Sarasota Plein Air Workshop - Day 5

"Rainy Day Crotons" 12x9, pastel

The rain finally came, and in buckets, but not until we had a couple of hours painting in the resort. We secured a room for back-up in case it rained, and then we headed across the parking lot to something called the "Butterfly Garden." This little garden occupies a prime spot along a small pond, and a variety of flowers that butterflies love are planted there. One plant I like a great deal is the croton. It doesn't seem to bloom, but the foliage can be quite spectacular. Green and magenta make a dynamic combination, especially on an overcast day when colors seem more intense.

I did a pastel demonstration of this plant. Someone asked how I was planning to render all the leaves. The idea is to not render *all* the leaves - just a few key ones. The mind will see the more-rendered ones and make the assumption that the rest of the foliage is similar. So, I first blocked in the dark green mass of the crotons first, added the pinkish-magenta bits to suggest some of the more colorful foliage, and then took a little more care in delineating a few.

As I started the second piece, the sky darkened noticeably and I knew rain was only moments away. I did a quick sketch of some of the more modern "park models" here - and included the tall cell tower behind them. It's a post-modern look at a landscape, but sometimes I enjoy putting in this kind of thing.

"Cell Tower" 5x7, pastel

At the end of this week's workshop, someone asked me to give five helpful tips for painters. I narrowed it down to these general concepts that can apply to any level of painter:

1. Keep your gear portable. You won't paint if your gear isn't always ready-to-go.
2. Paint often. A violinist doesn't play just when giving a concert.
3. Work from life. All the answers are out there.
4. Look at a lot of art. This will help you develop a sense of what works and what doesn't.
5. Find friends to paint with. Camaraderie and feedback are meat and drink to the artist.

Sarasota Plein Air Workshop - Day 4

"Park Model" 5x7, oil

The weather can turn fast here in the Gulf. We went to bed last night under a tornado watch. About one in the morning, an explosion of thunder woke us up, and then the rain pummelled down. By dawn, the rain had stopped and a patch of blue sky appeared. Still, the forecast was for showers, so we decided to paint close to home - just in case.

Painting close to home meant painting in the Sun'n'Fun resort, where the workshop is based. Sun'n'Fun is a large, exclusive gated community that's old enough to still sport a few of the older "park models" among the newer ones. I don't like the new ones as much, because they are free of the mossy green that seems to coat everything in this subtropical environment. The older ones show their years, and often have mature gardens around them - they look a great deal like the "Old Florida." They make great painting material. When the old ones get sold, they are often hauled out and replaced with new models.

I decided to paint a study of one. It didn't have the mature garden, but it does have a classic look. For this kind of painting, a broad brush stroke is necessary. A brush stroke accurately placed would be like levelling the floors in a 200-year-old Cape - it ruins the charm. (You still want to get the value and temperature relationships right, though.)

Sarasota Plein Air Workshop - Day 3

"Beach Pine" 9x12, oil

The threat of thunderstorms and high winds didn't deter us from our goal today - Coquina Beach at the south end of Anna Maria Island. Bad weather wasn't expected until afternoon, so we figured we'd be able to get out there and back before the action began. Our luck held out, and we had a good morning. We made sure to stay on the lee side of the island, since the white caps were kicking up on the west side and we wanted to avoid any umbrella-induced disasters.

Coquina Beach has a wonderful natural area, complete with hiking trail, that lets you explore the water's edge. Mangrove and sea grape, herons and pelicans, and lots of shells characterize it. A couple of the students painted a great blue heron that posed rock-still for nearly two hours. A passerby asked them if they had paid the heron to pose.

For my demonstration, I chose a view of an Australian pine among the dunes. ("What, no water?" one student asked. No, because I'd need a much longer canvas to get my pine and the water in, too.) I wanted to show one method of avoiding shifting values in an oil painting. As most oil painters know, anytime you add a color to a particular mixture, you change the value, whether you mean to or not. It's so easy to get the much-dreaded "value shift" and to lose your design.

I analyzed my scene and came up with five distinct values. Using a painting knife, I pre-mixed piles of paint that matched those values. I had three values of green for vegetation, one light blue for the sky and then, for my lightest light, a sand color. The idea is that, no matter what other color mixtures you end up making, those color mixtures must match the value of one of these five piles.

Although pre-mixing paint can take some time, the painting itself goes much faster once you're done. The painting, as they say, almost paints itself. Just make sure you put the paint where you want it. For this demonstration, which depicts a slightly-overcast moment with no well-defined shadows or highlights, it went very fast. In 30 minutes, the painting was nearly done. Another 10 minutes go it to where you see it now. It is a good sketch that could be taken to the studio and fine-tuned or that could have a larger studio piece based on it.

Sarasota Plein Air Workshop - Day 2

For the second day of the workshop, we headed out to Myakka River State Park. It's probably one of my favorite places here to paint in. The road takes you through woods so dense with live oak and cabbage palm that it's like driving through a tunnel, and then suddenly you pop out into the sunlight with a vista. Several pull-offs give you good views of the river snaking off into the distance. Where the live oaks end, the palms take over; where the palms end, the marsh grasses spring up; and then in the water you see ibis, egrets, wood storks and sandhill cranes.

After a quick stop on the main bridge to see some alligators snoozing in the café au lait water, we drove on to the concession area. Here, you can tour Myakka Lake on an airboat or, if you dare, venture out with a canoe or kayak. (Can alligators upset a canoe?) Trails lead you into the woods and then to a dam built in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. By this dam last year, I watched some locals fishing for tilapia with nets. But I always love the trees here - massive, muscular live oaks festooned with Spanish moss.

Early in the day, I did one 5x7 oil demo for the group, focussing on the shadow shapes cast by the oaks and palms on a field of grass. Later, as the day grew hot, I did a second painting, which is featured below. The students remarked that the brush work and color on this one was much more vigorous and enjoyable. I told them, truthfully, that I painted it that way because I had gotten tired. When I get tired, I think less and shoot more from the hip. It'd be nice to be able to paint this way all the time. (But without actually being tired, of course!)

"Myakka Live Oak" 5x7, oil

For this painting, I skipped any thumbnail sketch or underpainting. I wanted to get right down to business. With a scene as contrasty as this, and which already has strong design elements, it's easy to wing the composition. It's more fun that way. Also, I didn't want to lose time with the underpainting, so I mixed my colors exactly the way I wanted them - even using white when necessary - and applied them directly. For "direct painting," you can't get any more "direct" than this.

In the middle of the day, we headed to the little restaurant for seafood gumbo. Gator stew was also on the menu, but I don't think anyone was brave enough. I try not to eat anything bigger than me.

Sarasota Plein Air Workshop - Day 1

On our first day, I took the workshop out to Sarasota's Bayfront Park to demonstrate in oil. Although boats can be a troublesome subject - even when they aren't being spun around by wind and tide - I wanted to show how you can simplify even something like that. The park had a number of boats, Sea Doos and other watercraft docked down by the tiki bar. Although the warm color of the water and the deep mangrove shadows are what caught my eye, I wanted to bring in a sense of the boats, but without getting lost in the busy-ness. Using my viewfinder, I isolated one, a nice sailboat with a blue sail cover, and then zoomed out to bring in just enough design elements to make a pleasing composition.

"Bayfront Boat" 9x12, oil

Blocking in the boat was fairly simple, since I was seeing it bow-on most of the time. A few strokes suggested shadow and light plus the main parts that say "boat" - mast, float and sail cover. One doesn't need to get too concerned about drawing, since a certain looseness overall makes the boat seem just right.

The weather was perfect today, and it looks like it'll hold for at least one more day. Tomorrow, we'll head over to Myakka River State Park to paint some of the lush river scenery.

Sarasota - Pre-Workshop

After nearly 2000 miles, Trina, Saba and I finally arrived in Sarasota yesterday for my workshop. Two thousand miles is a long way to go by car (and, I might add, we still are only halfway to Sedona), but we've developed a network of friends and family to help us avoid the dreaded hotel stays. We have yet to stay in a hotel. Also, we've managed to make time to visit a number of galleries to see work by such artists as Charles Movalli and Jay Hall Connaway in Camden, Maine. We even spotted several Sargents at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina.

Today, we spent our time getting familiar again with some of the scenery we'll be painting. One of my favorite places is the Myakka River State Park. The road follows the long, winding river with many good spots featuring cabbage palms and saw palmetto, live oaks and hanging moss, and much more. And, of course, alligators, which are not to be taken lightly.


We also headed up to the Sarasota bayfront to take a look at some nautical material. On one side of the bayfront park, you can see million-dollar personal yachts with towering views of expensive hotels; on the other side, you can see modest skiffs and sailboats. I lean to the more modest toys, but I may be tempted this time around to paint something spectacular with bravado.

The workshop starts tomorrow morning, and we'll be painting all week. I'll try to keep my virtual workshop going here for my readers.

By the way, here's a great Santa I came across today.