June 16th--Kevin Macpherson's Workshop--First Day!

First, I have to say that Kevin and Wanda Macpherson are the sweetest, most down to Earth people I have ever met. It is such a great opportunity to learn from someone who is so giving of his time and knowledge.

Because of the opportunity to work with Kevin on the exhibit and also to work with him to continue the exhibit of Reflections On A Pond in the rest of the 50 States, it was both an exhilarating and nerve wrecking last few months. Resumes were sent--both art and business resumes. The Procter and Gamble/business resume was a bit long--hehe. When I introduced myself to Kevin, his first reaction was "I thought you were an old lady!" I laughed and said that I'd take that as a compliment. I guess, in retrospect, there has been much accomplished and learned--and yet so much more to accomplish and learn. I try hard not to look back. What is back there--has been edited and what is useful kept. As George Lucas once said, "I edit the past, I live in the present and I direct the future." I think I couldn't have said it better!

There are about 15 students in the workshop at all skill levels. Kevin's critiques are direct, but good. He focuses on weaknesses and also mentions the strength of the painting. Kevin asks for much information from his students before the workshop. For me, he did a great job remembering what I had written. Kevin has a wonderful way of making you feel comfortable. He gives you the sense that he wants you to succeed and wants to help you learn and improve.

We spent the morning painting around Kevin's property. I naturally had to paint the pond. I wanted to experience what Kevin did when he painted the pond project. My critique of my painting was similar to Kevin's.

I started by getting rid of the nerves by mixing the general colors. I then moved to catching the pond colors, painting the mountains, sky and the pond again all as quickly as I could. Kevin's first critique was that the painting was too dark for as bright a day it was outside. I didn't catch the atmosphere. He suggested lighting/bluing the sky. It was too grey. The last critique was that it was still dark--not capturing the summer's clear atmosphere of the day. He suggested capturing an almost "white" color on the pond--even though this was hours after I started the painting. This was an attempt to lighten the too dark painting.

Kevin spent the afternoon discussing light and shadow. After that session, Kevin commented to me that I have a wonderful sense of color and that my weakness was in keeping true to that light and shadow area.

The painting I did this morning truly was too dark. My shadow and light areas converged--the planes weren't present. Kevin and I agreed that I need to think in shapes not details. Is that shape warmer/cooler than the light next to it. Work from my darkest dark--that isn't necessarily black. The darkest dark in the painting isn't always black and sets how high key the painting will be. The important thing is to see the difference between shadow family and light family and don't let the two converge. Doing so results in a muddy painting.

Tomorrow, we will work on focusing on the shadow area and working from the darkest dark. Questions for the day tomorrow:
Where is my darkest dark?
What is the overall shape of the darkest dark?
Is the color next to that warmer or cooler? Shadow or light?
Where is the lightest light?

Also remember:
Paint in big shapes--no details
Simple--keep it simple
Paint by shapes--carve out smaller shapes!

Until tomorrow evening---and another journal entry to remember what I've learned!