Mixing It Up

Last weekend was the second run of my new workshop "Mindful Mixing," at Oregon Art Supply here in Eugene. It's a still life based class, focusing on color and - you guessed it - mixing! I'm a huge fan of the palette knife, and spend a lot of time premixing paint colors before any of it goes on the canvas. 

Above, you can see my demo of our "Stroke Economy" exercise. Paint an apple with 25 brushstrokes! Since a stroke is considered anything that happens between your brush touching the canvas and being lifted up, you can get a lot out of one. The trick is to get the right result from one!

Below are two more exercises. On the top left is a still life of all-white objects painted using black and white. Bottom left is the same still life painted using purple and yellow only - no white. On the right, you see my purple/yellow demo converted to black and white with a photo filter to check the values.  

Plein Air in Corvallis

 "Corvallis Farm Stand"

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

$100

Click to buy

I had an amazing opportunity last week as part of the Giustina Gallery at Oregon State's new exhibit "Everyday Taste of Plein Air" to join some of my absolute art heroes for a paintout.

We set up around the farmer's market in downtown Corvallis. It was a beautiful day, and there were lots of people out. 

 After lunch, I painted a view of Big River, a favorite Corvallis restaurant.

"Big River"
9 x 12, oil on canvas

That evening was the opening reception for the exhibit. Here's my wall:

 

It was a long, fun day, and a fantastic show. If you're in the Corvallis area, don't miss it!

Still Life at Sequoia

 "Lemon Demo at Hillsboro"

8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

Sold

It's been a good, busy couple of weeks around here. Two workshops and a paintout in ten days! 

It all started in Hillsboro - a town not far from Portland, Oregon - at Sequoia Gallery + Studios. I did an evening demo, the lemon painting above, for a small audience of 14 artists, then a three-day still life workshop.

I hate to play favorites, but this was one of the most talented groups I've taught. We worked hard!

 

 I've gotten a lot of questions on Facebook and Instagram about the Spic n Span bottle in this photo. No, it's not a secret painting trick of mine - but it DID really work on cleaning up the paint that got smeared all over the floor!

My next still life workshop will be July 11th and 12th, at Winslow Art Center on Bainbridge Island, Washington. It's a two-day workshop, with a demo the evening before.

 "Demo no. 2 at Hillsboro"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

Sold

I'm already looking forward to heading back to Hillsboro. Thanks for a great weekend!

The Mirror Plate

 

 "The Mirror Plate"

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

Click to buy

Posting this new painting in a hurry, since I'm heading up to Hillsboro today to teach a workshop! You can follow all my adventures on Facebook and Instagram.

My First Zorn Palette Still Life

 

 "Turnip Bowl"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$50

Click to buy

I had some paint left over after Tuesday night's portrait session, so I decided to try a Zorn palette still life. It was a good fit for these flesh-colored turnips. I'm always amazed at how blue the mixture of Ivory Black and White can feel with this limited palette!