Paintings With Soul

"Orchard II," 10"x12", acrylics on museum quality panel, a study created plein air my second day of Vianna Szabo's Plein Air Workshop at Millers Big Red Cider Mill this past weekend. This is an extra special painting because it's really two different pieces all in one (see below) AND it has a dinosaur - it's only $250 if you are the first one saying please . Like you learned yesterday , I got to paint with none other than Vianna Szabo this last weekend!   Day two brought about conversations of atmosphere and color, drawing and painting depth, and allowing the viewer to step INTO our paintings.  We made value sketches, committed to a compositional idea, and set up our gear. I lost my composition, though, as the sun moved - my left to right shadows, including an awesomely menacing claw shaped shadow! - disappeared with the noon sun. And I hadn't captured them adequately. I tried to fake it, but didn't have the vi...

"Orchard I," 8"x10", acrylics on museum quality panel, a study created plein air while shivering majorly at Millers Big Red Cider Mill this past weekend. I don't do cold, but I ventured into the chilly great wilds this weekend for the opportunity to paint plein air with one of my mentors. You can snag this painting for $200 if you are the first one saying please . I HEARD A PLEASE, so this one's SOLD! THANK YOU! I got to paint with none other than Vianna Szabo this weekend! I was part of her landscape painting workshop. She took 8 of us on a whirlwind immersion to the joys - and realities - of painting plein air. The first day we focused on composing and editing the landscape. Plied with donuts and warm cider, we then ventured into a wet and cold orchard to create value studies that solidified (or should have) our concepts. My first ah-ha moment came while working on my color study. I was tracking my brushstrokes on a value scale (I t...