Home Again

Winners of the OPAS Annual Member's Exhibition

As you read in my recent newletter, Trina and I just completed our journey from Campobello Island to New Mexico.  Along the way, I judged the Ohio Plein Air Society's annual members' competition in Cincinnati, taught a workshop for the same group, and then taught a second workshop for the Central Ohio Plein Air Society in Columbus.  The OPAS competition really tested the mettle of the painters, as Ohio was in the middle of a period of record-breaking temperatures.  It felt more like August, what with the humidity and heat.  I applaud the painters for their endurance and for turning out so many wonderful paintings.  There were so many good paintings, in fact, that my job as judge proved particularly difficult—yet immensely enjoyable.

Pre-Judging Potluck for OPAS

OPAS paintings ready to be judged

The heat didn't let up, but continued through both workshops.  Fortunately, the locations offered air-conditioned studios to retreat to.   The theme for the OPAS workshop was "Outdoor Study to Studio," so after gathering reference material in the mornings, we headed for the studio (at the Woman's Art Club of Cincinnati in Mariemont) to assemble our material and create finished paintings.  Thank you to Ray Hassard and Robin Roberts for organizing both the competition and the workshop.  The COPAS workshop was an all-level all-outdoors workshop, but the studio (at the Stratford Ecological Center in Delaware) served as a welcome place for talking about art matters and critiques.  Thank you to Nancy Vance for organizing this one.  In both cases, it was a treat meeting the students and helping them toward a better, more satisfying practice.

By the way, I am looking to schedule a workshop for my annual travel west for the fall of 2019.  If you are a member of a plein air painting group between New Mexico and Maine (our fall travel route) and would like me to hold a workshop in late September or early October, please contact me. 

Reference material set up for OPAS "Outdoor Study to Studio" workshop
with finished painting on right

Gathering more reference material for OPAS workshop

Painting in Mariemont

Sunflowers were a big hit at the COPAS workshop in Columbus...

...and so were the llamas!

My 12x9 tree demonstration in oil for COPAS (sold)

Seeking relief from the heat in Columbus

On the Road: Ohio Plein Air Painting Workshop

"Out the Window" oil demonstration
(Photo by Nancy Vance)

It's hard for me to believe, but it's been almost a month since we hit the road on our annual spring trip east.  Right now, we're in Vermont.  After weeks of cloudy, cool weather in the Champlain Valley, the sun returned yesterday.  People now have a chance to smell the lilacs, mow their lawns and gather rhubarb for pies.

This past week, I taught two workshops, one in Columbus, Ohio, and the other in Montgomery, New York.  In this post, I'll write a little about the Ohio workshop.

Springtime is tick time in much of the country.
Here I model my tick gear while showing thumbnail sketches to the group.
I'm wearing pyrethrin pants tucked into my socks,
with Naturpel (picaridin) sprayed on everything below the knees.
(Photo by Nancy Vance)

My friend, Nancy Vance, has joined me in many workshops and painting retreats, both in the US and abroad.  Recently, she offered to sponsor a workshop with her group, Central Ohio Plein Air.  Since Nancy is a wonderful organizer and Columbus was on our route east, I agreed right away.

Spring weather in Ohio can run the gamut from heat waves and tornadoes to rain and even snow.  For our workshop, we had something right in the middle:  pleasantly cool weather.  Drizzle the first day kept us indoors.  However, we were based at the Stratford Ecological Center which, besides being a working farm with barns, cows, pigs, sheep, llamas and bees, offers a large workshop space, so we were comfortable.  I painted two demonstrations for the thirteen painters.  First was a pastel from a photo, followed later in the day by a "looking out the window" oil demo.  The next day, the sun appeared, and we enjoyed painting the landscape from life.  I painted two more demonstrations for everyone, one showing how to start a painting with a monochromatic underpainting and the second showing how to achieve depth in your painting easily.

(All photos above by Nancy)

Nancy wrote a really nice blog post on the workshop:  https://nartizt.blogspot.com/2017/05/hosting-michael-chesley-johnson-workshop.html  Thank you to Nancy, and to everyone who came out for the workshop!  I enjoyed the workshop so much we have scheduled a return for October 2018,

Next, I'll write about my workshop in Montgomery, New York, for the Wallkill River School of Art.

Road Trip, West to East - Cincinnati and Filming at F+W Media

Camera 3

Standing up in front of students and teaching them the fine points of painting is difficult enough.  So imagine what it'd be like if you had to lecture intelligently without students to ask you questions to help you along.  Add a bank of hot studio lights and then turn off the A/C because it makes noise, and, finally, paint at an odd angle for six hours to avoid blocking a camera.  Now, add two helpful videographers and a director who are able to prompt you exactly when you need it, are happy to put up with your every stumble, tend to your needs for coffee, water and good food, and who believe in frequent breaks.  This is what it's like to shoot an instructional video at F+W Media.

At their Blue Ash, Ohio, offices, we shot three videos in as many days.  As nervous as I was about the prospect, I found the process incredibly enjoyable, and I think everyone had a great time.  On Sunday, I rode around with director Jennifer Lepore (also Online Content Manager for ArtistsNetwork.tv) for half a day and scouted out painting sites for the plein air video.  We picked out two we really liked plus two more backup spots.  Things we looked at included not just the obvious such as sun angle and shadows, but also the risks of traffic and noise.  The rest of the day was free, so Trina and I went exploring and found nearby Sharon Woods, which is a city park with some nice woodland trails in it.

My palette, on-camera

Monday, we met for several hours at the studio to prepare for the shoot, which actually wouldn't happen until Tuesday.  We went over outlines and scripts, making sure to take them step-by-step to figure out exactly what I was going to do when.  (We focused on the plein air video, which we decided to shoot first because of a rather grim weather forecast later in the week.)  I also met Ric Deliantoni, Managing Photographer and also the head videographer, who helped make me comfortable with the concept of being on-camera.  Then we "dressed" the set by putting up some of the paintings I've done on this trip and added a fake ficus for more decoration.  Finally, we placed my easel, taboret and stool so they worked well with the cameras (three were used) but also so they were comfortable for me.

Tuesday, we met at the studio at 7 a.m., drove to the location, and were shooting by 9.  Despite a few stops for walkers, traffic and a lady who parked nearby to have an extended and loud, one-sided conversation on her Bluetooth headset, it went well.  We were done by lunchtime.  The topic for the day was "Making Your Best Guess," something I teach regularly in my workshops.  For this one, I worked in pastel on an 11x14 surface.  After lunch, we returned to the studio to prepare for the next day's shoot by going over more outlines and scripts.  Although I was happy with my pastel, I worked a bit more on it afterward in the studio, off-camera, to bring it up a notch.

Making sure everything looks good before shooting.
(Photo by Jennifer Lepore)

Wednesday arrived pouring rain.  We met in the studio at 8 to shoot the "Color Temperature in the Landscape" video.  This is some new material I've been developing, and I prepared some illustrations in advance.  The topic is a little more technical than the "Best Guess" one, so I spent more time going over concepts before getting to the demonstration.  In fact, I didn't get to the painting part until after lunch!  Again, I was pleased with the results, which was a 12x16 oil.  For the rest of the day, we prepped for our third and final video.  Prepping, by the way, involves not only going over outlines but also figuring out where reference photos need to be positioned and what tools and materials need to be laid out.

(Photo by Jennifer Lepore)

Thursday, it was still raining.  (It was a good thing we did that plein air video on Tuesday!)  Again, we met at 8, this time to shoot "Painting Wet-into-Wet."  I had a little time to touch-up the demo from the day before, but soon we were into the new material.  This topic was less technical than "Color Temperature," so things went a little faster.  We were done with the demonstration (another 12x16 oil) about the middle of the afternoon.  Next, we taped a short Q&A session that will be added to some of the videos and then, as they say, "That's a wrap!"

Was I tired?  You bet!  But I felt fulfilled.  Shooting video in a professional environment was a new thing for me, and I learned a lot about cameras and the process.  In fact, the videographers say I am now an expert with intros and outros.

All that footage is now heading to post-production.  Each video will be edited down to an hour or perhaps ninety minutes, depending on topic and complexity.  I'm looking forward to seeing the final cut, which should be sent to me sometime this fall.  All three videos will be ready just in time for the holiday season.  (Yes, I'll be sending out reminders.)

But the week wasn't all work.  I had dinner and some lunches with several of the great folks at F+W.  It was good to visit again with Pastel Journal editor Anne Hevener and Group Publisher Jamie Markle, and to finally meet Cherie Haas, the online editor for ArtistsNetwork.com.  It was especially nice, after all these years of working for her, to meet my editor at The Artists Magazine, Maureen Bloomfield.  I think she's been editing me for ten years now, and I can't believe we haven't met till now.  And I want to express my thanks to everyone who took time out of their busy schedules to visit and say hello, and to the video group in particular for their efforts on the soundstage.  It was really a wonderful visit.

So that's it for business on this trip.  Now it's off to York on the coast of Maine to visit with a friend, then a night in Bar Harbor, and finally - Campobello Island!  I'll write again once I'm safe in my summer studio.

Road Trip, West to East - Toledo, Ohio, and the Toledo Artists Club

Tulips in  Toledo

Toledo has alway been a place we've just passed by on our cross-country journeys.  But we were surprised and pleased to find it's a thriving art town with beautiful parks.  My two-day workshop for the Toledo Artists' Club was centered at the Toledo Botanical Garden, which includes 60 acres of gardens plus manicured lawns and Crosby Lake.  The tulips were in full bloom for our workshop, along with a number of fragrant, flowering trees.

This workshop had painters in oil, pastel and even watercolor.  Although I don't "do" watercolor professionally, I paint in that medium for my own pleasure.  I enjoyed working with the watercolorists and offering them some suggestions based on my experiences.  (Tip:  To avoid paint drying too fast, work in small patches and avoid big washes.  Also, even though one typically works light-to-dark with watercolor, I like to place my shadows - lightly, of course - before they change.)

Toledo Park Bench, 9x12 oil sketch

For our first day, we had excellent if somewhat warm weather.  I demonstrated in oil, focusing on the temperature contrast of light and shadow.  For the second day, we had intermittent rain, which forced us indoors after my morning pastel demonstration, which I did manage to do out in the field.  In the afternoon, since we were working from photos, I showed them how to take a photo and make a painting from it that had that "plein air" feeling.  (More tips:  Keep the shadows lighter than they appear in the photo, and also push the color temperature contrast.)

Garden Path, 9x12 pastel sketch

We stayed with a wonderful Latvian family for our time in Toledo.  Liga is a fine watercolorist, and for our last morning, she made us a special treat - Latvian pancakes with bacon, sour cream and maple syrup.

Now we are in Blue Ash, a suburb of Cincinnati.  Tomorrow I'll meet with my editor from ArtistsNetwork.tv, and we'll go scouting locations for the plein air video; Monday we'll start the real work of shooting video.  As much as I'm looking forward to taping my three videos, I'm a little nervous - I won't have any students to ask me thought-provoking questions!

Ohio Plein Air Painting Workshop

Ruth Ann's Garden, 9x12, oil

I just finished up a two-day, oil-only plein air painting workshop in Lima, Ohio.  It's hard to believe, but in this meteorologically-busy spring season, we had two days of really excellent weather.   Comfortable temperature and humidity, plenty of sun, and no bugs.  We all remarked that plein air painting doesn't get any better than this!

Last year we painted barns; this year, we focused on one of Lima's beautiful city parks.  This one had trees, water, flowers - everything you could ask for.   (We were even interviewed and taped by the local paparazzi, the local newspaper and TV station.)  I did a garden painting plus a tree painting demonstration of a shagbark hickory.  Here are some photos to show you a bit of the workshop.

Now we are on our way home.  We still have about 2000 miles to go, and we'll include one family visit in Vermont.  Most likely, my next post will be from Campobello Island.  We can't wait to get there!

We stopped at Kewpee's for dinner

Painting at Faurot Park

Shagbark Hickory, 12x9, oil

Illinois Plein Air Painting Workshop

The Old Mill, 9x12, pastel

I just finished teaching a two-day plein air painting workshop at Water Street Studios in Batavia, Illinois.   Batavia is one of my favorite small towns for a workshop.  Called "The Windmill City" because it was once the country's largest producer of windmills, it boasts many cultural amenities and beautiful parks.  We painted in two of the parks and enjoyed views of old mill buildings, waterfalls, graceful oak trees and lots and lots of Canada geese.  Above is one of my demos from the workshop plus some photos.

I hope to teach another workshop here next May.  If you're in the Chicago area, it's not far - less than an hour.  Watch my newsletter for announcements or, if you're not on my mailing list, sign up here.

Now we are on our way to the Art Barn at Valparaiso, Indiana.  We'll be painting on the Art Barn's property - 70 acres of woods, meadows and ponds, with chickens and cows and yes, an old barn!  We'll even have the Chicken Whisperer in attendance; he'll make sure the chickens hold still long enough for us to paint them.

Upcoming Workshops - Lima, Ohio

May 11-12, 2012: OHIO, Lima.  FULL.  Price: $150  Contact: Ruth Ann Sturgill,  419-331-4999, rasturgill@woh.rr.com

This will be my second time teaching in Lima.  Lima has a beautiful rural setting with plenty of barns and farmscapes.  It's also got a neat downtown and is headquarters for Kewpee's Hamburgers.  Why do I mention Kewpee's?  As a bit of historic Americana, it was one of the first fast-food restaurants to  offer curbside service with its heyday before World War II.  There are only five Kewpee's left, but it's a fun place to eat.

This will be a workshop for oil only, and it is now full.  Because the workshop runs only two days, we'll head quickly out into the field and get started.  I'll start with a full demonstration to show you how to capture the moment quickly and efficiently but without sacrificing mood and magic.  We'll talk about abstracting and simplifying the landscape; how to make the most use of value and color; and how to finish a painting.  Next, you'll get to paint!  I'll go from easel to easel offering help.  Time permitting, we'll do critiques at the end of the day.

I hope you'll join us!

(Click here if you'd like to see my full workshop schedule.) 

Upcoming Workshops - Water Street Studios, Batavia, Illinois

May 4-5, 2012: ILLINOIS, Batavia. Price: $200. Contact: Kari Kraus, Water Street Studios, 630-761-9977, kari_l_kraus@sbcglobal.net, www.waterstreetstudios.com

I taught a workshop through Water Street Studios last year, and we had a lot of fun. If you've not been to Batavia before, it's a quaint, historic town near Chicago on the Fox River. At the turn of the last century, it was called the "windmill capital of the world" because it made more windmills than anyone else. It has several parks along the river that we will paint in, including the Fabyan Forest Preserve and the Downtown Riverwalk.

This will be a workshop for oil or pastel painters, all levels. We'll spend a little time in the studio each morning going over plein air basics, where I'll also go over my gear and materials. Afterward, we'll head out into some of Batavia's beautiful parks where I'll give a full demonstration. During the demonstration, I'll show you how to capture the moment quickly and efficiently but without sacrificing mood and magic. We'll talk about abstracting and simplifying the landscape; how to make the most use of value and color; and how to finish a painting. Next, you'll get to paint! I'll go from easel to easel offering help. Time permitting, we'll do critiques at the end of the day.

If you've not been to Batavia before, it has a large selection of good restaurants and shops. Plus, Waterstreet Studios always has something fun going on. I hope you'll join us!

(Click here if you'd like to see myfull workshop schedule.) 

Ohio Plein Air Painting Workshop

The great weather we enjoyed on our way east continued as we moved into Ohio for our final workshop on this trip.  Lima, Ohio, is a quiet little town with lots of scenic farms for painters, and it is also headquarters for the famous Kewpee Hamburger chain. Ruth Ann Sturgill, our host for the workshop, made sure that Kewpee's was one of our first stops upon our arrival.  Kewpee's would make a good subject for painting.

The weather was warm, which guaranteed a continuation of the beautiful spring we saw in Illinois and Indiana.   One of my demonstrations was of Ruth Ann's beautiful spirea, blooming in the shade.

Spirea in Spring, 9x12, oil (sold)

In our two days, we got a surprising amount of painting done.  Our second day ended with a storm, so I did a painting knife demonstration indoors.  The students followed by doing some knife painting of their own, using a still life composed of lilacs for a subject.

We enjoyed Lima so much that we're planning on another workshop there next year.   And since we also enjoyed our workshops in Illinois and Indiana, we're going to repeat the same route!

The rain we saw on our last afternoon was part of a bigger storm, which we are now chasing east.  Or, perhaps it is chasing us.  We drove 10 hours in heavy rain today, and it looks like we'll have more as we work our way toward Vermont.  Vermont's Champlain Valley is under a flood warning as Lake Champlain works its way up to record levels.  We've already learned of one major road being closed.

Illinois Workshop at Water Street Studios

I just finished teaching a two-day plein air workshop in oil and pastel for Water Street Studios in Batavia, Illinois.  Although the spring weather was touch-and-go, we were able to spend both days outdoors.  Our first day was at the Fabyan Villa and Japanese Garden; the second, at the Batavia Riverwalk and Depot Museum.

If you've not been to Batavia, it's a surprisingly bucolic and quiet town no more than an hour from Chicago's busy downtown.  Batavia made its name in the heyday of windmills, having several factories that manufactured them.  Along the Riverwalk, you can see examples of most of the windmills made by the Challenge Company.  Today, Batavia is a wonderful place for an outdoor painting workshop because it sits on the Fox River and offers a number of enjoyable parks and forest preserves.

Water Street Studios (www.waterstreetstudios.com) was a perfect host for the workshop.  A relatively new endeavor, it is housed in an historic limestone building with 28 studios for resident artists, three classrooms and a large gallery.  It has a very active volunteer group behind it, and they did a great job with the workshop.

Below is one of my oil demonstrations, which I did along the Riverwalk near a gazebo.

Fox River Spring, 12x9, oil (sold)

Springfield, Illinois, Workshop

"Lincoln Home" 9x12, pastel

We just finished up a three-day plein air pastel workshop in Springfield, Illinois. The workshop was full, as are all of my spring workshops this year. Although we had gusty winds the first day at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, we had good weather over all. The Lincoln Home is four city blocks that has been returned to "the way it was" back in Lincoln's day. The sidewalks are wood planks, not concrete! The second day we painted at the Lincoln Memorial Gardens, where some of the spring flowers by the lake are still blooming. Our last day was spent at the Lincoln New Salem Center. Lincoln spent his early days in New Salem before he became a lawyer. It's a rustic village of log cabins and an interpretive site with costumed docents. We had such a great time with this workshop that we're looking forward to the next one.

Above is a sketch I made of the Lincoln Home. Word has it that the little tree in front of the house is dug up and replaced with a new one every few years. There's a famous photo of Lincoln standing in front of this house with a tree that size. I suppose it's done to enhance the feeling that things haven't changed.

Now we are in Valparaiso, Indiana, getting ready to teach a three-day workshop for the Art Barn. Here we have 69 acres with chickens, burros and ducks and lots of farm buildings. There's even a dogwood blooming by the red barn, which will make a nice picture. At the end of the week, we're off to Vermont to teach a two-day weekend workshop for the Vermont Pastel Society.

Springfield Pastel Workshop - Thursday

The rain finally did arrive on Thursday, and it was torrential. All of us were happy to be in the studio and out of the raw weather. I'm sure the crocuses, which are just coming up in the Springfield Art Association's courtyard, enjoyed the weather.

The Lincoln Home

I spent part of the morning discussing perspective. In Springfield, which has many wonderful structures in districts like "Old Aristocracy Hill" and in the four-block Lincoln Home National Historic Site, it's hard to escape the rigors of perspective. I've written elsewhere about this science, so I'll just say here that you don't need the books. It's helpful to know the rules, but it all comes down to close and careful observation of angle and proportion. Use a pencil to measure these.

Edwards Place

At lunchtime, the group got an exclusive tour of the Edwards Place, which is attached to the Association's facilities. Built in 1833 and the only house in Springfield on its original foundation, it includes period furnishings and the famous "Lincoln Courting Couch," on which Lincoln courted Mary Todd. (My favorite feature of the house is the oval skylight over the central staircase. You can look through it and up into the tower. In the summers, the skylight's glass was removed, allowing the tower to serve as a sort of chimney, drawing up the sweltering Illinois air and cooling the house.) The house was donated in 1913 to the then-fledgling art association and became its quarters. Today, the association is nearing the completion of historic renovations.

Finally, by popular request, I demonstrated how to paint a tree. After choosing a photograph featuring an old adobe structure and some cottonwoods in autumn, I toned my paper with a red-violet pastel to create a complementary backdrop for the greens. I next sketched in the dark trunks and a few of the major branches of the cottonwoods with a dark magenta pastel. For the foliage, I picked out three greens: a cool, dark green; a warmer, mid-value green; and a very warm, light green. I laid in the shadowed areas first and then moved my way into the lights. This covered up some of the trunks, so I reworked those and added a few, sharp darks for more branches.

On Friday, I'll cover how to fix problems and finish paintings.

Springfield Pastel Workshop - Monday

When Springfield Area Pastelists (SAP) invited me to teach a weeklong workshop in late March, we had hoped that the weather might cooperate for a little plein air painting. But early spring weather is fickle, and when I arrived on Saturday, flurries were spinning down in the capital city of Illinois. By Sunday, the flurries had changed to snow squalls. Big, sloppy flakes decorated my coat as I took an evening walk.

On Monday morning, the sun burst out of the clouds. Still a bit cool, the weather kept us indoors. This isn't a bad thing on the first day of a workshop; there's much to cover before we put down even the first pastel stroke. Later in the week, though, I hope to do one demonstration outdoors. The facilities of the Springfield Art Association (SAA), which is where the workshop is being held, include a beautifully treed sculpture garden and several historic buildings, all great material for painting. For students wanting to brave an Illinois spring, they can paint right outside our studio while the others work indoors. The studio will be waiting for them should the snow squalls return.

Here are a couple of photos from Monday. The SAA studio has a new set of north-facing windows, which shed a generous and even light on the space.


Although my students are all experienced pastelists, I like to cover the basics in the first day: my essential palette, my underpainting technique and, of course, the Importance of Values. (I won't rehash these here, since I've discussed them in earlier blog entries. Besides, I'll elaborate upon them in my new book, Backpacker Painting. I don't want to give away all my secrets!) After a short demonstration in the morning, I let students work in the afternoon.

This is the first pastel workshop I've flown out for. Usually I drive so I can carry the whole kit'n'kaboodle. This time, I had to pack carefully and lightly. I was very pleased to have the new Heilman Backpack Pastel Box. It carries my entire set of NuPastels, plus a set of sepia Pastels Carré and three dozen half-stick Senneliers. I even had room left over for a fistful of pastel pencils.

I took this box as carry-on luggage. I'd heard tales of how airport security sees pastels under x-ray as suspicious objects. Perhaps so, but in the two security checks I had to pass through to get to Springfield, not one person asked to open the box.

Here's the box in action today:

Forecasters predict a good day for Tuesday, so maybe I'll get to do an outdoor demonstration in the sculpture garden. If not, we've got plenty of photos to paint from - and great view out the window for painting de la fenêtre.