Developing Paintings Further

I had a couple hours in the studio Sunday morning  

and wanted to paint something from life,  

so I put a bucket of poppies and sunflowers 

on the counter in front of a sunny window.

"Poppies in the Studio"

8 x 8 quick oil study  

on carton board

In an effort to develop my paintings further, 

I worked on it some more today. 

Poppies in Studio

w.i.p. 

I dulled down the objects in the front,

made the window lighter

and played with a pallet knife,

all the while overthinking every move. 

My goal is to learn how to re-visit paintings

 without loosing that 

the initial excitement 

of the moment.

Not easy. 

A Lot of Starts

I'm finding that doing small studies

on paper helps me see the big spots of color better. 

I did this the other day looking out the window of my studio. 

 6 x 7 oil on paper 

Note: 

Another Hawthorne-ism:

"Make a lot of starts."

Gouache plein air

Curious about how 

gouache studies would work outdoors,

I finally attempted it today.

"The Courtyard"

9 x 7 gouache on paper 

I got out my half Julian 

and used a clip board to hold the paper.

I had to work quickly and 

I had leftover paint so I turned the easel 

to the right and painted this. 

"The Hill"

9 x 7 gouache on paper

I found the way gouache dries 

so quickly a bit daunting, 

however you can apply layer over layer 

without anything showing through,

so that's exciting. 

That also makes it tempting to over work things,

so I'm keeping these small and quick. 

Welcome Plein Air Season! 

Falmouth Artist Guild

I had the pleasure of visiting the 

Falmouth Artist Guild today 

and was very impressed by the facility 

and the level of the art work displayed. 

I'll be teaching a two day "Expressive Painting"

workshop there Tues and Wed. May 24, 25 

9:30 - 3:30.

There are just a few spots left,

so come join us if you can. 

We have a lot of fun! 

Charles Hawthorne

I've been re-reading my little 

"Hawthorne on Painting"book. 

I was first exposed to his approach during  

a workshop at the 

Cape Cod School of Art in the mid 90's.

It was the beginning of my painting journey.  

Re-visiting his teachings now,

20 years later

is inspiring and affirming! 

This book of notes taken by his students 

offers some priceless observations about painting. 

Some of my favorites: 

"To see things simply is the hardest thing in the world."

"Painting is just like making an after-dinner speech. 

If you want to be remembered, say one thing and stop."

"Spend a lifetime in hard work with a humble mind."

Three Line Compositions

I'd heard about starting a painting 

with just three straight lines,

but never really understood it. 

This weekend 

we did quick 5 x 7 oil studies of large still life set ups 

on bristol board 

using three straight lines running edge to edge. 

Talk about simplifying!

I did a few small watercolor studies 

yesterday while babysitting Nico.

  

His first art lesson! 

Another Eye Opener

Just finished up a wonderful three day workshop

 with Kimberlee Alemian at 

Concord Art.

Working on 30 x 40 canvases

was a real eye opener and truly exhilarating! 

The set- up:

We started out by thinly blocking in the large shapes,
then turning it upside down.

I found that confusing at first, 

but letting some of the underneath show through

can create some interesting affects.  

Some details. 

Can't wait to "try this at home"!