I am so thankful that I had the opportunity
to paint in beautiful
Crested Butte, Colorado this summer.
Even more thank you's to Kim and Bryce and their girls for
being such wonderful hosts.
Now this is the way to walk the dogs!
The painting workshop with Don Sahli was an exceptional experience.
He encourages spontaneity, passion and teaches his students to
"see the relationship of color, form and design in nature".
Don was one of the last students of Russian School master painter Segei Bongart.
He carries on this legacy by teaching others the essentials of painting.
Don stresses that learning to paint better involves miles of canvas
and the discipline to paint.
He also stresses that painting is about enjoying the journey
without thinking about a style or what might sell.
(I might add that his paintings sell pretty darn well.)
He asked us to start with a quick wash
and a minimal sketch on the canvas.
Then we blocked in the shapes with color
as if we were working on
an abstract painting.
This is the view from the highway from the road that
runs past the Crested Butte Ski Area.
The wildflowers were in full bloom.
I had a lot of fun painting this one on the last day.
I tried to keep the values lighter and the colors brighter than
my usual plein air paintings.
With some gentle suggestions from my teacher
concerning over-thinking...
On the last afternoon Don did his demo painting after lunch.
Some of us stayed to paint in the afternoon for a couple more hours.
By the time I found the view that I wanted to paint
I only had about an hour to complete my painting.
It is really a block in I suppose.
But I felt that I was finally finding my way around in the new palette.
Don's palette for you artists out there is:
Phtalo blue, Ultramarine blue, Cobalt blue, Cerulean blue,
Viridian green, Cadmium yellow light, Cad yellow medium,
Cad yellow deep, Cad orange, Cad red light,
Alizarin crimson, Transparent red oxide, Yellow Ochre,
Titanium white and Ivory/Carbon black.
