tools that do that for me.  I just sit down, put pen to paper and see where it takes me.  Some drawings are so-so, some almost make it, and a few get me excited.

I've been trying to figure out what I like about this one.... I mean, it's so ordinary!  So why do I keep looking at it?

Seems to me the repetition of shapes is interesting.  I also like how the background is alluded to without being emphasized.  Mostly I'm enthused by how the light flows through this everyday scene that we would normally pass by, and that movement of light brings it to life.

New Book by Catherine Gill

My very good friend, and in my estimation the finest watercolor instructor I know of, has just been published by North Light Books.  (She co-authored the book with Beth Means.)  While the many paintings printed in the book are watercolor or mixed media, I would recommend this to painters in any media (I ordered one...).  Cathe has a unique way of breaking down complex compositional and painting issues into easy to understand solutions no matter what tools you work with (she is also an excellent oil painter and print maker).   I predict this will be a foundational book for every artist's library. 

Having spent countless hours painting with Cathe I've watched her take scenes of what I saw as nothing and turn them into inspiring works.  Just look at the front cover of the book.  What might have been humdrum has been changed into intriguing shapes and color.  You can take a look at her book HERE.  Get one from her website and receive a signed copy plus an extra freebie.

(Just don't eat her peanut butter and candy corn sandwiches....)

Instructional Still Life, 20x24, Acrylic

Last night I began wondering about still life painting.  It's a great way to learn to paint  (no model to pay, it stays in one place, no bugs to swat) but where did this rather odd activity come from?  According to Wikipedia and other sources, representing everyday objects with food began with the Egyptians, can be found in Roman tile work, fell out of style and was revived in the Middle Ages.  During the Renaissance and the increased interest in the natural world it experienced a great revival which seemingly hasn't let up.

While it still seems a bit odd to me, who am I to question thousands of years of people who have gone to garage sales and Goodwill for second hand junk and surrounded it with fruit and vegetables just for pleasure.   I will admit that it's a great excuse to play with paint and color and the paintings are somehow more interesting to look at than the objects themselves.

I painted this as an instructional example.  It was done in acrylic and is one of the five current setups we are using--which get changed every two to three weeks.  The next painting session will begin January 18th.