Let's Figure it Out! (PKR Workshop Review)

PKR inspired high key still life study 8x10 oil on custom panel

Happy winter weekend everyone! Back in October I was lucky to finally take a Peggi Kroll Roberts (PKR) oil painting workshop (art bucket list--check!) at Blackridge Artists School here in Denver.  Spoiler alert: It was an awesome workshop and lived up to all the glowing reviews I’ve heard about Ms.Roberts.

First, to learn more about Peggi and her art be sure to visit her attractive website where you’ll also find helpful “how to” downloads, DVDs, painting tools (like the MVP I always use), workshop list, etc.  Peggi also sells some painting studies in her Etsy shop.

Colorful light and shadow notan exercise in PKR workshop Day 1

From the start, Peggi offered captivating demos and gentle critiques. I haven’t painted a live model in a few years so her positive attitude and patience was greatly appreciated. For example, she sketched out a quick anatomy proportion “reminder” that I could use as reference while measuring the model.

Peggi's demo of one of my favorite Mary Cassat "flat shapes" exercise

My "stained glass" exercise from live model--really enjoyed this one!

Day one the class (a super nice group of hard working ladies) painted simple lighted still lifes concentrating on light and shadow notan separation. Day 2 and 3 we painted a variety of enjoyable exercises working from the live model. As much as I enjoy working from photos, I always feel like a "true artist" when I tackle the challenge of a model.

Adding more color in the lights exercise--cantaloupe study

I particularly enjoyed Peggi’s  warm ups and exercises—such as the “limited brush count” and working very high key for which she is well known.  My big “take away” was Peggi’s  paint loading—it’s was at least the thickness of her brush! This generous paint renders splendid “waves of color” brushwork as you can see in this petite still life I purchased for a “reminder” souvenir back in the studio!

Peggi Kroll Roberts still life study--check out that paint!

Day 3 Workshop-Model in red dress study

Thank you Peggi for visiting us in Denver and sharing your passion and knowledge. I look forward to seeing you again in a future workshop!

It was SAMtastic!

Botanic Garden Hollyhocks-12x12Oil on Linen Panel

Click to Bid-Thank You!

Whew have just about recovered from SAM! I want to thank everyone—friends, fellow artists, art lovers, and my students for visiting me at the Summer Art Market a week before last.  Especially Saturday when the temp was pushing 100 by mid-day.  Sunday was a perfect plein air market day though—sunny,  gentle breezes…It was like being on vacation hanging out in my comfy red director’s chair.

Early AM setup on Grant Street--a beautiful summer morning.

So again, my thanks to my many students and their families who took time out of their buy summer weekend to support me and the Market.  It’s always nice to see familiar faces when your “on display” for a few days. (Best of all, this year, I did not slice a big piece my big off during set up--see last year’s show post if you want the gory details.)

I’ve participated in the SAM for over 11 years and am honored  to be a part of such an amazing group of artists all in one place.  It’s a lot of time and effort to get ready for any art festival or show but being part of this community makes it all worth it.

A special thanks to all my collectors at this show where there is so much gorgeous high quality artwork to choose from.  I sold several  my favorite paintings I’ve posted this year which is always exciting to some new collectors--which was fantastic. But I particularly want to acknowledge several repeat collectors and art lovers who visit me each year at this show. 

One buyer said she remembered buying from me over 10 years ago and still enjoys that landscape. 
Another buyer (who is a talented designer with Armigo Design Group here in Denver) told me that an alphabet abstract painting she bought a few years back can be seen in this Better Homes and Garden Decorating magazine article.

Now, ironically, if you read my post a a while back about the importance of a signing your work AND with clear signature somewhere on your painting (for example printed on the back if you have an artistic signature) you'll see that I'm not credited in the article. For which Beth kindly apologized (she'd purchased the piece several years before the article) and I know she did her best to find me. So note to self.  But I'm thrilled to see my work in place none the less so thanks so much Beth for this nice surprise.

Colorado Realism Master Daniel Sprick blocking in his still life.

June’s been a busy and exciting art month so better get back to my easel. In my next post I’ll share my experience at the Daniel Sprick demo I saw the first weekend in June at Meiningers art store. Simply amazing. I've wanted to see Sprick (one of the best realist painters in the country) paint in person for as long as I can remember so waiting in line for over an hour for front row "rock star" demo seats was worth it.

Millefiore: Contemporary Floral Abstract

"Millefiore" Acrylic on canvas 18x 24

Today's Painting: 1000 Flowers
For this poured acrylic painting (which is basically a two part process) I used successive poured layers of Hansa Yellow, then Quin Magenta, and finally Thalo Blue (green shade). To keep the paint as fluid as possible (and easy to move around the canvas),  I mix diluted fluid acrylics into old plastic cups. I then tilt the canvas with each pour.  Note the Thalo will make a fairly dark line as you can see.

The acrylic pours stain the canvas leaving organic patterns of shape, color, and line. I then take some time to look at the canvas from a variety of angles before shapes start to emerge. Here, I kept seeing floral shapes and a vase so that's what I decided to work with. 

The final stage is to paint directly "alla prima" into and around the shapes suggested by the poured paint. Here I used the Golden Open Acrylics working with my "double primary" palette: 2 yellows, 2 reds, 2 blues and titanium white. As I  painted I kept thinking about the Italian glasswork Millefiore (e.g., 1000 flowers) and decided that I wanted to mimic that look within the flower shapes. At the end I felt the painting needed 3 key fixes:

1. Another small dark shape for balance (I choose a small bird silhouette)
2. Interesting texture. I'm not exactly sure what to call these but if you paint with acrylic you may see those skins that form around the top of your flip top tubes. Since this paint skins are flat donut shape, I thought they'd be perfect for the flower centers. And a great way to recycle dried paint!
3. Some "quiet areas" of color fields since pours can get very busy. Note these color fields don't have to be pale color, just less detailed. 

Thanks for stopping by--as always have a colorful week!

Primarily Birding

"Primary Sparrow" 6x6 oil on panel

Happy Weekend all! Yesterday Carol posted a wonderful color painting challenge on DPW. I decided I would try a bird study with the three primaries and white. So for this sparrow painting, I used Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Cad. Yellow Light and Permalba for my white. (This little guy was outside my kitchen window earlier this week in my thorny pyracanthus.) FYI, here's my limited primary palette which I set out roughly as a color wheel which was very helpful for mixing, as is the gray palette paper.

Oil Palette with 3 Primaries + White

I always enjoy bird watching in my own backyard, but early this morning I joined a small group of fellow bird watchers in Washington Park in Central Denver near my home in hopes of spotting something a bit more exotic. Am happy to report with the help of Candice from the Wild Bird Center of Denver, I saw my first downy woodpecker pair, a golden rumped warbler (awesome name), and what I believe is an American Wigeon (seen below). Not that I don't like mallards and Canadian geese, but was very excited to see a different water fowl by the boathouse. 

My first wigeon!

Quick reminder that you can still bid on hundreds of gorgeous paintings DPW Help Japan Auction. Many paintings (including my own "Colorful Kimono" watercolor) have very reasonable starting bids with all the proceeds going to help organizations like the Red Cross. Many, many thanks to my current high bidder for your support!