I worked on this paintings a couple of days, again trying to implement some of the ideas I learned in Ovanes Berberian’s workshop. Had fun with this one. In the end, I liked the sense of light, but wonder if I should simplify it? Is it too busy? Hillside Light – Oil on Linen … Read more
Fellow art blogger Katherine Tyrrel (“Making a Mark”) is planning a trip to California, and asked me about painting locations. I started putting together a list (spots from San Mateo County to Los Angeles County) and realized what a great blog post it would make! So, the project is snowballing a bit into something that … Read more
Great news! I’ve just learned that this competition has accepted two of my paintings for their show August 10 – September 17, 2006 at at the Morro Bay Art Association. I will not be able to make the reception, but it is Saturday, August 12, 7-10pm. Here are the paintings accepted: Last Light, Eucalyptus Oil … Read more
Today, I choose a subject where I could exercise some control, subtlety. In the water, I focused on slight shifts in warm/cool colors. “Simple Seascape”, Oil on Linen, 8×10 A good way to judge whether your values are correct, is to look at your painting in greyscale, as shown below. This “reads” well in black/white, … Read more
Since I was not allowed to photograph Ovanes Berberian’s demos, a few artists have asked me to show them the process using one of my own paintings. So here goes! REFERENCE. (ON LOCATION) First, here’s the reference photo. I have to get a body of work that represents the San Francisco Peninsula for the Peninsula … Read more
This has been an exhausting week, but I learned a lot. The painting on the left is my last effort, which I think is a big improvement over the week. Click the image on the left to see details/enlarge. I’m going to add a few things (eg, light reflected off the bottle), but it’s near … Read more
We were supposed to paint ouitside this morning, but it rained so Ovanes took us into his studio for a slide show. We then painted all afternoon at a small lake part of the Snake River. The slide show was great. In addition to showing us other masters the he admires (Sergi Bongard, J.Sorolla, etc), … Read more
Still making progress. I’m learning a lot from Ovanes, such a generous teacher. Today I focused on the area he asked me to work on: “raw color” (include more sophisticated grays, I need to build up to the color). I was able to create the strings of pure color and grays on my palette, but … Read more
Today was divided between painting still lifes in the Apple orchard and a nightime demo in his studio. I made some progress today. Yesterday he commented that my color was too “raw”. He thought my values were strong, my paint application a little disjoint. He asked if I sold my work, which I took as … Read more
What a beautiful day in Idaho! I arrived at Ovanes’ studio to find cheerful Vickie Reece (Ovanes’s assistant) had set up wonderful outdoor still lifes in the orchard surrounding his studio. They were perfect juxtapositions of shapes, colors and values. The dappled light from the fruit trees made the subject both challenging and inspiring. After … Read more