painting right before our easels were toppled by the persistent winds
The two days of painting outdoors on this beautiful farm in Newtown, PA were challenging. The workshop was run by Valerie Craig, a wonderful plein air artist from the Philadelphia area.http://www.valeriecraig.com/index.htm I had been looking for a workshop to attend and Valerie was recommended to me by a high school friend, also an artist. http://www.danireel.com/
The setting and scenery were perfect. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the autumn colors were glowing. BUT, the temperature was cold and there were gale force winds blowing non-stop. Easels were toppling everywhere. I lost all my turp. Luckily ,Valeri had some to spare. In spite of the constant pressure of holding my easel in place. I managed to do 3 paintings. There were at least 12 of us, and the teacher made several trips around the area to comment on individual paintings and to demonstrate. I got a few tips from her.
One was to mix my colors with a knife and not the brush. In that way, you can place a dab of the color on the canvas to check it against another color. If it's too warm or cool or too dark or light, you can more easily remove it. She also encourages you to mix a lot of a color, so as not to run out of it. Trying to match a mixed color is difficult.
I approach a painting observing light and darks. She suggested determining the warm and cool colors as well. I wish there had been more of a discussion about color palettes and composition.
At the request of workshop participants, we reviewed and critiqued each other's paintings. These critiques would be more beneficial if the teacher and students were not so afraid to offend. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the experience and look forward to painting en pleine aire again, hopefully without the gale strength winds.
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