A Busy Artist

"Three of Two Kinds"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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A busy artist is a happy artist! And between my workshops, private lessons, a portrait commission, and gallery shows, I'm overflowing with gratitude lately. 

But it's nice to get back inside the cozy confines of an 8 x 8 square, enjoying all the colors in these green and golden apples.

The Primary Palette

 "Cut Apple" 

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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This weekend, I taught at two-day oil painting workshop called "The Primary Palette," painting still lives using a three-color palette. Color choice is up to each artist - any red, yellow, and blue combo they like.

I chose Cadmium red light, Azo yellow, and a new-to-me color, Maya Blue, by Rublev paint. 

Painting with a palette like this is a great way to get acquainted with new-to-you colors.

Above, you can see my color wheel - beautiful oranges and greens, very dull (but beautiful) violets. That's the result of a yellowish red combined with a muted blue - and my demos of the awesome "Stroke Economy" exercise. A workshop favorite!

And here is some of my students' work. Fabulous!

Portrait Painting With A Limited Palette

 "Adrian on Red"

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

 $200

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I spent last weekend teaching a three-day portrait painting workshop at The Conservatory for Classical Art in Edmond, OK. What a great experience it is to teach there, every time! The students are so enthusiastic - not to mention talented.

We had a lovely model, too, who sat for us for the entire weekend. That takes patience!

Here is my demo:

And here are my demos of an exercise that has students mixing flesh tones in four values, then using them to paint a head in simple shapes. Learning to see the big value shapes - painting from the general to the specific!

 Class picture! I'll be back in Edmond in October, for a three day still life workshop. More info here.

Demonstrating A Still Life

 "Poppies in a Blue Vase"

9 x 12" oil on canvas

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I spent last weekend in Edmond, Oklahoma, teaching at The Conservatory for Classical Art. Although I was there for a portrait painting workshop, I started the weekend with a still life demo for a group of young students.

It was also an opportunity for the kids to pick my brain about art school - since several of them are thinking of going. I suppose I'm a good person to ask! I loved art school (I went to MICA), and will use the the things I learned there for the rest of my life.

With the urge to paint still lives - which always overtakes me the minute I set foot inside the CCA (this is my third time teaching there) - temporarily sated, I was ready to move on to the weekend's workshop!

 

Peaceful Pears, Primary Palette!

 "Peaceful Pears"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$150

Available here

I painted these peaceful pears alongside a private student of mine, in her tranquil, sunny home studio. 

We both worked from a limited palette of three primary colors, plus white. For my three primaries, I picked cadmium yellow, azo coral, and ultramarine blue. 

 

 Working with a palette like this has so many benefits - like simplifying your color mixing, and creating nearly automatic color harmony in your finished piece. If you'd like to learn more about this method of painting, I've got a workshop coming April 23-24th, in Eugene. Click here for all the details!

 

Big Things!

 "Self-Portrait, Pointing Down"

24 x 36 inches, oil on canvas

$1800
Available here

This one was kind of a struggle getting started, several days of scraping and redoing the face. But, that happens to everyone - even John Singer Sargent!

Here's the progression. If you think I look serious in the finished piece, check out that grumpy underpainting! It looks like I just ate something unpleasant.

 I'll replace the photo of the finished piece with a better one soon; I was in a hurry to get the painting off to this show, OBJECT/FORM, which opens Friday! (I finished it the day before I had to deliver my work - the perks of a local gallery.) 

This is kind of a big deal - I have thirty paintings on view. If you're in the Eugene area, please join me for the opening reception, Friday April 8th, from 6-8 pm.