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| "Juniper Ledge" 9x12 Oil - Available One of our approaches with rocky bluffs such as this one was to start with pure cadmium yellow deep in the sunny areas and then a dramatically cooler red, such as permanent alizarin crimson, in the shadows. Using a very absorbent surface--hardboard primed with two coats of acrylic gesso-- and thin paint at the start allowed this first layer of color to stay put when later, modifying layers of color were applied. This absorbency is key. Without it, the later layers would slide around and mix up with the first layer too much. Not such a problem when each layer is an analogous color, but if you are playing with layering complements, it would be a problem indeed. |
A couple of weeks ago, I had a student out to my studio for a week of private instruction. He was a previous student—my preference for these private workshops—and before he arrived we discussed areas he needed to improve in. One was color. A high school teacher of math and science, he and I are somewhat akin in that we tend to look at the world with a very scientific and “literal” eye. When you see things this way, it's all too easy to end up with a rather dull painting. As we all know, Nature most often offers us a dull palette, and if you paint what you see, that's what you get. But he wanted more exciting color. So, our goal that week was to push the color we saw by starting right off with rich, sometimes crazy, hues and then dialing back the richness until it felt right. I offer with this post a few paintings of mine plus commentary.
By the way, time is running out to sign up for my North Carolina pastel workshops. I have not one but two workshops that I'm teaching for the Appalachian Pastel Society in conjunction with the annual, all-state, three-society exhibition, for which I am the judge. (Each year, the three major pastel societies in North Carolina coordinate a show and workshop.) The first workshop will be a studio workshop that I'll teach via Zoom. In it, we'll take plein air references—you'll be given in advance a tip sheet on how to gather useful reference material—and use them to create finished studio paintings. The second workshop will be a plein air workshop in the Asheville/Black Mountain area, and in it I'll guide you through my process of painting outdoors in pastel and offer plenty of help at the easel.
Although you can take just one workshop or the other, I recommend you take both! I also recommend that you join one of the three societies (if you aren't already a member) to get the member rates. The three societies are: the Appalachian Pastel Society, the Piedmont Pastel Society and the Pastel Society of North Carolina. You can read the full description of the workshop here and the show prospectus here.
Dates for the workshops:
- Zoom studio pastel workshop – May 9-11, 2022
- Plein air pastel workshop (Asheville/Black Mountain area) – May 30-June 1, 2022
I hope to see you either in the Zoomiverse or in North Carolina or both!
Now here are some more paintings from the private workshop.
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| "Above the Willows" 9x12 Oil - Available Again, rich cadmium yellows in the sunny areas. |
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| "Dome" 9x12 Oil - Available This was a difficult one. There was quite a bit of light bouncing into the shadows of this formation, and I found it hard to get the value right. Later, back in the studio, I ended up applying first a thin glaze of ultramarine blue to the shadows to darken them; and after it dried, I applied a thin glaze of Indian yellow to bring back some of the warmth. I also applied the glaze of Indian yellow to the light areas to make them richer. If I had gotten the relationships of light/shadow correct at the start, I most likely wouldn't have had to do all that glazing! |
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| "Springtime at the Lake" 6x12 Oil - Available |
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| And for fun: "Raku's Pen" 8x10 Oil We had a windy day, and we found it useful to seek shelter near Raku's pen to paint her. |
