New Plein Air Painting Workshop: Amarillo, Texas

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Georgia O'Keeffe and friends at the Palo Duro Club, at the head of Palo Duro Canyon,
perhaps between 1912 and 1913, when she first went to Texas, or between 1916 and 1918.
(Courtesy Georgia O'Keeffe Museum)

Did you know that Georgia O'Keeffe once taught school in Canyon, Texas, and painted in nearby Palo Duro Canyon?  I invite you to follow in her footsteps in a three-day plein air painting workshop with me this October.  Sponsored by the Amarillo Art Institute in conjunction with its plein air festival, the workshop will be based at the canyon, where we'll explore all of its geological wonders in paint.

Palo Duro Canyon, which has been likened to Grand Canyon, is known for its vibrant red rock formations and rugged cliffs.  As the second-largest canyon in the United States, it offers stunning panoramic views, diverse terrain and a rich palette of earthy colors. Home to much wildlife and native flora, the canyon provides a serene atmosphere for visitors.  Accessible trails wind through the canyon, offering opportunities for hiking and exploration.  The ever-changing landscape, from spring blooms to winter tranquility, make it an ideal destination for nature enthusiasts, hikers and artists seeking inspiration in its natural beauty. 

The workshop, which takes place October 17-19, 2024, from 9-4 each day, will be held at Palo Duro Canyon State Park.  Although we will have a studio available to us in Amarillo at the Art Institute, we will be in the field as much as possible.  I welcome every level of painter, from beginner to advanced, and all media.  Each day I'll start by introducing you to the fundamentals of plein air painting, followed by a full demonstration, after which you will have plenty of time to paint.  As you paint, I'll go from easel to easel, offering help.  Then, if time permits, I'll give a second demonstration in the afternoon.

I hope you'll join me for three days of artistic inspiration amid the vibrant hues and majestic landscapes of Palo Duro Canyon, as we paint together, capturing the beauty of nature on canvas.  To sign up, please visit the Amarillo Art Institute web site at this link.  

A More Portable Gouache Easel for Plein Air

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This fixed-horizontal setup worked well for me.

As you know, I like to sketch in gouache on my lap, and I also like to sketch when we have snow. Recently, we received about 14", and eager to paint, I dug out the ski poles, strapped on my snowshoes, and stuffed my kit into a small backpack. But I knew I wouldn't be able to sit to sketch—any suitable rocks and fallen trees were deep in snow. So, I decided to stand.

But wanting to keep things light, I chose not to take a tripod. Instead, I took a small pochade box cleverly designed to be used without a tripod; it hangs from your neck by a strap and requires balancing the box on your belly. I'd used it a couple of times for oil painting but found it awkward. You might then wonder why I chose this box. I thought: With the right clamps, shouldn't I be able to juggle the important pieces securely, the watercolor journal, the tray of pan gouache, a water jar? Truth be told, though, I really didn't want to lug out a tripod along with the snowshoes, poles and backpack.

The words "secure" and "juggle" turned out to be contradictory. Most of the time, my goal was to keep the tray of gouache from flipping off into the deep snow and managing the water jar so it didn't wash over my journal.

After getting over the emotional disappointment, I decided that painting in deep snow really requires a tripod. But I wanted a set-up lighter than the tripods I usually mount a pochade box to.

Poking through my Closet of Many Boxes, I found enough parts to put together a very light and portable set-up. I stole parts from an old pochade box, a French easel, a plein air umbrella and a Stanrite 100 easel. I've put some pictures below so you can see how it's assembled. The project took just a couple of hours—most of the time was taking things apart to see if they had what I needed—and only a screwdriver and drill.

This is the handle of my plein air umbrella,
attached to the hexagonal mast of myStanrite 100
easel. I had to drill a hole in the handle
for the screw and knob assembly. 
Let's call this thing the "mount."

This is the palette from my French easel.  I've
attached an adapter plate, which I
requisitioned from an older pochade box,
for the mount (pictured above.)

Here I've flipped over the palette so you can see the
plate with the screw hole for the mount.

The mounting plate on palette
with mount attached.

The hexagonal mast of the mount
inserted into the Stanrite easel.

Final setup with gear attached.

The first 5x8 gouache I did with this setup.
Worked perfectly!

Plane Tickets: Check!

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Skye Sheep / 6x8 Oil
One of my "gift" paintings for supporters.
We met this little Blackface sheep on the Isle of Skye

Our trip to Scotland is getting closer to reality--we recently bought our plane tickets!  As I write, we are poring over a map and studying ScotRail routes to determine exactly where we might spend our four weeks.  (By the way, I'm finding Google Maps to be very helpful; give it a destination, and it will give me the different ScotRail routes and times to get there.)  Our next step it to start making lodging reservations. Excited? Yes!

As I've mentioned before, I'd love your support.  My goal for this trip is to gather scads of reference material--color studies in gouache, pencil sketches and photos--for a series of studio paintings plus a book.  How can you support me?  There are two ways:

1. You can pre-buy a 6x8 oil painting of Scotland.  I've offered this for past trips, and the feedback has been wonderful.  After I return from my trip, I'll embark on creating a series of these small paintings, and for $300, you can have your pick of them.  They will be nicely framed, and I will ship them for free to the continental US.  (For elsewhere, I'll charge you actual shipping.)

2.  You can pre-buy my new book (signed!) AND get a 6x8 painting of Scotland.  Same deal as above with the paintings, but the book will be shipped separately and a bit later, as I need to not just make paintings for it but also write it and get it printed.  The book will be similar to my past Through a Painter's Brush books, filled with beautiful images of Scotland and essays on my travels.  You can have both of these, the painting and the book, for only $335. 

Here's a draft cover of the new book

 Although I've set up a Patreon page where you can make monthly payments (price is as bit higher because Patreon charges me 5%), you are also welcome to pay the full amount up-front (without the Patreon fee!) For Patreon, go here, and to send me a full payment via Zelle, Paypal or personal check, email me and I will tell you how to do it.

Below I've included images of some of the past 6x8 paintings of Scotland I've made.  I'm looking forward to this project, and I hope you'll join me in the journey.

Scotland: Kilt Rock, 36x12 Oil

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Kilt Rock, 36x12 Oil
Read on for details! Also, it's available.

This winter, I'm working on some large paintings of Scotland.  (These are for my upcoming book, which will be part of my Through a Painter's Brush series.)  "Kilt Rock" was a fun one to paint, as I wanted to turn a broad, 1:3 format on its head to enhance the somewhat unsettling feeling of the sheer, 180-foot plummet of Mealt Falls, a sea cliff waterfall on the Isle of Skye.  Kilt Rock is the name of the cliff behind the falls.

Here are some progress shots with some explanatory text.  Click on images for bigger versions.

I first made a 1/2-scale design sketch in vine charcoal on newsprint.  You'll note this image is sideways—but that's how I sketched it!  Working with this 90-degree shift helped me see the simple shapes in the abstraction, rather than thinking of shapes as "cliff," "waterfall," and so on.

When I took my reference photos, the day was overcast with a cool light.  I wanted to keep that cool-light effect, so I started off by toning my 36x12 cradled panel with quinacridone magenta.  I also outlined my shapes and blocked in the rocky cliffs with the same.

Moving to viridian and phthalo emerald, I blocked in the grassy areas.  At this point, the magenta was looking rather lurid, so I toned it down by scumbling on some viridian.  Taking a clean brush dampened with Gamsol, I removed paint where I wanted to reshape the waterfall.  I also lightened some of the values elsewhere by scrubbing down these areas with a paper towel.  (No, I don't use Viva—just whatever's cheap and comes in a "select-a-size" version.)

Now I was ready to tone down the color, so I pulled out my set of Portland Greys.  Every mixture from this point on had some grey added to it.  Again, I kept "cool light" in mind as I mixed and painted. By the way, you'll note that, on the horizon, a wedge of land has sneaked in.  This wasn't in my original design.  It has become an unfortunate habit, no doubt picked up while painting countless seascapes with boring, empty horizon lines, that I seem to want something there.  In the final version, I removed it, and I think the painting is the better for it. See the image at the top of the post for the finished version.

Here are the colors I used in this painting:  titanitum-zinc white, cadmium yellow light, naphthol scarlet, alizarin crimson, quinacridone magenta, cerulean blue hue, viridian, phthalo emerald, Portland grey (all three values.)  All colors and mediums are by Gamblin; I used Galkyd Gel at every step so each layer would be dry by the next day.  Brushes used are Rosemary sable flats, except for the initial block-in, when I used cheap synthetic flats to scrub in the color.