Deer Island Day 2

While the first day of the workshop was warm and sunny, the second day was cool and foggy. We headed out to Deer Island with the intention of getting some painting done. This would have been a great lesson in tonal painting...notice the words would have!

We spent most this time scouting out locations with John Budicin and his group along with us. We took lots of photographs and here's the conditions we were facing. We actually set up to paint this....



I had envisioned a light purplish/mauve tone to the fog to balance out the yellow of the boat. But that was not to be---as a passerby asked me a question regarding the direction to the ferry, I turned to see a storm bank moving in. This was not good. I called down to Joe Anna and pointed it out to her. A dismayed face and everyone started to paint faster---well those who were set up to paint. The rest of us hoped it was a passing storm. WRONG! It drenched us! We broke our stuff down and headed back to the ferry.

While we didn't paint we had lots of great discussion on tonal paintings and lots of photo reference for both practice in the studio and drawing exercises.

We'll see what Day 3 brings us!
Ciao,
Linda

The first day of En Plein Air Masters!

After arriving at the Fairmount Algonquin, I was already late for the meet and greet. I didn't realize that St. Andrews is on Atlantic Time Zone (one hour earlier than Eastern!) and when dropping the luggage off in the room, was surprised to see I only had 10 minutes left to get downstairs!

I met Theo and Asia. After briefly talking with them, I was "assigned" to Joe Anna Arnett to paint with all week. There were seven of us total in Joe Anna's workshop and she is an execellent mentor. Joe Anna paints still life and landscapes, has an execellent grasp on composition and colors and is just an adorable soul! Of course all of this is a vast understatement! Check Joe Anna out for yourself by clicking here.

We traveled out to Back Bay, just outside of St. George New Brunswick. This is a little working harbor with quaint little homes/cottages and those who work the sea for their living. The docks were spotted with equipment sheds and boats floating in the bay when they weren't coming and going earning their living.

We also scouted what Joe Anna kept calling "an adorable little blue shack". It was located on a pier waterside or bayside. The behind it had clothes hanging out on the line to dry. After a brief discussion with others in the workshop we decided to paint on this location.

Joe Anna gives us instructions to sketch the whole scene first and then crop down to the composition you want to capture on the canvas. Using the viewfinder to help me sketch and sketching the whole scene as she suggested was a great little "AH HA!" as I always try to cram to much in or not enough. This little technique is really going to improve my compositoin selection!

Earlier in the morning I was instructor by my mentor, Kevin Macpherson, to paint complex subjects. Well, folks, it doesn't get any more complex than maritime scenes!! We spent 4 hours here and everyone humming. Joe Anna was extremely helpful as I finished up the abstract shapes and catching the proper values. I got to a point where I always begin to wonder what next. I know it isn't finished--there is more I wanted to do--but didn't have the courage to do it. Joe Anna was right there to explain and encourage.

I have to say the end result was probably one of the better studies...but it was all improvement from here! Here's the shot of the beginning and "end" after 4 hours.









After lunch we moved to the working harbor and wharf. Seaweed was bing harvested and fishing boats with nets and traps that harvested the sea for herring, sardines, and in a few days lobster were bustling around the harbor.

We walked around the site and found a number of compositions that would work. I photographed and sketched quick pencil studies in my sketch book. However, one area was calling to Joe Anna and for a good reason. A red boat with a green boat sitting in the foreground. The boat were facing opposing directions keep the viewer's eye inside the painting. A gift--as Joe Anna was saying. The red/green compliment was just that and we quickly set up and sketched our compositions. As fate would have it, the owner of the red boat came over to inform us that the red boat would be leaving. We talked with this sweet man, who was so sorry for taking our subject matter away from us! It was his living!!! The owner of the red boat's friend, William, pulled up to ask what we were talking about.

Sweet William, as he became known to us, offered to move his green boat--same year boat and same angles as the red--in place of the red boat...and "You can just paint it red in your painting." Needless to say, everyone in this town that we talked to where so friendly and welcoming. Sweet William moved his boat for us and we were off and painting again.

We spent 3 or 4 hours on tis painting and the lesson of hte afternoon painting is that sometimes you just don't have the time to keep trying to mix that perfect color off a limited palette. Joe Anna and I joked as she provided just the right color blue I needed to mix within five seconds the correct value of the teal colored boat.
"Gee---plein air painting is easy when you have the right colors." I joked and then said how my mentor is not going to be happy with me.

That evening when I saw Kevin I made this comment with Joe Anna present. He knew he was being set up and joked with us about our rudimentary skills. It was all done in good humor and I would have gotten there eventually if I hadn't gotten frustrated. Just another lesson that I've got more to learn when it comes to color mixing....you are always learning.

As I picked up my gear and head back to my car, Joe Anna complimented me on a great day of painting. It was a great day. Joe Anna and the group I am painting with are a great group of people. You'll discover more about Joe Anna and this group over the coming days as I enter more journal entries. While I'm not yet ready to say the journey is over--I don't think it will ever be over--I am ready to say improvement has been made. And Kevin and Joe Anna are the big reasons why!

Check back in for the next day's report on the workshop. It just gets better and better!

Caio,
Linda

A Timed Study

A timed study was the order of the day. I gave myself one hour to paint a study on an 11X14 canvas board. The purpose of the exercise was to get myself loosened up a bit and concentrate on matching and mixing the correct color note. But also not to stress over it and mimick the conditions of painting on location plein air.

So, I put the palette knife aside, grabbed a roll of paper towels, squeezed out the paint (red, yellow, blue and white), grabbed my brushes, set the timer and quickly studied the shadow and light areas of the subject. The timer went off in an hour and I snapped this photo.



The background on this location--Pine Knoll Shores, North Carolina. Pine Knoll Shores is an east-west running beach on the East Coast. I've been told it's the only truly running east-west beach on the East Coast. It's a barrier island off the mainland and is unique in that you get a sunrise on one part of the beach and the sunset on the other. I had done some studies while staying there and I pulled them out for reference while I did this study. I gave myself 30 more minutes to finish the study and here's the result.




All in all I was pleased with the results. When I convert this to a finished painting--meaning converting it to a larger canvas, I'll probably shrink the beach/ocean and condos and focus mainly on the clouds and sky. There was a thunderstorm brewing and actually when we finished our walk on this night, lightening was seen back over the mainland. The water on the beach is probably a little warmer than it should be, but not bad for spending only 1 hour and 30 minutes on it.

Another Hot and Humid day!

I have to start by saying it's been hard to get motivated to get back outside when you are looking at heat indexes into the high 90's or 100. However, I wanted a change from painting in my studio today. I told myself, "Just spend two hours painting outside....stop at two hours and see what you have--pack up and leave." Oh--the pressure of that little statement!!!

I decided that since it was a hot day, that I'd find something simple in the backyard garden and focus on what Kevin was trying to teach us at the workshop. The scene selected was this one....



I started by studying the shadow area in the scene and laying in a basic foundation.



Not a bad, simple representation. There's a strong statement of shadow in the the picture above. A good start.

I worked quickly and focused on trying to ask the questions...lighter? Darker? Warmer? Cooler? with each color note I mixed and put onto the canvas. After two hours and a ton of sweat I had this simple little study.




If and when I convert this study to a painting, I'd probably change the composition a bit. Little things like taking the Clematis off the page tothe right, move the containers/flower pots and make them the area of focus. There are some areas of the clematis that is too dark and need some fixing. The shadow area of the clematis could be widen--more space between the containers/flower pots and the shadow area of the clemetis giving it more balanced.

However, the study provides good color notes for the converting of the study to a painting. I like the splashes of color of the flowers and in the finished painting would allow for a little more refinement. That's when the photograph comes into play in your conversion from the study. Use the study for color note reference and the photograph for detail.

All in all a good day!

June 19th

We painted at the home of Walt Gnosky. Beautiful grounds! We had a model to paint today. Here's a picture of the painting I did....

When the boxes arrive and are unpacked, I'll find my study and critique it.

We also toured Walt's studio and it was inspiring to see his work and hear of his work ethic.

Walt painted with us and then showed us his work that he completed in four hours (and we aren't talking an 8X10 inch study!)

Seeing this drummed home the importance of painting each day.

My day was average. I tried to focus on putting a value or color down and leaving it alone. There some strong areas to the painting. Kevin stood back from my painting and Ray's commenting he liked how strong the two paintings were. I struggled with the warm value in the shadow family. Kevin helped with this, mixing the color that I couldn't quite get and noting that sometimes the values around what we are struggling with may not be right and need to be adjusted.

Overall, a better day than Wednesday. In the afternoon, Kevin gave us an exercise to paint off a limited palette of colors he provided. My three colors were a grey, terra rosa, and Carmine (red). You also had White to use. This was challenging--as you picked your subject first before seeing what color you had to work with. I had chosen a little birdbath with flowers behind it. My goal was not to have a finished painting, but to learn how colors relate to one another and how I might possible get something blue from these three colors. A grey-green was basically all I could get. It wasn't a total failure. The birdbath was really nice in the painting---learned what an unattractive shadow shape I had in the painting--how the carmine could be the darkest dark--but yet warm shadow color. So it was a valuable lesson!

Thursday night was the celebration and dinner at Kevin's house. We enjoyed each other's company and shared dinner. We got to show our families just what we were striving to become--by showing them Kevin and Wanda's work. Of course, we all told them how much we wanted a studio like Kevin's!

One one day left---painting in the morning and a study to studio painting demonstration in the afternoon.

June 18th Demo and Arroyo Seco

Today we started out with Kevin demonstrating what he was trying to teach us at the Adobe Church in Arroyo Seco. He painted each plane in the proper family--shadow or light and built the painting up from there.

Here's a black and white picture of his painting with just the shadow family masked in.

Here is Kevin's almost completed study. You can see why he is the master..


We then went off to paint on our own. I started to paint a very "Monet-ish" looking set of trees--but the energy quickly waned. Kevin came by to critique. He noticed that I was selecting simple subjects and almost always the same. He wanted me to attempt a painting that contained multiple planes. He wanted me to challenge myself more.

After lunch I found an angle of the Adobe Church and began working. Kevin's critique was that it was a solid painting. The building was too low in the composition, making it awkward. The areas of the painting I liked, he didn't and painted over them--we laughed--and I could see his point. Too much detail--no strong shapes....I was mucking around in the details and not looking at shapes.

I had taken my migraine medicine in the morning and by this time in the day the migraine was taking it's toll. Overall, my assessment of the day was that it was not a good day. I struggled in the heat and sun--exhausted and was pretty worn out. I was finding it hard to concentrate on what I concentrated on the day before. The energy of the group that afternoon was very low--we all had a tough day. Even Kevin's energy felt low.

I am hopeful that Thursday is a better day. There's always hope!

June 17th--"You had a good day today"

"You had a good day today." Kevin said to me today at the end of the painting day!

The day started with a beautiful sunrise that caused long but fleeting shadows around the grounds of the hotel--El Monte Sagrado--where we painted in the morning.

While the workshop officially started at 9:00, my body was still on Eastern time. So, by 7:30, I was out around the peaceful waterfalls of what they call the Sacred Circle, easel set up and painting. It was a day of learning and some frustration. My first attempt after 2 hours was abandoned. The composition was too complex---a bridge over a small pond with Irises and rock wall. There were stairs in the back--well--way too much! At 9:00 in the morning, when Kevin called us together, I pulled the canvas off the easel and into the wet box. It won't be seen again--it will be sacrificed to the paintings gods! Hmmm---keep things simple seems to be ringing in my head!

Kevin set the goals for the day--paint the shadow family first--leaving the light family as white canvas. No value darker than your darkest dark in the shadow family and only one darkest dark area. The darkest dark and should be a connected shape in the painting. The same is true for your lightest light--no value lighter and only once in the painting. Never let the shadow family of values cross into the light family. Oh--and while you are concentrating on all of that--we had to pick a piece of paper out of Kevin's hat. We weren't allowed to look at it until we had chosen our subject to paint. The paper had 1 word on it--an adjective or feeling that you needed to have your painting convey.

Kevin encouraged us to sketch a black and white (dark and light families) to simplify the composition into shadow and light family. I did this rather successfully. Well--ok--Kevin used the sketch as an example to the others during the critique. It was a good abstract drawing of dark and light shadows. Of course, one area I have always struggled with is transferring that to canvas. After a discussion about this with Kevin, the learning was to find the darkest dark in the scene I was painting. Then fill in the dark/shadow areas with other values and colors that were not as dark as the darkest dark. Stay in the shadow area. It can be what I call a medium valued shadow family and worked up in value from there--but never darker than the darkest dark!

So far, 3 learnings for the day and it wasn't even noon yet! As mentioned Kevin used the sketch in the critique. He pointed out that only the darkest dark was in the one shape and that the dark or shadow family had a wide range and high key (in the painting I was doing) Here's the picture of the Black and White sketch, and then the shadow family values on the canvas painted in:





Even though the painting was high key--very bright--this was ok because the light family was even higher key and never crossed to the shadow family. Here's the finished study and it's accompanying black and white pic. You can see the similarity to the black and white sketch.





The afternoon session was at one of the founder's of the Taos Society of Painters studio/home/museum--the Couse Studio. After a tour of the house/studio by his granddaughter, we were "set free" to paint. Well--free in the sense to paint within the parameters set by Kevin for the afternoon. The word I had to paint in the morning was "joy". This afternoon the word was "excited". It was hard to paint excitedly when you are hot and tired...but never the less--off I went to find something to paint. OH--a few more parameters. First the subject/composition of the painting had to be 1/3 shadow and 2/3 light family. The shadow family can only be 2 values and the darkest dark had to be a value of 8 on a scale of 10 and purple.
The light family can be any color.

I choose my subject and started with a sketch. In the end, Kevin was quite pleased with the painting and it showed progress in what he was trying to teach us. The composition, when I first discussed it with Kevin, was, in his opinion, uninteresting. Through the use of shadow, light and color, Kevin expressed that I was able to keep the viewer interested. He described the painting--finally using my word that I was to express--"excited." I pulled the word from my pocket and proudly displayed it. He smiled and shared my success! The shadow shape was strong and attractive. The use of shadow family in the clouds pulls it together. The choice of color was very good.

Here's the black and white and color pictures of the study.





Everyone knows the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction when someone you admire and respect smiles and gives you compliments on your work. Kevin seemed genuinely proud of me when I successfully met his challenge. So, when he told me, "You had a good day today." I think you could have seen my smile all the way back to Ohio!

The day was so hot--something I can't tolerate very well--and the upcoming migraines were proof of that. I soldiered on--The hard work was rewarded with unexpected compliments and a sense of Kevin's pride and excitement for the progress I've made. I'm sure tomorrow will be just as challenging--weather wise and in what Kevin will instruct us to paint.

Arroyo Seco is the destination. It will begin with a demo by Kevin. More then!