Marsh Study, 1 of 4

Marsh Study 1, oil on RayMar panel, 8"x10"

One of the things I wanted to start working on when I got home was to work as many different designs of the same reference piece. I had a small study and a photo from the intercoastal waterway in Savannah. It was a gray day, which makes for more interest in a marsh to me. This study is the first of 4, working off the same theme.

Painting with Bart, Painting 2

Horseshoe Canyon, 8"x10", oil on RayMar panel, $175

Painting with Bart

Became friends with Scott's right hand man in the painting part of the workshops, Bart Walker. Bart is from Birmingham, AL and is an avid and accomplished plein air painter. His brother owns a gallery in Birmingham as well and reps one of my mentors, Millie Gosch. My wife accidentally met Bart's wife at the local market searching for a moisturiZer... seeing that we we have quite a bit of moisture here in Georgia and they seem to have none in Idaho. Turns out, Bart's wife is an Atlanta girl.

We stayed in Idaho a bit longer so I could paint, so Bart took me out and we hit Teton Ranch, owned by Paul Allen and then Horseshoe Canyon.

Day 10

Recap day, question day... or for me, stare dumbly at the wall and try to make cohearant sentences. Not so much from the antihistamines and the Zicam overdose, but from the sheer amount of information and the brisk pace at which we worked. It was FANTASTIC!

I had one question, but he answered before I could ask. What to do now?? He suggested all types of studies... water, trees, clouds, etc. Get the small pieces before you put them together to make a piece. As far as the big picture, compose, compose, compose. Do 10 minute compositional studies everyday, not just putting in the time, but really working it out, making the eye move around the canvas.

This was truly the experience of a lifetime. Going to this workshop has been a dream since my first oil workshop with Millie Gosch in 2007 when she showed me Scott's work. I had high expectations which we met, for sure. So much so, I signed up for the Advanced session next summer.

Rick and Kathy Jamison who run the show up there. Rick is a VERY talented singer/songwriter with a bluegrass influence and Kathy is a magnificent write. She write their blog, Flow, which is excellent if I may say so myself.

Kathy, The Man... Scott Christensen, and Rick

The Gang. Feel like I have been to battle with some of these guys. Made some great friends and even brought a few from my Georgia painting group. Also ran into fellow dailypainters.com friends there, Julie Davis and Melanie Nogawski.

Painting with Bart, Painting 1

Teton Valley Ranch, 8"x10", oil on RayMar panel, $150

Day 8

I was told we went out to paint aspens, but I have no memory of such. I do remember Scott pulling my pieces to work over, again... very nice for me. He reworked the larger, tall one and started on a smaller one that seemed to even stump him.

I did small sketches on a big board again. We were asked to compose and do as many as we could, starting with odd numbered groups, of course... dominant and submissive tress as well.

my aspen cluster before Scott got his hands on it. The one on the far right had been scraped down by yours truly before he started to work into it. There was a LOT of paint to work through! 12"x16"

Scott makes my work look great...

This one stumped and frustrated the hell out of him...

The one he did not "fix"

Christensen Day 5-7

View of the Titons from TargeeCanyon

These days were pretty much a blur for me, had a cold/ hayfever and took every Zicam nasal gel and throat spray I could get my hands on. Not to mention a steady dose Benadryl and Advil. 

There was a rain day in there somewhere where we watched Scott produce more amaZing paintings and several demos. I could NEVER grow tired of watching him paint or listen to him talk about painting. It is a beautiful thing. Day 6 found us in the Targee Canyon in Wyoming. It was absolutely beautiful. Wildflowers, rushing rivers, blowing grass, blood sucking flies. Living and painting outdoors in Georgia has taught me one thing... always wear long pants and long sleeves... these things served me well, though I was warm, and had sinus issues.

I continued my "study" theory and painted several small pieces on one board and finished the day up with a larger 11"x12" piece done from one of the studies.

Scott gave me some instruction, noticing that I tend to repeat things and that I need more variety. It was nice to have something to focus on.

My rendition based on a smaller study, 11"x12", oil on RayMar panel

Targee Canyon study, 2"x4", oil on RayMar panel

Up the Path, Targee Canyon, 2.5"x5", oil on RayMar panel

Here is a link to my Facebook photo album, feel free to check out more of the photos I was not able to post here.

Day 4

Out in the weather today! Hot, sunny, tons of bugs... but that is what makes it sooo great! Studio painting is a breeZe compared to the reality of plein air, but there is NO other way to get the information. Cameras fall short of the human eye when it comes to this.

We went to a lake south of Victor and stayed all day. I got 4 pieces done. The first few were on the same panel. Another Dave Boyd Jedi mind trick... all the keep me from worrying too much about what I was doing and to remember that I was there to study.

After painting at night for the first few days, I felt comfortable with Scott's palette, which is limited with a lot of grays. If you want more info, let me know. I don't want to get into it if I don't have to. I rocked out 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. I tried hard to focus on depth, looseness, orchestration. I was happy with what I got done.

Here a the pieces for your viewing pleasure...

Day 3

Demo Day!

We got to watch Scott paint a large demo. I would love to show you the images, but we have promised not to publish for obvious reasons. The first was a Carmel coastal done over what looked like a Georgia field painting that didn't work for him. Nothing to it, some big rocks, tons of water and foam, lots of depth, childs play.Very impressive to watch considering that he did not erase the image underneath before he got started.

He did let the students mix paint, so my Georgia gals were asked to be the first. I do have a picture of that!

Watching Scott paint is like noting I have ever seen. He only uses references for color and they are his field studies. Sometimes he has a picture, but he hardly looks at them. He is a MASTER designer and composer. You can see him thinking about every stroke if you watch carefully enough, he squints down every few minutes and is always watching his progress in the mirror. Every stroke is well thought out a deliberate, but you would never know. He makes it look so easy. Unreal...

Christensen Day 2

Today we had lectures most of the day, losts of breaks, lots of old school Western American paintings viewed... pure heaven. Guess I should have studied painting in college.

We viewed the likes of Edgar Payne, John Carlson, Karl Runguis, several Russians without names and others that are escaping my lock box of a memory.

Later that evening we had a mixer with all the spouses and some bluegrass music by Rick Jamison and his wife, Kathy, who run the workshops for Scott.

10 Day Intensive with Scott Christensen... thus far

oil on RayMar, 8"x10"

It has been a long and glorious 5 days, it has been exhausting but I am sorry that it is almost half over! Day 1 was an overview, introduction and brief painting day.

I met several of the gals I paint with here and met fellow DailyPainter Julie Davis as well, not to mention a few others whose names currently escape me.

I painted solo away from the others so I could really concentrate on what I was going to do... which I had thought long and hard about for several days. I figured I would stick to my guns, use my split primary palette and do my thing... harder to do than I thought.

We met at 2 for crit and he picked mine to work on... good or bad... don't really care. I have a painting that Scott worked on. He used 2 from the 30 person class to work on. He doesn't really roam around while you work because there are so many people, but Bart Walker does... and he is pretty darn good himself.

If you would like to see other photos from our trip (we drove from atlanta to victor, idaho) you can view my open Facebook album here.

Here is the piece I did that he "touched up" for me. He did some work in the ground plane, simplified the clouds a bit, cooled of the mountain side and added some cows.... seriously.

Beaver Lake Fall

Beaver Lake Fall, 12"x16", oil on RayMar panel, $250, unframed

Digging deep on this one, found it in the archives of old cell phone pictures...

War Trace Barn

War Trace Barn, 16"x20", oil on RayMar panel, unframed, $640

Another limited earthtone palette creation...

Running Behind...

I am a bit late posting painting from last week. Julie and I are on the road, we drove from Atlanta, GA to Victor, ID this week. Thirty three hours of driving and photo excursions and junnk food with raw veggies in between.

We left Atlanta on Monday and arrived in Driggs, ID for the 10 day intensive workshop with Scott Christensen. We stopped oustside Nashville, Lincoln, NE, Rawlins, WY at various bed and breakfi, as I like to call them, and finally to our new home for the next 10 days in Driggs in the Teton Valley... the most beautiful place on earth. If you have never seen Scott's work, here it is.

I have tons of photos from the journey, a few will make it here. I also have work from last week I did not have time to put up.

Today was the first day of the workshop and it ended with Scott picking my piece out of the 30 to critique and rework... good or bad??? Not sure.

Pear in Shadow

Pear in Shadow, 8"x8", oil on RayMar panel, unframed, $100
Wanted to apply the limited earthtone palette to an object. Picture is horrible, the black I mix with red oxide and ultramarine reall picks up the light from anywhere and everywhere.

Large Meriwether Daybreak

Meriwether Daybreak, 16"x20", oil on RayMar panel, unframed

Worked this piece up from the previous color study.