Artist Studio
It is important when painting outdoors that you have a one phrase idea, mine was “morning light and color”, and then edit the subject to just be that phrase. Leave out, and embellish but try not to copy everything that you see. You are the director of this play so put the players where you want them on the stage.
I painted this painting as a demonstration for my class in Rockland, Maine and I think the demonstration was effective in explaining how to get the basic values and shapes established within about an hour. This amount of time should give you pretty consistent light unless you are painting right around noon and the sun
This was a watercolor based on an image of early morning on Penopscot Bay this last September. The goal was to capture the darkness of morning and pull the light out with a crisp simple lift. I also wanted to capture with direct expressive brushwork the feeling, not the details, of the forward trees. 1
Well there is nothing you can do about the weather if you are teaching and outdoor workshop and you want to keep it outdoors. We have fallen into a foggy drizzle pattern but we are holding our own and staying in the elements. Yesterday my two demonstrations we are task in staying focused on changing
Continue Reading “In The Studio: Day 10 Rockport, Maine Workshop”
Woke up to rainy overcast skies and so we headed to the Camden Yacht Club to paint. They are so nice to let us paint on their covered porch. Today’s lesson was another of my paint the scene quickly and try to get a feeling for the type of day. The group really did well
What a great day painting with a new collection of wonderful student. We painted at one of my favorite places the Belted Galway Farm in Camden, Maine. The lesson this morning was to focus on a very small light pattern and play it against a dark and dark middle value major piece. My demonstration is
Pemaquid
Seas violently pound
Over rocks thrust up by time
Soon pebbles remain
poem steve fleming copyright 2016
Today our painting adventure took to Merryspring Nature Center in Camden, Maine. This park is a really complicated place to paint since it is layers of foliage and flowers and there is just too many things to be intrigued by. My demonstration was a painting of a path leading in to the woods. I wanted
Today we went to Birch Point State Park and dodged short spells of light rain. It is a wonderful place with fabulous light, and it has become one of my favorite places to paint. The light is always ephemeral and cool and the colorful rocks have perfect weather worn shapes. I have painted this scene
We went to the Curtis Island Lighthouse today and had a much calmer day than yesterday. The temperature was mid 70’s and the skies were clear. I did 2 demonstrations on in opaque watercolor and 1 transparent. I am not sure I like either one but you can judge that for yourself. I try not
Yesterday was a beautiful blue sky day in Maine. We painting down at the Rockland City Marina and had a marvelous day. Of course that is if you enjoyed fighting the late afternoon 30 plus mph winds turning our painting spot into a wind tunnel. Some nimble movement was required to keep our paintings in
Today was another day of just getting myself ready for the workshop. I painted with a nice group of painters in Rockland, Maine at the city marina and I painted multiple pieces. The painting I am posting is a nice example of concentrating on the foundation of the painting, the contrast of lights and darks.