Tuesday, September 28, 2010

The Acadia workshop

Here are some pictures taken the first day of my Acadia workshop. The first day was sunny, the second two were gray and we got a little drizzle but not enough to keep us from painting outside.

Here is James showing a confident stance at his big Gloucester easel.

Here is Lori. Unfortunately, later in the day she took a fall on the rocks and had to go to the hospital in an ambulance. She was back in class the next morning with a black eye and a tenacious attitude.

Here is Nancy with a little surf behind her.

I spewed information at them, which is my usual thing, lets see if I can remember some of the things I told them.

  • Don't paint your darks so inky, save that darkest value for accents within your shadows.
  • Learn to work with the biggest brush possible, that will improve your handling.
  • Ask yourself "why am I painting this place and not another? What is it that makes this view special?"
  • Many of the colors in nature are inominate, that is they have no names. You can't say they are blue or yellow or red, they contain all three.
  • Look for optical violets in your shadows. Alizarin and ultramarine are good for mixing those.
  • Learn to pull your stroke in every direction, use your brushstrokes to build form.
  • Work with more values! Don't paint only in middle tones.
  • Mix up piles of paint as thick as a dime. You can't make an oil painting out of thinner.
  • When you reach the finishing stages use no medium when you can. That gives the best handling.
  • Start out with a shovel, finish with a needle.

11 comments:

R Yvonne Colclasure said...

Great checklist Stape. It will be taped to my easel!

Woodward Simons said...

Great Review Stape: I'm looking forward to implementing these precepts into my paintings. They are new ideas to me.

I'm a thin painter - making my mixtures thick or thicker than a dime will change my approach for the better.

Thanks for a great workshop!
Lori

Woodward Simons said...

PS my eye is looking much better this morning. Well, if anything - my fall helped the group to bond pretty quickly on the first day ;-)

tom martino said...

What good reminders to those of us who took your previous workshop in Old Lyme, Ct!

billspaintingmn said...

Stape, when you say mix up piles of paint thick as a dime, do you mean on the palette or the canvas?

Woodward Simons said...

Bill, Stape can answer here, but at the workshop he meant on the palette.

Stapleton Kearns said...

Yvonne:
Tape, Stape whats the difference?
..............Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Woodward-Smith:
Thank you. You can't make a painting out of thinner. (not that you tried!) Hope the eye is getting better!
..............Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Tom;
Thanks, perhaps the whole unit might make a dandy neck tattoo?
.................Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Bill:
I mean on the palette.Sometimes artists get too stingy in their palette mixtures. That makes it impossible to load their brushes and when they need more of a color, they haven't got it!
.................Stape

adebanji said...

thanks for these-very useful! LOVE THE CHECKLIST.