Sebastopol Studio Tour

I just got back from 10 days in San Francisco.  Most of the time was visiting our daughter, but I spent one weekend in Sonoma County with my college roommate.  While there we went to the ARTrails Open Studios.  One of my favorite studios was that of sculptor Patrick Amiot in Sebastopol.  His entire yard, and several blocks in fact, has his junk art sculptures on display.  There were at least 30 in different yards up and down the street.  Since San Francisco is in the World Series, I thought it appropriate to share some of his baseball sculptures.  

Circle Squared

Circle Squared
6" x 8" oil on panel
$100.00 + $10. s/h

This is another from my study of Edgar Payne's compositions:  circle.  In this one I'm using the tree trunks and the lines of the ground to create the circle.  I'm bringing you into the composition near the lower left, having your eye come across the diagonal of the ground to the bottom of the aspen trunks on the bottom right, up the trunks, across the top of the mountain range and down the trunks in a kind of geometric circle.

Cross Shadows

Cross Shadows
6" x 8" oil on panel
$100.00 + $10. s/h

These aspen shadows are also influenced by Edgar Payne's structures of composition: cross or cruciform. 

L Shadows

L Shadows
6" x 8" oil on panel
$100.00 + $10. s/h

This is another aspen piece influenced by Edgar Payne's structures of composition: L (or in this case, reverse L with a little bit of elongation.)

Radial Lines

Radial Shadows
6" x 8" oil on panel
$100.00 + $10. s/h

SOLD

I've decided to take what we learned in Jill Carver's workshop one step further.  I'm continuing to paint aspen using Edgar Payne's design and subject matter groupings.  These aspen tree trunks are done using his "radial lines" composition.

Jill Carver Workshop Day 5

Near Lizard Head Pass
Oil  6" x 8"
$100.00 + $10. s/h

This is Jill Carver demoing.   The last day of Jill's workshop was spent in a big, open field surrounded by incredible peaks, great colors, and sheep.  Some of her main points from this day were:

-- When going from a small plein air piece to a large studio painting refer to your small study and a black and white photo for correct values.
--Keep the greatest contrast of color and value near the focal point.
--Keep the hardest edges near to the focal point and soften edges far away from it.
--There are warm and cool tones within both light and shadow.
--Don't over exaggerate the strong fall colors.
--When starting your piece make it a sunny or a cloudy painting, then stick w/ that.  Don't change the light as the clouds and light change (as it did all day for us).

It was a great workshop.  Jill is not only a good artist and teacher, but a down to earth person, w/ a great sense of humor who is fun to be with for a week.  We were very limited to our dinner and lodge choice in the small town of Rico.  So, we also all spent every evening eating together and all stayed at the same lodge.  But, this allowed for more camaraderie, sharing, getting to know Jill, the other students, and the spouses who came along.  I learned a lot, made new friends and spent a week in the Colorado out doors.

An absolutely beautiful location for a fall plein air workshop.

Jill Carver Workshop Day 4

Side Streets of Rico
6" x 8" oil
$100.00 + $10. s/h

The 4th day of Jill Carver's workshop was spent painting old buildings on the back streets of Rico.  Rico, Colorado has a population of 250, so there aren't really many side and back streets!  Like many old western towns, Rico had a much larger population in the mining days.  Many of the buildings are old mining structures, or from that era.
Then shed on the right has seen better days and parts of it are falling over.  The challenge here was do I fix it a little or not?!  I am aware that the windows are tilted, but, they were that way!

Some of Jill's points from this day:
--Use your sketchbook to try out different compositional ideas.
--From your thumbnail sketch draw your concept on the canvas, work only from your thumbnail at this point, you have already processed what is necessary information and what isn't.
--Stick to simple shapes and simple masses.  Make sure that you convey your original concept.
--Try to shoot for 3 or 4 main masses, no more than 5.
--Keep the masses strong, use large brushes to block in the main shapes.

Jill Carver Workshop Day 3

Aspen Mass
6" x 8" oil on board
$100.00 + $10.00 s/h

The third day of Jill Carver's workshop was spent studying composition and design.  We reviewed points made by both Carlson and Payne.   We spent a good part of the day in an aspen grove.  Each student was given a card with one of Edgar Payne's outdoor painting composition guides.  This was a great way to approach the days piece.  It was much easier to walk around and look for a "grouped mass" (which is what the above piece is) than to just walk around trying to find a great painting.

Here's Jill doing a demo in the aspen grove.  

Some of her points from this day were:

--be aware of why you want to paint something; what drew you to that scene or object.

--before you start painting, walk around a little more to see what else is there.

--don't paint a post card.  Emphasize a point, go close-up