Day 21 - 30 Paintings - Waterworks

Today I was back in my regular watercolor class

with John Preston at the Fairfield Art Association.

He gave us a real challenge with this view of

a rocky stream in Colorado.

 "Waterworks" watercolor on paper 

John's photo

His demonstrations are invaluable

in helping his students learn how to handle

the elusive medium of watercolor.

I may make another run at this one over the next few days.

Beautiful Crested Butte

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.

Work, Work, Workshop!

I attended a challenging workshop in Crested Butte, Colorado in July.

The instructor was Denver artist Don Sahli.
 His colorful and energetic landscape and still life paintings
 are inspirational.

After a few years of hoping to find a Sahli workshop
that fit our schedule the stars finally aligned

and we were able to combine the workshop with a visit
 to our niece Kim and her charming and active family.

They kept Uncle Rick and the dogs happy with lots of
 hiking, picnicking and laughter.

So the timing was right, the locations were spectacular and
the instructor is talented.
He uses a full range palette, this is where the challenge begins for me.

I have been using a limited palette for many years
 so the idea of painting with a palette of 15 colors
 was a bit daunting!
But, being one who enjoys a new challenge
 combined with some palette boredom, I just jumped right in.

Oh, I need to add that we were required to use canvases that were

 16" by 20"or larger....for plein air!

For those readers who are not painters, this is a huge size.

Most plein air paintings are 9" x 12" or smaller!

Oh, yes, in addition to the expanded palette and the increased size,
we only had two hours to complete the paintings
 before leaving for a new painting location.

Those of you who paint with me know that I can paint pretty quickly
but this was just a wild ride.

 Don's advice was invaluable, he sees ones strengths and weaknesses
 and helps guide you to greater understanding of
your painting process.

The group that gathered for this workshop was 

up for the challenge as well.

Most were experienced artists looking to improve their painting

 and many of them were repeat offenders at Don's workshops.

All of them were great fun although, we worked so hard and so quickly,

our socializing time was at a minimum.

Don did a demonstration painting at each location too.

You learn so much by just watching him paint.

These were very full days.

The paintings in this blog post are 

from the first two days of Don's workshop.

I have the urge to go back and "improve" them a little

particularly the first one.  

The little barn doesn't integrate fully into the landscape.

Oh well.... 

More on the final day of painting, the colors in Don's palette 

and his process in my next post.