Workshop Weekend

Pink Rose 1, 6x6" (45 minute demo) Acrylic (Click to Bid)

Pink Rose 2 (15 Minute Demo)  8x10" Acrylic  (Click to Bid)

This weekend I taught a 2 day "How to paint fast, loose and bold" workshop at my studio. In order to live up to what I am promising in the name, a certain amount of discomfort is involved. The workshop starts out pleasant enough, but I gradually keep turning up the heat, so to speak, with exercises that push everyone further and further out of their comfort zone. Towards the end of the workshop their brushes have grown larger while their time allowance per painting has shrunk exasperatingly small. It doesn't feel fair to inflict this torture on them, watching from the safety of the sidelines, so I jump in too, and we all feel the pain together. Such fun, eh? 

The ah-ha moment comes when they look in disbelief at the paintings they have created in a timeframe that previously seemed un-doable. In my experience the only way to grow, in painting or in life, is to push the envelope and reach for things that seem too hard. What makes a great workshop, from my standpoint? Seeing  the transition from doubt to confidence that happens when painters realize they "have what it takes" to reach their goals. Especially in those whom have not painted in many years, and leave inspired and enthusiastic. It is very rewarding, and a true win-win, as I learn just as much from my students as they learn from me. 

Posted on a another page are some of their paintings, many created in 15 minutes! (See the link "Students Work 3-10-13" on the right, under the "Color Theory" book. BTW, in case it's not obvious, the goal of painting fast is not to break speed records, but to cure "detailitis". Or in other words, learn how to edit out unnecessary detail. Oddly enough, it's much easier to paint every detail we see, than to simply.

I'll end this post with one of my favorite sayings, " Life begins at the end of your comfort zone".  

Upcoming Workshops:

Paint Fast, Loose and Bold in Tuscany (Expect plenty of red wine, italian feasts and chocolate ... you will feel no pain here).  Sign up before March 30 and save $125.

Paint Fast, Loose and Bold in North Carolina

Paint Fast, Loose and Bold in Carmel, CA - Fall 2013, Dates TBD

Peachy Rose

We are nearing a finale with the seemingly neverending book project, it has already gone thru its first set of major revisions, (way less text and bigger images) and I expect minor things like punctuation finessing from here on in. I see light at the end of the tunnel!

This weekend I'm teaching a two day workshop called "Fast and Fearless Fruit" on the North Fork of Long Island, way out there in a beautiful town called Greenport. The focus will be on technique and translating value to color, rather than on drawing, using very simple shapes. The best way for me to practice for demo-ing is to paint something with a complex form in 15 minute segments, using big brushes. Roses make a perfect subject for this exercise. I set up a white rose on a white background in my studio and did a slew of quick studies, using various color combinations...here's one.

Peachy Rose

Acrylic on Canvas 6x6"

Pink Tulip in Glass Bottle -2

Pink tulips are my all time favorite flower, I could paint them forever. There is something about that hot fuschia pink contrasting with the vibrant yellow- green of the stems. Those stems - so beautiful in their simple, graceful tubular way. It sure works for me.

Pink Tulip in a Glass Bottle - 2

6x6" Oil on Gessoboard
Click to Bid

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White Tulip

Anything "White" is usually anything BUT. I love painting white objects, they reveal so much color! This painting was created to be a "mate" for another tulip painting I recently did. It's a publishing commission and therefore I am trying to match the style and the overall color sense of the original tulip. It will be cropped to a square shape but I decided to paint the entire 8x10 canvas. Working within these pre-determined set of parameters is interesting because I need to keep checking my painting against the original to make sure I don't veer off into some new flight of fancy. I think they play nice together but if my client doesn't, stay tuned for "White Tulip 2".

White Tulip

Acrylic on Canvas, 8x10"