The support of those taking the workshop as well as from Kevin himself does keep you hiking along on this journey of seeing better and more. After all, we are all in the same boat--or is that up the same creek without a paddle?
The first day started with Kevin allowing us to decompress and get the first painting out of the way. Of course little do you know that this will be the last completed/finished painting that you are going to paint for a while! Looking back this evening, I think I should have enjoyed that first day morning painting session a whole lot more!! Most of us chose to paint the pond...no surprise. Aspen Pond, the subject of Kevin's series "Reflections On A Pond", calls to you as the reflections in the pond change at almost every moment and the quietness of the scene calms your nerves about being in a workshop of a Master Signature painter...well--almost!!
Here's the scene that I painted---on the left is a photo of the scene I painted. The photo on the right is photo of the painting I did. Hopefully this will give you some idea about how photographs lie and how painting plein air in the outside air is both challenging and rewarding. Between this photograph and this study, I can paint back home in my studio converting this to a larger painting of this scene, and there are a number of things I would change in the composition and what I caught at the time (like the cloud I tried to catch)I was painting and things were changing----here's the photos...
When you paint a study, there are never really any failures. There are things you learn for future reference and your next painting and then there is the editing process in the studio if you convert the study. If you are thinking the study is a total failure, well it isn't. You can always find colors you mixed outside in the open air and can be used for reference for other paintings you may do from photographs when you return home.
The afternoon was spent in Kevin's studio as he instructed us on light and shadows. It was an enlighting experience as things we thought we knew we didn't and how photographs and our perceptions have influenced how we see. In case you haven't figured it out yet, this workshop is all about light, shadows, contrast, and how we see.
The second day is spent on the foundation of the painting and seeing shapes--not trees, sky, pond, etc. There are shapes in that landscape and you will see them by the end of this workshop! It was an overcast day which was a challenge all on it's own for seeing light and shadow in local color...if there is such a thing. But when the sun peaked through the clouds, we worked quickly in the light area and returned to the shadow when the clouds covered the sun or capture in a few quick places that contrast between the shadow area and the light area only to fill in the rest of the light shape when the clouds returned. The afternoon was the same, as we practiced laying in the shaded area in pleasing abstract shapes and then built up the foundation, working in the light area last.
Tomorrow is day three. We'll spend the day learning to paint light and shadows only quicker....we had have a challenge placed before us--two paintings with the foundation light and shadows completed in the morning...and two additional ones in the afternoon. We'll be in Arroyo Seco, a quaint little town. For me, the challenge will be finding compositions that are pleasing and simple...something that hopefully we will cover before I get sent home.
It is always a challenge to paint, and challenging yourself to improve is something that is frustrating, but absolutely necessary. I am and will be enjoying this journey, and can't wait to see the improvement in my work in the very near future--upon my return home and I venture outside to paint plein air in Ohio's atomsphere.
Thanks for reading and all your support!
And now, the bed is calling my name!
Cheers,
Linda
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