The Acadia workshop

Here are some pictures taken the first day of my Acadia workshop. The first day was sunny, the second two were gray and we got a little drizzle but not enough to keep us from painting outside.

Here is James showing a confident stance at his big Gloucester easel.

Here is Lori. Unfortunately, later in the day she took a fall on the rocks and had to go to the hospital in an ambulance. She was back in class the next morning with a black eye and a tenacious attitude.

Here is Nancy with a little surf behind her.

I spewed information at them, which is my usual thing, lets see if I can remember some of the things I told them.

• Don't paint your darks so inky, save that darkest value for accents within your shadows.
• Learn to work with the biggest brush possible, that will improve your handling.
• Ask yourself "why am I painting this place and not another? What is it that makes this view special?"
• Many of the colors in nature are inominate, that is they have no names. You can't say they are blue or yellow or red, they contain all three.
• Look for optical violets in your shadows. Alizarin and ultramarine are good for mixing those.
• Learn to pull your stroke in every direction, use your brushstrokes to build form.
• Work with more values! Don't paint only in middle tones.
• Mix up piles of paint as thick as a dime. You can't make an oil painting out of thinner.
• When you reach the finishing stages use no medium when you can. That gives the best handling.
• Start out with a shovel, finish with a needle.