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.

Meriwether Daybreak

Meriwether Daybreak, 11"x14", oil on RayMar panel, $225, unframed

This really got me excited. This is the limited palette with yellow ochre, aliZarin, burnt umber, and ultramarine blue. I did more pieces in this same palette including a plein air piece (actually I used transparent red oxide instead of the burnt umber). This palette is great for a cool misty morning, but that may be the end of it.

Earthtone Limited Palette

Limited palette of yellow ochre,  aliZarin crimson, burnt umber, ultramarine and titanium white

Anders Zorn used a limited palette very similar tho this one. In the last post I used raw sienna as my red... along with aliZarin, for the pieces to follow and on this palette, I have used a burnt umber to cool the palette down with exciting results.

Ford Decor

Ford Decor, 16"x20", oil on RayMar panel, unframed, $640

Before we moved from Gay, I took a ton of pictures around a new business area that had sprung up. I made friends with a mechanic down there who knew some people who had great old stuff. The guy that owns the business park had this truck stripped of it's engine and had it out in front of the general store. Now it is painted with the logo of the store. Great idea and a very cool truck. This piece is another smaller one, but I love the color scheme and I think I will do it at 30"x40" or larger.

The color palette I used is a bit of a departure for me.... and I love it. It has given the mystery I have been looking for in my work. Since painting this, I have altered it and used it on a few more pieces. This was painted with yellow ochre, aliZarin crimson, burnt sienna, ultramarine and titanium white.

Palmetto River View

Palmetto River View, 8"x10", oil on RayMar panel, $175

Did this as a study for a larger piece, but just do love it like I should. It will just have to grow on me.

Darien Boats

Darien Boats, 12"x16", oil on linen panel, unframed, $250

Came across some of these old pictures from a camping trip to Jekyll Island. Darien is just up the coast towards Savannah and is known as a shrimping village. I found this to be quite a challenge... the water, the reflections, the boats, the clutter. Looking forward to more boat torture in the future!

From Below

From Below, 12"x16", oil on RayMar panel, unframed, $250

Painted this guy en plein air last week when I went to Athens, GA... not your friendliest plein air town, BTW.

I asked a guy with a junk yard in downtown if I could take pictures of some of the cars (he had a '59 Caddy, old pick ups, old sedans, etc.) He said he didn't let people take pictures of his cars... then followed me out to my car to make sure I left. On my way back by he had some large dudes hanging around the gate. Weird.

The following day I was asked to leave a cemetery while setting up to paint an old bridge. They were polite, explained that they had had a lot of vandals and the families wanted to tighten things up. They also had a few suggestions of other bridges and cemeteries to paint.

From Below, 12"x16", oil on RayMar panel, unframed, $250

Chat Hills Creek

Chat Hills Creek, 11"x14", oil on RayMar panel, $200

Painted this this morning with a group of gals I enjoy painting with... that was enough for one day.

LaGrange Street Bridge

LaGrange Street Bridge, 8"x10", oil on RayMar panel, $175

Went out and painted with my buddy, Martin Pate. High noon, 95 degrees... glad we found some shade. I had to get out of the studio and start knocking the dust off for the Scott Christensen workshop.

Sunset, Small and Large

Sunset, 16"x20", oil on RayMar panel, $640

Sunset, 8"x10", oil on RayMar panel, $175

Another series of large and small pieces based on a sunset. I have found it very valuable to do a small study to work out the colors and composition. Then, when producing the larger piece, I can tweak whatever it is about that piece that wasn't working.

Peach on Gray

Peach on Gray, 4"x4", oil on panel, $75

Thought I would give it a go since I already had the colors out and time to kill. As Robert Genn always reminds us, you should never forget to play.

Peaches on Gray

Peaches on Gray, 8"x8", oil on RayMar panel, $150

Once again, playing with the shadow box but lacking in confidence. Lately things have reversed. I used to be most comfortable inside in front of a still life, now I am most confident standing in front of a landscape. Just trying to get y still life stride back.

Homestead

Homestead, 24"x30", oil on museum wrap, $1100, SOLD

Did this piece for a client who wanted this for his mom for Mother's Day.

She moved this house to the land in Texas years ago. She actually lived in it for years before she had plumbing and electricity put in.

His mother was going to live in assisted living and he wanted her to be able to take her house with her.

This is one of those pieces that I love to do and I hope it can be all they want it to be! From what I hear, she loved it. That makes me very happy!

Fried Rice, Steam Rice???

Fried Rice, Steam Rice?? 8"x8", oil on RayMar panel, $150

This came with my Thai take out a couple of weeks ago. Thought it would make an interesting study of an all white subject... it was hard to do!

Shadow Box and Painting Wall

A few of you have asked to see what my shadow box looks like, so here it is. It is not front and center in this these images, it is off to the right side and is holding my Mac and my monitor. It is roughly 18" square and has 2 slits in the back... one in the middle for light to go through and one in the very back so slip fabric or paper down for a back drop. This one is made of 1/2 plywood. I have another one that I made of 3/4 inch ply and it is 24" square and too big and heavy for the current study. It is also painted a midtone gray instead of black.

When I use it, I move it and the small tabouret onto the dresser where I have it lit form above. I used to paint looking down on subjects, but since the shoes series began... I like to look straight at it eye level.

When I was painting this Caddy, I had to use my old Julian easel, my paints and plein air gear were left in Florida so I did not have to fly with them. My larger pieces are painted hanging on the wall over the dresser.

PLease note the two monitors... the one on the right IS a monitor, the other is my TV. I have a bad habit of watching/listening to the TV... especially my races. They are mindless. I listen to music quite often as well.