Michael Chesley Johnson - Tubac Orchard

What captured my eye in this scene was the sense of calm. The picture is full of horizontals - the plane of the ground, the roof of the adobe house, the line of trees. Even the large shape of the mountain in the background can be "averaged out" to be a flat band of color. However, its long, wave-like curve adds a sense of movement to the design to keep it from being too static.
I like the fall grasses in the foreground. Here, I laid the pastel on thickly, so much so that the tooth filled completely. The final stick of pastel slid around like a pat of butter in a hot skillet.

"Tubac Orchard"9x12, pastel, en plein air

Michael Chesley Johnson

www.MichaelChesleyJohnson.com

Vince Fazio - "At the Edge"

"At the Edge" 24x30 oil on canvas $900

This work is on display at the "Sons of Sedona" exhibition at the Sedona Arts Center. I worked on this in the studio, enjoying as a painter the architectonic treatment of space that the Grand Canyon can inspire.

Please Email me for purchase information.

Michael Chesley Johnson - Rainy Day Still Life

Lately, if we have a rainy day for a workshop, I've been encouraging students to work from a still life rather than a photo.  One of my goals in teaching is to help students learn to observe better.  A photo has a very limited amount of information in it; the real thing has all the information you'll ever need, and provides lots of mining opportunities.

Although there are no rules for setting up a still life, there are certain guidelines that will help you make a more successful design.  These include:

• When you choose objects, find something tall, something short, something dull in color, and something bright in color.  Contrasts (value, size, color, shape) keep the arrangement interesting.
  
• But too much contrast can be chaotic.  Have a common theme that can relate the objects, such as "fruits of the garden" or color.
  
• A tablecloth has more interest than a bare table, but pay attention to the folds.  Folds should be arranged to complement the "rhythm" in the arrangement, not conflict with it.
  
• Make sure there's nothing distracting in the background.  Place the table against a simple wall, if possible, or hang a sheet behind it.
  
• Finally, try to set up the still life so everyone has an interesting view.  Easier said than done, especially with a dozen artists!
  

Rainy Day Still Life

5x7, pastel

Michael Chesley Johnson - www.MichaelChesleyJohnson.com

Vince Fazio "A Sedona Morning"

"A Sedona Morning" 6 x 9.25 oil on board $85

This was a quick plein air painting at one of those spots you see as you are driving around and then have to find the closest place you can paint from that is not in the middle of the road. Sedona is one of those places that really wants to be portrayed a bit panoramic.
Please Email me for purchase information.

Robert Burridge - Clown Series/Juggler

This original acrylic painting on paper is a continuation of my Clown series, hopefully to show the soul of the people who are clowns. This is the Juggler on a unicycle. The color is based on my color wheel system. The dominant color is red (and shades of red), the focal point color is a blue-green (Compose Blue #1 - Holbein Acryla). From my color wheel I also use "spice colors" - these are my accent colors to visually support the focal point color. In this painting, my Spice Colors are Cad Green Light and Katsura Blue (dark purple-blue - also Holbein Acryla). 

I selected this color combination in the morning before I started my warm-ups. 

Original acrylic painting on paper, 9x12 inches - $275 + $20 shipping/handling.

Carol Marine - "One Hot Mama"

Carol Marine - 6x6in. - oil on panel - "Wide Open" - bid

After 3 days recently of not painting (because life does happen), I came back into my studio only to find that ... I had forgotten how to paint! This has happened many times, and somehow, after a bit, I always remember again. This time it was easier, and I'll tell you why. After the first bad one, I wiped it off. After the second one, ditto. The third one was easier. By the fourth I was back in the swing of painting and loving it (this given I had a whole day to paint). The idea here is not to struggle over paintings that aren't working, but to move on, and keep moving on, until things click again. I recommend it.

Michael Chesley Johnson - Pink Adobe Dawn

"Pink Adobe Dawn"
9x12, pastel, en plein air

I taught a workshop in Tubac, AZ, a few years ago. One morning we had gorgeous, early-morning light. In this scene, it was just catching the top of the palm tree and the inside of the window and arch in the adobe wall. I wanted to play down the color to give a sense of "first light."

You'll note that the palm counterbalances all the things going on over by the adobe arch. If you block out the tree with your hand -- one of my favorite ways of seeing if an element is really necessary for the composition -- the design suffers. The tree is needed. What's more, the tree also puts some interest up in the sky, which occupies more than 50% of the painting. Without the tree, the image would need to be cropped in some way to make a satisfactory composition.

Michael Chesley Johnson PSA MPAC - www.MichaelChesleyJohnson.com

Vince Fazio "Persephone Rising"

"Persephone Rising" 36 x 24 oil on canvas $750

This vertical diptych developed as a way of joining two unlikely scenarios, but then finding a gestalt experience through the integration. It was then included in an exhibition on Greek Myths as "Persephone Rising". I was thinking of it as "A Fathers Anxiety as a Daughter turns 16" (she, the daughter was originally depicted on a tight rope). It was the shows curator that identified the Persephone theme. Persephone rises in the spring from Hades where she is held captive all winter. This initiates the cycle of the seasons. She has to return to Hades each year as part of complex bargain struck between quarreling gods.

Please Email me for purchase information.

Robert Burridge - Painting with Black and White

There are some days in my studio where I want to give myself just another challenge, so I paint in only black and white. Using just black and white lets me work with pure shape, shadows, nuances, and composition.
Coincidentally it also helps me when I do color because I am more aware of values next to values, i.e. darkest dark next to the lightest light.
I did an entire black & white series based on the Letter C - this is Letter C series 2.
Original 12x12 acrylic painting on canvas - $625 + $50 shipping/handling.

Carol Marine - "Wide Open"

Carol Marine - 6x6in. - oil on panel - "Wide Open" - bid

I've been working on a series of these flowers. I asked on my blog if anyone could identify them (I didn't know). This is the great thing about having a blog for posting your art! I got lots of suggestions and finally the right one - it is a Clarkia (or Godetia), discovered by Lewis of Lewis and Clark. The art blogging world is such a supportive place - I recommend it to everyone. It also tends to keep us devoted to the practice of art as we now have people counting on us to post, even if it's just family and friends. And if you have the goal of completing one painting each day it adds an element of structure to our often otherwise unstructured lives (us artists can be a bit freewheeling, yes?)! If you want to start a blog just go to www.blogger.com and get started. Good luck!

Michael Chesley Johnson - Dawn Glimmer

Sometimes dull photos are the best to work from. They force you to get imaginative with color and stroke. For this one, I kept all the features blocky and somewhat abstract. I was most interested in the play of the distant glimmer of light on water, the sense of warmth in the hills and the overall softness of the atmosphere.

If you're shackled by detail, doing this kind of abstract piece can free you. Keep the format small, the pastel sticks large and give yourself no more than an hour to play. It's also a great way to experiment with color without fear.

"Dawn Glimmer"
9x12, pastel
Michael Chesley Johnson - www.MichaelChesleyJohnson.com

Aspen - Adele Earnshaw

I love painting aspen because of the wonderful colors I see in the trunks. In the shade, they are often warm; purples and pinks - sometimes almost orange in reflected light. This 7" x 7" oil is done on gessoed board.

Robert Burridge - Experimenting with Combined Media

This is an original 12 x 12 combined media on paper, mounted on canvas. 

I set out one morning to experiment and play as my warm up exercise. I started out just goofing around on 300 lb watercolor paper with gesso - building up thick layers, then scratching, scraping and imprinting shapes and patterns in the gesso before it dried. Then I painted with acrylics - building up layers of patina and also rubbing out areas, scratching thru the layers to reveal color "surprises." All the while, imbedding collage graphics and drawing back in with Derwent watersoluable pencils (my favorite is Black, 8B) while the painting was still wet. 

After I was satified with the result, I affixed the paper to a 12 x 12 canvas. The paper is slightly smaller so there is a 1/4" border all the way around the paper. 

Before I adhered the paper to the canvas, I painted the outside edges of the canvas purple - also painted the 1/4" border. The glue I used to adhere paper to canvas was Gel Medium. After letting dry (when weight on top) for a day or two, I varnished the entire piece. 

"Matinee" is very textured, combined media paper on canvas - no glass necessary.

$450.00 + $55 shipping.

Carol Marine - "Pig at Breakfast"

Carol Marine - 6x6in. - oil on panel - "Pig at Breakfast" - bid

I've been trying to slow down a bit and consider each and every stroke a little longer. It's too easy to feel the pressure and turn into a painting machine, epsecially with the economy the way it is. I paint so much better when I can relax, and I end up enjoying myself so much more.

Michael Chesley Johnson - Calvin's Boat

As much as I like to work outdoors, rainy weather sometimes forces me in to work from photos. This is one example. The photo has less color but just as much dark as shown in the painting. Although experience tells me that, in real life, the shadows would not be so dark, I kept them that way. I wanted to "punch up" the difference between the rim light on the boats and the background behind them. The effect of strong morning sun is a key element.

Also, in the photo, there was a good deal going on behind the boats. I may have taken the photo at the height of lobster season, when the docks are full of fishermen hauling out their catch. I wanted to simplify all that. So, although you get a sense of visual activity because of the broken, uneven strokes, you aren't distracted by it.

"Calvin's Boat"
9x12, pastel
Michael Chesley Johnson - www.MichaelChesleyJohnson.com

Adele Earnshaw - "Day is Done"

I love painting little landscapes that have mood and a feeling of time of day. This 7" x 7" oil is done on Ampersand gessobord.

Carol Marine - "Gabbing Cherries"

Carol Marine - 6x6in. - oil on panel - "Gabbing Cherries" - bid

I have 3 lights in my studio that I currently alternate between for lighting my subjects. One is an authentically "white" light that I got from a specialty light bulb store. It is especially good for flowers. I also have a general "daylight" bulb (more yellow than the first) that you can get anywhere. I also have a "daylight" spotlight bulb. Yesterday I used the first bulb. It is a soft light, and not very directional. Today I used the spotlight. It tends to light up fruit like this that is in any way translucent. It makes the shadows crisp, and generally makes a more dramatic scene than either of the other two. I really enjoy experimenting with all 3.

Michael Chesley Johnson - Stone Cottage, Minister's Island

Last summer, when I was teaching a pastel workshop in St Andrews, NB, a student challenged me to use only soft pastels in a demonstration. I usually start off with hard pastels and then wash in the pigment with Turpenoid before moving on to the softer sticks. Could I skip the hard pastels?

We were painting on Minister's Island. Back in the late 1700s, this scant bit of land was home to the first Anglican minister of St Andrews. The island was -- and still is -- accessible by foot or wheeled vehicle only at low tide, when the receding water reveals a gravel bar that connects it to the mainland. (At high tide, you can take a boat.) My subject for the demonstration was the stone cottage the minister lived in.

I used the 80-half-stick "landscape" selection from Sennelier. You can't get much softer than these pastels! They require a very light touch, especially when using the aggressively-toothed Wallis Sanded Paper. This painting has a thick, rich build-up of pastel.



"Stone Cottage, Minister's Island"
9x12, pastel, en plein air

Betsey Nelson - Full Sun

Betsey Nelson - Full Sun AZ Strip 8x10 $450
This was painted after another long plein air day and painted quickly. I mainly wanted cature distance in a pretty monochromatic landscape.

Summer Haze, Moran Point

Vince Fazio - Oil on canvas 24x30 $650

This was from some earlier studies and photographs this summer. I really enjoyed the larger format for the landscape and I enjoy the intense shifts in palette and tone created by the dramatic atmosperic perspective at the Grand Canyon.

Please Email me for purchase information.

Carol Marine - "Three High"

Carol Marine - 6x6in. - oil on panel - "Three High" - bid

I've been working on these sunflowers for a few days and am really enjoying it. Any kind of flowers are tough, but they all seem to have their own unique challenges. I tend to work on them in series so I can get the hang of them for a while before I move on to the next thing. They are also serving as studies for larger peices - they help me work out the colors and composition before I commit to a large canvas.

Michael Chesley Johnson - Yellow House in November

Believe it or not, this weekend the weather service issued a tropical storm warning for Downeast Maine and the Canadian Maritimes - in mid-November! The temperature climbed to 60 degrees, nearly two inches of rain fell and the winds whipped up to over 50 miles an hour. Needless to say, I retreated to the studio. I decided to do a pastel "de la fenêtre" - out the window.

I was intrigued by the color scheme that an imminent tropical storm can bring to our Canadian landscape. You'll note lots of violets and blues but also in the foreground some very rich greens. And with all that rain in the air, I had a hard time seeing detail. I found that using light, scribbly strokes was a good way to describe the softness of the scene.

"The Yellow House in November"
9x12, pastel

I used Unison pastels on an Rtistx board for this one.

Adele Earnshaw - 'Morning'

As I just returned from a show on Maryland's Eastern Shore, I thought it appropriate to post this little oil titled, 'Morning'. The setting is the Blackwater Refuge - a magical place in November when thousands of waterfowl, including Canada and snow geese, arrive for the winter. I love painting there - the colors and edges are soft and muted...unlike the brighter, clearer colors and harder edges that I see in Sedona.

"Morning" is 6" x 6", framed. $295

Iris II

This is ahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif painting I did for a public demo. The iris was given to me by one of my students, and I have been doing a series of paintings from photos I took of it. This is a watercolor; I poured paint and then erased it, which gives this very soft and mystical effect, which I love..

Betsey Nelson - A Window To The Rocks

Betsey Nelson - A Window To The Rocks 8x10 oil on canvas panel $460
This was done on a trip to Sedona. A place I knew I could sneak a view but at a time where the light would be changing rapidly. I wasn't sure I could pull off the effects that I wanted but I did have a goal in mind. Sometimes paintingis just for pure pleasure and sometimes (maybe too often!)there is a goal and then there is a good chance I may fail. To paint what I know I can paint doesn't require the same intensity and therefore the painting often lacks that something special.

Robert Burridge - Landscape Painting Collage

This painting started as a daily warmup exercise - my goal was to create a series of "elusive landscapes" based on the surrounding coastline of bays and wetlands in California, close to my home. I chose a horizontal composition and limited palette. 

To make a more "geographic and topographic" statement, I embedded collage materials in the gesso and paint to give a rippling effect - like viewing the landscape from near space, with the earth's curvature and mountain ranges clearly visible.

Original acrylic painting and collage on paper, 10x10 - $275 + $20 (shipping & handling)

Michael Chesley Johnson - More Drizzle

I really can't complain about living in the "grey zone" here in the Canadian Maritimes.  This extended period of fog, drizzle and rain does me a favour.  The grey overcast saturates the colours, pouring rich color throughout the landscape.

I went out the other afternoon - again, between bouts of rain - and got caught.  Not as much drizzle as the day before, but enough that I could see it building up on the paint surface.  I tipped my easel forward to keep any more rain off the panel so I wouldn't  have to fight with the water.

"More Drizzle, November"

5x7, oil, en plein air

$60+$5 shipping

Betsey Nelson - Boat Study Plein Air

Betsey Nelson - Boat Study Plein Air 8x10 oil on panel $460
This study along with a photograph gives me enough information to do a studio painting. The studio painting would be a different size and having all this information would allow me to play with the painting and create another painting. I find I am unable to just create a larger version of the original I keep asking myself what's the point? But to take the information and create a new painting would challenge and interest me.

Robert Burridge - Floral Still Life

Staring at a Rembrandt painting awhile ago, I wondered what made his portraits so striking. Besides the obvious masterhand of rendering a likeness of the person, using limited palette of black, white and earthtones, it finally dawned on me. His dramatic use of strong graphic design and strong lighting.
So I made a sketch painting, emulating his theory and technique, using only neutral-toned acrylic paint: The background started black at the top and gradated down towards the bottom.
The flower vase was painted in the opposite direction. The bottom of the vase started out as the blackest black and gradated lighter as I moved up to the lightest part of the flowers.
I began an entire series like this … I experimented with different human forms, floral still lifes and even free abstract paintings. I practiced this simple concept over and over again with black and white warmups - then I switched over to a color palette, using this same technique. I’m hooked!
Original painting - acrylic on watercolor paper - $425 +
$35 Shipping/handling

Michael Chesley Johnson - Looking Up

Lately, I've been enjoying painting simple pieces. I've been looking more for an abstract angle and composition. One evening, the sight of these spruces against the rich, blue sky caught my eye. I was fascinated by not just the compositional possibilities but also the color. You don't get moments like this very often!



"Looking Up" 5x7, pastel, en plein air
$60+$5 shipping

Boynton Canyon

Vince Fazio 18x24 oil on canvas $375.00

I did a few plein air studies of this quite awhile ago...a favorite spot to paint in early evening...this is a studio painting.

Betsey Nelson - Horse study

Betsey Nelson - Horse Study oil 9x12 NFS

As a participant in the recent Sedona Plein Air festival i had an opportunity to teach two workshops and talk with some established artist as well as beginning artists and all levels in between. I think the most common misconception that I discovered is that the less experienced artists all thought that reworking or continuing work on either a workshop piece or one of their past pieces was a good idea. All the experienced artists agree that this is a BAD idea a much better idea (with some exceptions of course) is to do another painting. Not all attempts are going to work and usually it is a much better idea to try again either with the same landscape or still life etc. or even an entirely new subject. The idea is the more you paint the more you learn and those ones that work should start to become more frequent. Everyone no matter what their skill level will create bad paintings once in awhile, and more often if they are commited to growing as a painter.

This study was just a search for information on how to paint a horse from life what to look for in the horse and the normal painting relationships i think all good paintings should have. When i had gotten that information i stopped. The study stands on its own as a study and for use when i need to do a painting.

Robert Burridge - Wine Still Life

This painting is a 6x9 acrylic on paper study, showing a strong, overall light source. I'm constantly painting glass wine bottles - and constantly exploring the play of liquid dancing in glass while also showing reflection, the changing light and shadows. 

I paint many of these studies because I live in the middle of fifty-two wineries!

Original painting on paper - $150 plus $20 shipping/handling

Michael Chesley Johnson - Golden Majesty

I'm in Sedona now for the annual Sedona Plein Air Festival. It's been a great but busy week, painting in preparation for the final Gala, which is tonight.

Yesterday, I headed off soon after dawn for Red Rock Crossing. I had one painting left to do, and I decided I wanted something with water and a tree. I'd painted my share of red rocks this week, and it was time to move on to a different subject. I found a quiet spot, and my only companions were a pair of fly fishermen who arrived at about the same time I did. I was tempted to include them, but I knew they'd make my 9x12 too busy. (Sorry, guys!)

Here's the painting. I've made it my number one choice for the show:



"Golden Majesty" 9x12, oil/panel
For sale at the Patron's Gala Friday evening (6-9 pm, L'Auberge de Sedona)

Carol Marine - "Cooped Up"

Carol Marine - "Cooped Up" - 6x6in. - bid

I got these cool peppers in the last batch from the organic farm we get veggies from. They have oodles of personality. I love them. On another note, my husband has been in Houston the past couple of days which leaves me a bit cooped up in the house, with a 3 yr old. I love him to death but he's driving me batty! So that's him inside the cup, in time out, and that's me, outside the cup, trying my hardest to be patient. : )

Sunday Life Drawing III

Vince Fazio 18x24 charcoal on paper $55

Another view of the same pose. Tricky perspective and forshortening. Fun to figure out. Looking forward to my upcoming workshop at the Arts Center. "Drawing Without Fear" We have 6 enrolled so it will be a nice class but there is still plenty of room for more.

Betsey Nelson - Arizona Strip

Betsey Nelson Arizona Strip 6x8 $350
This is the second small piece from an extended painting trip. Several pieces were done at this spot. It was a good exercise to see the changes as the sun was setting so that the changes could be noted and then pushed so the pieces could reflect the differences.

Michael Chesley Johnson - Bernard Pier

I recently taught a workshop in Acadia National Park in Maine. One day, we went out to Bernard, a quaint fishing village on Mount Desert Island. The light was overall cool, which made for some very warm shadows. You don't often see this in nature on a sunny day. I "pushed" the warmth in the shadows a bit to include some lovely oranges and reds.



"Bernard Pier"
9x12, pastel
$100+$5 shipping

Carol Marine - "Big Red"

Carol Marine - "Big Red" - 6x8in. - bid

I've been doing a series of these beautiful, red flowers. I particularly like the red/turquoise color scheme and find myself using it for most of them. Red and turquoise are compliments according to the Munsell Wheel, which I first learned about in the Harley Brown book, "Eternal Truths for Every Artist" (no longer in print). It's a very interesting wheel.

Sunday Life Drawing

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Vince Fazio 18x24 charcoal on paper $55

A twenty-minute life drawing session. This is done at an open studio drawing opportunity we have on Sundays at the arts center. It is such a popular session that we had to create a waitlist on which I am an alternate...so every once in a while I get a call inviting me to come in...Charcoal is one of my favorite mediums, it is so flexible. In my workshop "Drawing Witout Fear" we spend at least an entire day working on gray paper with charcoal and white pastel for a few highlights. Coming up November, sign up now...see my blog for more drawing samples...

Betsey Nelson - Losing Light

Betsey Nelson 6x8 oil on canvas board $350

This was done on a painting trip with several other artists. To minamize the decision factor for picking the painting spots we decided that if one of us was interested in a view we would all paint at least a 6x8. The trip became a visual diary and we probably learned more doing lots of small quick paintings rather than only a few larger pieces and we probably took more chances knowing that it was 'just" a small painting.

Robert Burridge - Tree Study #2

My favorite time of year is autumn, when the leaves turn blazing colors. With this quick tree study, my goal was to showcase a line of glowing trees. My challenge was to use the color in an effective way - and have only one tree be the "star." 

This painting started off as a "mess" and I did negative shape painting to create the treeline first,  then I pushed back the background trees with darker color, then added the brightest colors to the center front tree to create the depth. 

Original acrylic painting on paper, 10x10 $275 + 25 shipping/handling

Carol Marine - "Line for the Show"

Carol Marine - "Line for the Show" - 6"x8" - oil - bid

I got these peppers from a farm share deal we participate in here (Austin). The taste is a bit zingy but they are great to paint! I really loved the colors, especially the bits of blue in the shadows. I get that effect from shining a spot light on my setup that has a yellow cast to it (even though it's a "daylight" bulb), and then having a bit of "white" light bouncing around, lightening up the shadows a bit and turning them blue.

La Terraza

Vince Fazio 12x16 oil on canvas panel $350

This was a lovely morning on one of the terraces at the Villa in Italy where we do our plein air workshops. Next year in Sept 2009 we are offering two different weeks in Italy with Robert Burridge!

Betsey Nelson-Sedona Fall Light

Betsey Nelson edona Fall Light 8x10 oil $460

With plein air festivals in full swing i thought a plein air piece was a good idea.

Even though Sedona's plein air festival held Ocvt.19th-26th will probably not have this silver light of late fall the light can change quickly so the best defense is thoughtful approach and though a quick painting, not a hurried one. Working too fast just multiplies your mistakes but, still we seem to need to learn that again and again.

Robert Burridge - Pear Still Life

I love painting pears - I have been painting them for years. And I always seem to do a Pear Demo and assignment on the first day of my "Loosen Up" Workshops. I start off with the pure shape of a circle with a triangle on top - kind of like a jack-in-the-box. I create the voluptuous, figurative shape by putting lights against darks. In the case of this still life, the background on the left side is the darkest and the light source is hitting the pear at its fullest against the dark background. The right side of the pear - because it is more in the shadow, is darker than the background on the right side. So it doesn't look like it's floating, I always place the pear on a table and I always place a shadow to anchor it. I try not to place the pear in the center of the painting; it's more interesting to have my subject slightly offset. The final stroke of color is the "WOW!" I like creating small surprises - in this painting the surprise color is a kiss of hot pink Opera by Holbein. What gives it a wow is the extended color, glowing on the pear as well as the table. Pulls it all together. 

Original acrylic painting on paper, quarter sheet (11" x 14") - $450 + $20 shipping/handling.

www.RobertBurridge.com

 

Michael Chesley Johnson - Autumn Splendor

In my mind, there's nothing finer than painting in the autumn. I love to be out on a warm afternoon when the grasshoppers are singing their last songs and the sun sets a golden fire in the fields. This week, I went to one of my favorite wet areas, a marsh near Eagle Hill Bog, to paint the marsh grasses. The trick was to make the grasses incandescent. I kept the shadowed parts of the grasses red and warm, warmer than the sunlit tops, and then made sure the highlights on the tops were the brightest extreme in the painting.

"Autumn Splendor" 8x10, oil, en plein air

$150+$5 shipping

www.MichaelChesleyJohnson.com

Carol Marine - "Getting On?"

Carol Marine - "Getting On?" - 6x6in. - bid

I am in Santa Fe at the moment teaching a workshop. Today is the last day and so far we have had a blast! I've got a great group - very enthousiastic. Check out my blog for photos.

Italia!

Vince Fazio 6x8 oil on canvas panel $100

This is the first painting I did at the Villa where we hosted the workshop with Randall Sexton and Marcia Burtt. We had a great group of painters who worked rain and shine. Though the first day was kind of gray and overcast it can bring out the local colors in a strong way. This painting was done by starting with oversaturated color and adding white into it as needed with a larger rather than smaller brush. More from italy in the next few posts!

Betsey Nelson- Head Study II

Betsey Nelson 12x10 $360

This is a second head study done of the same man in Head Study I (see earlier blog posting). Again same principles apply just a more "finished" study. But does it say anymore than the other?