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Saturday, April 21, 2007

New Hampshire Workshop - Another Day

The weather was absolutely delightful yesterday. "Severe clear" sky, as the pilots say, with a deep blue that reminds one of the sunny Mediterranean or Southwest. My group of 10 students spent the day in historic Dunbarton, painting in a very old cemetery-- one slate headstone dated from 1811, and I'm sure there were many that were older -- and by the old town hall.

Here are two demonstrations I did. In the first, I painted an old oak and a stone wall (8x10, oil.) The point was how to handle the stone wall, which was of a similar value to that of the grass around it. (The secret is to put little trees behind it to show that the wall sits in front of the distant lawn; also, there's a subtle color change between wall and grass.) In the second, I wanted to show how you can do a complete 5x7 sketch in 30 minutes or less. The point is to capture the big shapes and the values only, and come away with something you can feel good about.