Gay Faulkenberry Workshop: Day 4

We painted still life setups outside today. Beautiful day, a little too warm in fact. I got bored painting still life, so painted two other artists. One painting of a yellow chair was just okay, so I wiped it. This is my first still life of the morning, a quick small “warm-up” study. Green Vase … Read more

Gay Faulkenberry Workshop: Day 3

We started the day reviewing a slide show that Gay had prepared, including works by her teacher Serge Bongard. I completed two in-class studios and one quick painting after class. I couldn’t get a good photograph of the first study, so haven’t posted that one. Here are the other two. Plums and flowers: Red Still … Read more

Gay Faulkenberry Workshop: Day 2

Gay painted the demo below, then we spent the day painting small studies (about 30 minutes each). Gay started with the basic drawing: Started with darks, and as usualy takes each object to relative completion. More objects: more… more… The finished study: This one is mine, I painted a section of the same still life … Read more

Gay Faulkenberry Workshop: Day 1

I’m not going to write a lot of thoughts tonight about this day and workshop as I would like to absorb more lessons and “boil it down” effectively. For now, I hope these picutres are helpful. Gay began be demonstrating her palette: Here’s her demo at the drawing stage. She began with a light violet … Read more

Observation 4: Always a Student & a Teacher

“I am going on with my researches…I am continually making observations from nature, and I feel I am making some slight progress.” Paul Cezanne at age 67, a month before his death “Whoever ceases to be a student has never been a student.” George Iles I’ve noticed a few consistent traits of artists: they live … Read more

Another Greens Study

Painted this Sunday at Alta Lake.  Just chilled.  Didn’t focus on composition, only getting accurate Sierra greens.  As per other posts, I’ve struggled with this color (especially pine trees), so am taking the time to do some simple studies. I learned in this study that my greens have been too cool and chromatic.  There’s a … Read more

Quick study – Emerald Bay (Lake Tahoe)

Did this quick study yesterday while the guys went for a hike. Still working on those greens! This is a lousy photo, I’ll update with a new one when I get a moment. Emerald Bay Study – Oil on Linen – 12×9

Photography as reference

Michael Chesley Johnson, one of my favorite painters and bloggers, wrote recently about the use of photography vs “painting from life”. It’s a really wonderful post, check it out.

Studying Greens

I admit it, I struggle with the color green. Don’t know why, just do. The first step of revovery is to admit you have a problem, right? So, as I would with any problem, I need to practice and study to fix it. This is a study in greens I did the other day. It … Read more

Every painting a lesson

Here’s the second study I did the other day in Pacific Grove using the “brush in front” technique. I think the values/colors are good, but I probably could have “pushed” it a bit more, ie, widen the value/color range. No regrets. Every painting is a lesson. Rocks & Surf (Pacific Grove) – Oil on Linen … Read more