From one thing to another....
This was the first of two night paintings I did in Philly last week. I went out after dinner and did this and one other quick sketch. I was doing these by the light of street lamps because I forgot to bring my headlamp and booklight that I like to use for illumination. And the secon painting I did is the following image.
I know these photos may look a bit muted, but the colors I used were pretty dull for the darks. I was struggling to see small differences in the value of my darks, so I kept them a bit on the softer, lighter side. It’s a really interesting challenge painting a night scene on site. It really tests my knowledge of my palette, and my ability to guess the amounts of a certain paint that will make the intended color. I was pretty happy with these, and think I can use them for some studio paintings later on. I have some other images and stories from Philly that I’ll share in a future post.
So I got back from Philly this past Thursday, late at night, and had to get my self unpacked and turned right back into work mode to teach a workshop this weekend. I taught a two day workshop in Damariscotta at River Arts. I really like working with them. They are a great organization that has invited me to do alot of fun (and challenging) new things, and they were very helpful this past weekend.
There were twelve participants in the workshop who were all very hard workers and alot of fun. I was lucky to have such serious students who were already good painters. We all had a good time painting, despite some pretty chilly weather on Saturday and getting forced indoors by the rain on Sunday. Saturday we worked on some tonal studies in the morning and did some work with a limited palette in the afternoon, painting some very overcast scenery, which is no easy task! It was a tiring day as the elements wore away at us, but there were some very nice paintings made. And Sunday I was nervous about, because I’ve never been forced inside for a workshop, so I was not sure how it would go with still lives… but I set up two tables full of fabric, flowers, vases, fruit, and some other random objects I could put together. It turned into a good way to work on alot of the same ideas I use in plein air painting. I spent alot of time this weekend working on getting my students to look much more carefully at the values and colors of the scene they were painting, and then worked alot with paint handling, applying clean colors, being more intentional and clear with your brushwork, looking at edges in the painting. By the end of the weekend I felt like everyone was making much stronger images and I’m really proud of how everyone did. I’m pretty sure we were all completely exhausted by the end. I know I ended the weekend with a nap when I got back home.
Posted on Sunday May 17, 2009 | 3 Comments
3 Responses to “From one thing to another.”
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Hey Colin these sure are some sweet nocturns, especialy the top one with its peppering of intense color/light. More fuel for my continous applause of your paintings.
Colin, the workshop was awesome, and we were exhausted by the end as well. I don’t think any of us had ever looked so closely at what we were painting before. And it really paid off. Thanks! And I’ve been thinking about painting night scenes, these are an inspiration.
Still life is a great way to work on SEEING even if you’re primarily a landscape painter. This is the crux of painting for me, how can I show the viewer what I want them to see. Carol Marine said, “if you don’t know what color it is, it’s probably gray”, which is of course what makes the color so vibrant.
I have yet to paint a nocturne, but so admire them. You pulled it off.