Large-Format Oil - and a New Zealand Workshop!

Before I show you my latest large-format painting, I want to share some exciting news with you. I've been invited to teach a workshop on New Zealand's Kowhai Coast March 7-14, 2012. (That is not next year, but 16 months from now.) Although this will be a painting retreat-style workshop, I'll be giving plenty of demonstrations and critiques. There'll also be land and sea excurisons and some fine dining to look forward to. The workshop is being coordinated by artists Adele Earnshaw, a native New Zealander who grew up in the area and who will be our guide, and Joe Garcia.

The price of the workshop will be around $2500, not including air fare. If I can get 16-20 people interested, we can make this trip happen. Non-painters are welcome to join us. If you'd like more information, please send me an e-mail (mcj.painter@gmail.com), and I will forward details to you.

I am very excited about this workshop and I hope you'll join me. Please let me know by Sunday if you have interest.

Yesterday I went out to one of my favorite painting spots to start a 24x30 oil. This is a scene I have painted countless times and have gotten to be pretty familiar with. I feel that familiarity with a scene can help when it comes to large pieces that will require a significant investment of time, energy and materials. Although I've done this scene in small formats, I've always wanted to get deeper into it and show some of the finer details in it.

I initially toned the canvas with a mixture of acrylic yellow ochre and magenta, biased toward the red. A good deal of the red still shows through, especially in the shadowed mountains and the still-unpainted red rim at the bottom of the painting.

Munds Mountain View, 24x30, oil - Work-in-Progress