It's that time of year again....

Simply Red, 12x10"

Available here

Christmas is in full swing and I would like to wish you a very joyful time with your family and friends. The New Year is just around the corner and I want you to know that I've got a few more classes scheduled for the Truckee Studio in January and February. 

I'll be teaching on Wednesdays for 5 weeks starting January 13th through February 10th. Join me if you can from 10-1:30 in the Studio.

 Just send me an email and let me know to expect you. Classes are limited to 5 students. I hope to see you!

Also I will be teaching in Sacramento on a more regular basis, on the second Friday of some months, beginning with March, April and May. Again, let me know via email if you want to sign up. Classes are from 10-2.

All classes will be $50. You can buy 3 classes for $145. and they will be good for a year.

I will be traveling to Sacramento from Truckee for these classes and so I will have to ask for a sure commitment of 8 students, while asking for pre-payment with a 50% refund on cancellations.
*pre-payment is not expected for Truckee classes.

Classes may be cancelled due to low enrollment, in which case I will provide a full refund, or you may use it as a credit for your next class.

Imagine being surrounded by the beauty of the Tuscan hills with paintbrushes in hand.....

My workshop in Italy next October has changed venues. I had an opportunity to schedule a workshop in Tuscany in the Chianti Classico Region during the Autumn Art Festival. We will stay with the same dates from October 1st though the 8th. 

One of the best reasons for an artist to travel is that the experience will most likely ignite a creative spark. 

If you are a beginner, this experience will take you to the next level. Intermediate students will gain from the experience and be at a level to build a painting that has emotional impact. 

• Winery tour and tasting, featuring Dievole`s Chianti Classico

• Italian Opera Appreciation classes every evening before dinner

• Excursion to Siena

• Dinner in the old cantina

• Various topical excursions with your class

• Special evening events and surprise entertainment, TBA

• Pig Roast celebrating the harvest and the arts

Go to the webpage (link below), and read about the region and the tour. I talked with some gals at the Venice workshop that had been there and they couldn't say enough. This will be a special Tour!

Il Chiostro Website

Also Check Out this website on more about visiting Tuscany in the Fall...

Walks of Italy Website

If you sign up for the workshop by February you will save $100. I will then add you to the private Facebook page where we will continue to share about our plans, answer any questions you may have about packing your art supplies, traveling to Italy and more. 

The sooner we get started the better!

Meanwhile, may your Holiday Season be filled with Peace, Love and Joy!

About Paint Manipulation

Paint Manipulation -

Exercise #6

Learn to Paint Layers 

A soft touch and a loaded brush will help you layer wet on wet paint.

Edges - 

Be in control of the viewer’s focus by creating a sharp focal point and softening edges around the painting to move the eye around.—

Edges can be manipulated with the practice of your brush.

An edge is where the positive and negative shapes meet.

A good painting has hard and soft edges.

A soft edge is a soft transition from one shape to another.

How to make a soft edge —

  —blend an edge by stroking over it with a clean brush.

  —use a light touch (soft application)

  —scrape with a palette knife

  —“dust” your canvas

  —create a bridge of color (mix the two colors creating the edge)

  —scumble

  —can you think of more ways to create a soft edge?

Texture -

Thick and Thin passages

One Stroke at a time

Impasto

Brush manipulation

Exercise #7

One Stroke Exercise

This will change your life! 

Paint a small painting of one still life object. 

Pre-mix your mother colors.

Sketch a simple design of 5-8 shapes only - use a #2 filbert.

Use a large brush and begin filling the shapes, one by one. 

SEE HOW MANY DIFFERENT STROKES YOU CAN MAKE.

COUNT YOUR STROKES.

Don’t be stingy with your paint.

Adjust the value and/or color after EACH STROKE.

Exercise #8 6

Paint a Color Chart - It is not a quick and easy exercise. But I promise you, it will open your eyes..

We have been talking about our palette and color mixing for a couple of weeks. This week I wanted to share a very useful exercise that will teach you what your palette can do for you.

Here is how it goes:

Grid a sheet of gessoed canvas, about a 16x20" with about one inch boxes. You will need to have the same number of squares across the top and down the side, (the number of paint colors you use on your palette.) I used my basic palette colors in addition to some mixed colors (in quotes below).

Keep in mind I don't have all these colors on my palette at the same time and I don't always use tube greens. Also note that I always like to have 1-3 mixed grays on my palette for mixing purposes.

The paint colors across the top and down the side are exactly the same and in the same order. I painted these colors:

White                            W

Cad Yellow Medium    CYM

Yellow Ochre               YO

(mixed Orange)            O

Cad Red Light              CRL

Rose                              R

Alizarin Crimson            A

(mixed Violet)                V

Cobalt Blue                   CB

Ultramarine Blue          UB

(mixed violet blue/gray)    VBG

Pthaylo Blue           PB

Viridian Green               VG          

Pthaylo Green (or mixed)       PG

(mixed neutral middle gray)    NG

Payne's Gray or Black     B

Transparent Oxide Red   TOR

What happens next? A whole eye opening experience. It starts out tedious but believe me when I say, you will develop a rhythm and you will have so much fun when you begin to see what you get with each mix. 

Begin by painting each square across the top in the order on your usual palette, (use your own palette paint colors), and then paint them in the same order down the side.

1-The first square - white is already done.

2-The second color is CYM. Mix white with CYM and paint the box where the two meet.

3-Now, move to the third color, YO. Mix white with YO and paint the box where the two colors meet. You will be mixing each color with white first, and you paint that in the square where the YO along the top and the YO along the side MEET! Above you can see this, the YO light is painted in the square where the two meet. Think of a crossword puzzle.

It can be tricky, especially as you get going and you are mixing more and more colors with each other, so use your finger and your brush to find the middle square by starting at the top and side and then follow to the center where they meet.

You will mix each color (along the top) with those colors that are along the side. What you will find out is that each color will get mixed with every other color on your palette - in addition each color will be mixed with every other color PLUS WHITE. You will get the idea after a while.

4-Still working with YO, you will then mix YO with CYM, the color that is above the YO tint box. If you put your finger on the YO on top and the YOM on the left, you will paint this box with that mix.

Now mix a little white into that mix and paint the box left of the YO tint, where the CYM on top meets the YO on the side.

5-Continue with one color at a time. I found that if I mix the original color with white first, it kind of helped me set the pace and keep my place. After I painted in the tinted color, I began mixing the pure color with the color that meets it from the side. After I mix two colors together, I paint the box above the tinted version of this same color. THEN mix a little white into it and paint the box on the left side of the tinted color. Move to the next color!

You will find in the finish that the color mixes that are below the white mixes will all be lighter because they have been mixed with white. The color mixes above are pure color mixes.

I don't know how to explain it any better my friends. It is not as difficult as it sounds, especially after you get going. I had so much fun discovering these new mixes, and was most of the time surprised at the beautiful colors that would evolve.

What you will learn through this exercise is much more than you might expect. Your mixing on the palette while painting will be much easier and smoother. You will discover new ways to get the mix you are looking for with less effort. You will save time.

If you paint this on a sheet of canvas or board you can take it with you or post it in your studio and use it as a reference.

All About Color

We had fun learning how to "key" a painting last week, but this week was all about choosing a Color Scheme for our paintings and mixing Color....

Color Theory -

If you work well with value, you have 90% of the color work done. 

The Four Aspects of Color:

Value - The Lightness or Darkness of a Color

Chroma - The Intensity or Brightness/Dullness of a Color (gray has less Chroma)

Temperature - The Warmness or Coolness of a Color (most often light is warmer - shadow is darker)

Hue - The Color Name or Local Color

Create Harmony in your painting by using Color - 

Choose your color Scheme in advance and Mix your Colors before your begin your painting. Use your first pile, or Mother Color, to mix your next pile and then your next.

Color Schemes That Work -

Complimentary

Split Complimentary

Analogus

Triadic 

We practiced by painting little studies using any of the four Color Schemes...

Color Mixing -  MIXING the color you SEE 

To mix the color you are looking at, isolate the color if you can. Now describe what you are seeing….. 

What is its hue? (common name of local color)

What is the value? (light, middle light, medium, middle dark or dark?)

What is the saturation? (brighter or duller?)

When I want to mix a color that I see, I will first name it – comparing it to the color wheel. Does it lean toward red, yellow or blue? Is it a secondary color (something between one of these?).

I start with a dab of that. Now I ask myself – is it lighter or darker? Adjust, then ask again – is it warmer or cooler.

** If you are mixing and comparing and you are close, you’ve got the value right but it’s not yet there, then consider if the color you see is warmer or cooler than the color you mixed. If it looks warmer than your mix, add a warm hue. Depending on what colors you are working with go with yellow ocher or orange, or something on the warm side of the color wheel. If it is cooler, go to the cool side of the color wheel.

Practice mixing your Palette Colors and Mother Colors.

Exercise #5

Neutral Colors or Grays 

Don’t forget, color does not shine without gray! Do this exercise to find out why…

Paint a gray box. Then paint a bright red color around it. 

Now do this again and try painting the gray a different value.

Find out what happens with two compliments when you change the value and chroma of one.

Paint a green box. Then paint a bright red color around it.

Now try painting the green a different value & with less chroma than the red.

What happens to the red? It will become more intense.

Also, you will notice that if you make the gray a different value than the color (hue) it will be more pleasing to the eye.

Remember this..

Colors relate to what is around them. 

Painting Light -

When you are painting a subject that is dealing with light and shadow, think temperature. The shadow is usually cooler and the sunlit area is warmer.

Certain things just start out being light or dark, that is value.

But, when you are dealing with a subject under light and shadow, think more in terms of temperature.

Most often an object, when the light is not hitting it - it will be cooler.

When your object is hit with light, it will be warmer.

Preparing to paint - Mother Colors - 

The best paintings are the more Simple Paintings. Choose a simple design, a dominant Value and a Color Scheme - then premix your Mother Colors.

These are the piles of mixed paint that you premix. Squint at your subject and mix what you see (while squinting) in the large shapes. Go for Value before Color. 

I know this is a lot to think about before your even start your painting. Do your design and value study and you will be most of the way there. It will become automatic if you practice this every time. Before long you can do it all in just a few minutes. Trust me! It’s worth the effort!! You will save time and frustration later on.

Keys to a Successful Painting

Yesterday was the first in a series of four classes held at the Patris Studio and Gallery in Sacramento.
It was a great group of students who wanted to review and learn some of the fundamental elements of oil painting.

For our first day, we painted a 3 to 5 value study of our landscape, with the idea of learning how to train our brains to paint with intention. Our intention in this particular exercise was to plan your painting and make one value more dominant for more interest and to please the eye.
This is just one of the ideas associated with making the viewer move right on over to your painting when they see it across the room.

We had fun experimenting choosing different values for our big shapes.You can see below one study with middle value dominant, one light value and one darker. Keep it abstract, and keep squinting to see those large shapes. Let go and paint the sky a darker color than the trees if you want. Go for it! Keep your shapes simple and if you chose to do this exercise, go ahead and paint a fourth study with equal values. Which one reads best?


A good day!

Next time you start a painting, first choose your dominant value. What else is dominant? Remember the rule of unequal measures. Here are the class notes -

KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL PAINTING

Composition and Design -

What makes a good composition? How will you plan (design), your painting?  

It is my belief that the original design of big shapes can make or break a painting. 

When you start a painting, take time to consider this design. A good way to accomplish this goal is to sketch or paint a notan.

Establish 3 to 5 large value shapes.

Your composition is the division of space. 

Your design takes into account the following - 

The key, the abstract design, the dark pattern and the light pattern, (notan), contrast, movement, line, unity, variety, expression, and the principal of unequal measures. 

What will be the dominant value? This will determine the key of your painting. Light, Middle, or Low Key?

Pay attention to the Four Plains of the Landscape. The plains of the landscape are - 

the lightest value will usually be the sky (the lightest light)

the land will be light, but darker than the sky (reflecting the sky)

the mountains are darker than the land (slanted shapes)

and the darkest value will be found in the trees (vertical shapes)

Decide on your focal point. Describe it with contrast using value, color, texture and edges. Make the most important thing the most important thing! 

Our eyes only see 15% of what is in front of us clearly. The rest is a blur. This is how we appreciate viewing a painting and this is how you should paint one.

Exercise #1

Sketch your Notan using a prismacolor black pencil or gray markers. Establish your best division of space, in proportion to the size and shape of your canvas that you will be painting on while paying attention to the Four Plains of the Landscape. (For your painting choose an 8x10, 9x12, 11x14 or 12x16.)

Exercise #2

Using a 16x20’ panel, divide it into four rectangles that are the same Proportion as the canvas you will paint your landscape on.

Mix five values of gray in addition to black and white. 

Paint your landscape notan in each area, changing the dominant value for each one. (Remember the value shapes that take up the largest amount of space in your painting is the dominant value.) Try painting a High Key or Light painting, then a Middle Key or Medium Value painting, and then a Low Key op Dark Painting. The fourth study will be equal use of values. Use the same composition - the best one - from your previous sketches.

Consider the Dark Patterns and Light Patterns, Notan. Keep your shapes simple. Which Key do you like best?

Exercise #3

Finding Value in Color – 

We will learn to see color as value in this exercise. 

Divide a 16x20” panel into five squares across and then down

Mix five values

Paint the Light, Middle Light, Middle, Middle Dark, Dark in the first five squares on your panel.

On the next line, paint any tube color mixed with either black or white to match all five of the values on your scale. (Paint directly under the correct gray value, and so on.)

Squint, using your palette knife to compare values.

I'll be back next week with a follow up and more on painting with intention. We will be painting our landscape from the photograph and learning about color.

Email or leave a comment with any questions, I'd love to talk more about this with you!

What I loved and learned in Venice

"Parked"

Oil on Linen  8x10"

I just returned from my first trip to Venice. I wanted to experience Venice as a workshop student, hosted by Il Chiostro, before I teach my own class next year. Our teachers were Susan Blackwood and Howard Friedland. They were the best!

I want to share a few things that I loved about Venice and also some of what I learned there....

1. I loved taking the Water Taxi into Venice from the Airport.

My amazing travel agent, Liz Hoffman, recommended that I go into the city this way. I must say that it was magical! It is an experience I will never forget.

I learned that the taxi only takes about 35 minutes and takes you directly to your hotel. He pulled the boat into one of the canals and took me through the maze of the narrow water system all the way to within a few yards of my hotel. It is expensive, but wow - if you can I would highly recommend seeing Venice for the first time this way. You can hire a water taxi for about 80 euro for a single person - to about 110-130 for up to five. 

I joined three other painters on the way out of the city because two of them had to catch a very early flight, and we split the cost. 

Other ways to get into the city are by shuttle bus to the train station or bus station, which takes you to the Grand Canal where you can catch the Vaparetto, to your nearest stop.

2. I loved getting lost in Venice. 

I loved walking in Venice. It's not so difficult to get around. I could walk out my hotel front door and turn in any direction. I loved the merchants that displayed the beautiful colorful Italian leather bags.... I had to pick up a couple of those!

I loved the mask merchants as well, and I had to get one of those for my daughter and granddaughters..

And then there was the chocolate, the salads (best mozzarella I've tasted), and the coffee.. The rest of the students enjoyed croissants every morning.

I learned that the signs posted on the buildings would guide me to the San Marco Square, the Rialto Bridge or the Accademia Bridge. There are plenty of Art Museums, Galleries and Shops, as well as historic sights galore! 

3. I loved painting in Venice.

Venice is incredibly inspiring! I brought home hundreds of photos to paint from. The water reflections were amazing and I can't even begin to describe how beautiful a place it is.  I loved the light! The Grand Canal was so reflective of the light out there. I could not get over the colors that are impossible to capture with a camera. It is best to do simple color studies.

I learned that it is not easy to choose your scene in Venice. It is better to choose something simple and save those larger scenes for the studio. The views with canals and bridges and boats, the historic buildings with all those windows, can be overwhelming. Too much to paint in plein air. 

4. I loved Il Chiostro! Michael Mele and Linda Mironti bring a personal feeling of care to the group. I have been working with them for a year or so, to create a workshop for my students next October. 

These are truly special people who started the tour company 20 years ago and have the experience to bring a very once in a lifetime experience.

Read and learn more about Il Chiostro here.

Learn about my workshop offered at a discount between now and February here.

These are only a few things I loved about Venice. It has had a never ending impact on my life and my art.

The Color Wash Method, Explained

"Bus Lane"

Oil on Linen, 16x20" 

Color Wash Method

Here are the medium recipes for the Color Wash Method, as learned from Ovanes Berberian and Brigitte Curt. Please note that either of these recipes create the same effect. 

Ovanes Berberian Color Wash Formula

- I have studied with Ovanes quite a bit over the years. In his workshops he taught us how to use this medium. This has a very special effect on a painting that I love.

You can lay in the under painting using many pure transparent pigments to create a glossy wash of color. You then paint with the opaque paint as the final layer.  See more about this below.

The formula:  He uses approximately 2 parts Damar Varnish, 3 parts Gum Turpentine, and .25 parts Linseed Oil. 

Brigitte Curt's Non-Toxic Color Wash Formula

- I've used this formula for years and I love the effect it has on my works of art. It is basically a less toxic version of the Ovanes' Formula.

The Recipe:  To make this varnish you need to buy Damar Resin Crystals. I order them from Blick by Eco House.  The Eco House brand works best with this Varnish. Also you will need to order the Terpene Solvent and Extra Mild Citrus Thinner from Eco House. (Also at the Blick website, but you may find them else ware.)

Start by poring the varnish crystals into a glass jar that has a lid.  (A mayo jar works well) Pour the Natural Orange Terpene Solvent on top and stir. Put the lid on. Continue to stir and mix a couple of times a day for a few days until the crystals are completely dissolved.

Now add the Extra Mild Citrus Thinner. Stir and store in an airtight container. Use more Thinner for a thin wash or less for a heavier varnish (will be more sticky and shiny).

(The amounts are approximate)

1 part Eco House Damar Resin Crystals

3-4 parts Eco House Natural Orange Terpene Solvent

3-4 parts Eco House Extra Mild Citrus Thinner

*note - lately I have substituted Gamblin Gamsol Odorless Mineral Spirits for the Extra Mild Citrus Thinner for a less smelly varnish.

Use either one of these recipes for the Color Wash Method that came originally from Ovanes Berberian:

• Paint your wash on a clean white canvas using transparent oil colors only, no opaque or semi-opaque paints.
• Start to very loosely block in large shapes of wash, beginning with your darks. Go a shade to two shades darker than you think you should.
• Always compare one color area to another- allow warms and cools within each color shape - keep the values the same in the same shape.
• Always compare the values to one another.
• Sometimes for color harmony you can use the complementary color.
• Lay in warm next to cool and cool next to warm.
• Think ahead about what opaque color will come on top of the wash.
• Stay flat with your wash and use the brush without modeling, an up an down motion.
• The values will be at least one shade darker than the final painting, but the relationships must work in relation to each other.
• Focus on accurate values and color temperatures.
• Use the palette knife to scrape an area if it gets too dark. This will allow the transparency to come through.
• The idea is to allow some of these beautiful transparent colors to show through the finished painting.

Below is a photo of the earlier stage of the painting as I was beginning to add the opaque colors on top of the transparent wash...