Summer Skies

This year I reorganized my online class schedule to better fit the course to the time of year. In the past, classes were added when a need seemed to arise and as a result some students in colder climes found themselves struggling to work outdoors. As a result, The Painted Sky is being offered again this summer (having just been taught in February). Summer is, of course, a glorious time to go skying.


Recently when I was looking through some old portfolios of drawings I came across these pastel cloud studies done in the summer of 2001 in Santa Fe. I wrote about The Summer of Santa Fe here. It made me smile to see them and think of those big New Mexico skies once again. Pardon the skewed cell phone photography.

The Painted Sky Online Class

July 26- August 23, 2013 For landscape painters, painting a believable sky means creating a sense of distance, atmosphere, light, and mood. This course is designed to give students the knowledge and techniques to paint beautiful atmospheric skies. In this course we will cover: ~ gradation of colors in the sky at various times of day ~ gradation of values in the sky ~ types of cloud formations and how to depict them ~ use of atmospheric and linear perspective to create believable skies ~ glazes and scumbling techniques ~ using a variety of edges in painting skies ~ composing skies for maximum effect Registration for The Painted Sky here Online classes are a great way to study at a slower, measured pace and on your own schedule. Participation is limited to ten students, so there is plenty of individual attention. To learn more about how these classes work, click here.

Many students find this way of learning to be challenging, effective and convenient. In any given class I may have students from throughout the US as well as Canada, the UK and Europe, so it makes for a lively, interesting learning experience. Click here to read what students have to say. And registration is here.

The Painted Sky

The Painted Sky Online Class

January 18-February 5, 2013 For landscape painters, painting a believable sky means creating a sense of distance, atmosphere, light, and mood. This course is designed to give students the knowledge and techniques to paint beautiful atmospheric skies. In this course we will cover: ~ gradation of colors in the sky at various times of day ~ gradation of values in the sky ~ types of cloud formations and how to depict them ~ use of atmospheric and linear perspective to create believable      skies ~ glazes and scumbling techniques ~ using a variety of edges in painting skies ~ composing skies for maximum effect Registration for The Painted Sky here Online classes are a great way to study at a slower, measured pace and on your own schedule. Participation is limited to ten students, so there is plenty of individual attention. To learn more about how these classes work, click here.

Many students find this way of learning to be challenging, effective and convenient. In any given class I may have students from throughout the US as well as Canada, the UK and Europe, so it makes for a lively, interesting learning experience. Click here to read what students have to say. Jump start your creative efforts in the New Year-register today!

Some Skying

Cloud Study on Strathmore blue laid paper

I am in the midst of teaching my online class The Painted Sky. It's a wonderful time of year for it- the big cumulus clouds are building up in the afternoons, and the heat and humidity are creating wonderful hazy light and spectacular sunsets. I've also been doing some field research on sketching methods for my new online class Field Sketching for Landscape Painters which I'll be teaching this fall.

As part of my classes and workshops, I always include some art history and use both contemporary and historical examples to demonstrate concepts we are learning. In the case of this new class, my goal is to give students some basic information and tools to study Nature in the field and gather reference material for studio works. So many aspiring landscape painters are simply taken outdoors to paint without any preparation, drawing skills, or basic knowledge of composition and values. In fact, this is the standard model, such as it is, for training for landscape painters today.

If we go back and look at how landscape painters learned their craft and art in the 18th and 19th centuries, we will see that a rich tradition of drawing and sketching was undertaken in the field, both in close studies of individual elements like trees, rocks and plants and general sketching of compositions. Painted studies followed these efforts. So, I try to incorporate these methods in my teaching, providing not only techniques but examples of these works.

This study started with a simple thumbnail sketch of a sky observed in my backyard.



Using toned paper was a well known technique for making sky studies in the late 18th and 19th centuries. The paper creates a value for the sky and midtones, shadows and highlights can be created with the black and white charcoal and white pastel. It is particularly well suited for cloud studies. Here's a detail of the drawing. All of the images can be clicked on for a larger view.

Finding A Balance

In the Pines
24 x 20
detail

I like to think that mystery plays a big part in my work- like a character in a novel. Not surprisingly, my painting process reflects this. The layers of glazes and scumbles obscure some the initial information in the underpainting and create areas of visual uncertainty. But I have also found that I crave some beauty in the surface itself- areas of deep dark mystery surrounded by suggestive passages of paint. Enough form to satisfy our lizard brain's powers of recognition but not enough to destroy the playground of imagination. It is a difficult balance, and I am always veering off one side of the road or the other.

I have had a wonderful response to the announcement of the Little Everglades Ranch Florida workshop next spring, with many taking advantage of the Early Bird Special for those who register this month! Also, just in time for summer, the online course The Painted Sky returns next month. Details here.

Skies

Last week, my online class The Painted Sky started. It is a very lively group and in addition to lots of sky painting we've been looking at images of studies and paintings by other artists from Constable to the present. This week I posted several Wilson Hurley paintings as examples of "big sky" paintings and I thought I'd post them here too. Hurley lived in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains just outside of Albuquerque near where I lived for over five years. I had the pleasure of meeting Hurley at a show at the Albuquerque Museum a few years before he died. He was a true gentleman and an encouraging role model. We shared both our prior profession (the law) and a passion for painting and art history, particularly the Hudson River School. The man could paint skies. Oh yeah, and these are big. Enjoy!

A Quiet Pause

Autumn Twilight
24 x 30
Sold

Its been a very quiet day. My students left late Saturday afternoon. They are an intense, energetic bunch and I so enjoyed having them here. All last week there was so much activity in the studio, around the house and on our property, that the quiet seems strange. I'm looking forward to planning another workshop here for next spring! Now, back to the studio......

Road Through the Pines

Road Through the Pines

8 1/4 x 9 1/4
Vine Charcoal on handmade Twinrocker paper
Available at Deborah Paris Fine Art

I've been working away on the paintings for my solo show next month at M Gallery in Sarasota. But, I'm still finding time to continue this series of drawings.

I've also added a new class- The Painted Sky- to my offerings of online classes this spring. Its all about learning to paint beautiful, atmospheric skies. More information about this class can be found here.

Skying

Summer Skies

4 x 12

"I have done a good deal of skying, for I am determined to conquer all difficulties, and that among the rest."

John Constable, October 1821

As regular readers of this blog know, John Constable, the great 19th century English landscape painter, is a major source of inspiration to me. I've written about him here , and even named a storage area in my studio for large canvases the Constable Closet. Constable was one of the first artists to make plein air sketching part of his regular working process. During the summer months, he would leave his studio in London and roam the Suffolk countryside. He had a particular interest in skies and today his on the spot sketches (annotated on the back with date, time and weather conditions) are among his most compelling works.

So, in homage to Constable and the season, for the next little while, I'll be painting and posting sky studies. These small works are not meant to be finished pieces, just research and development (R&D). Like Constable, I hope they will bring greater power, authenticity and feeling to the work I do in the studio.