Showing posts with label sedona plein air festival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sedona plein air festival. Show all posts

Friday, November 13, 2009

Betsey Nelson - Plein air class


Doni Suggs (artist)

This is another piece created during a plein air painting workshop.
This piece is an acrylic. Doni did several nice clean pieces. Getting her to pay attention to values and temperature was pretty easy. Sometimes a little of the right direction goes a long way.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Betsey Nelson- plein air class


Roy Gould (artist)


Connie Willey (artist)



These are paintings done by two students who participated in two of the four plein air workshops that i taught. The first painting is an acrylic the second an oil. Due to unusually cold conditions we were forced to paint inside much of the workshop. Two days out of the four were warm enough to paint outside though for the way i teach it didn't really matter. All four workshops were full and all of the artists had a wonderful willingness to just go for it and try painting, thinking, seeing everything a bit differently.
These workshops were held in conjunction with the sedona plein air arts festival. and were all one day workshops.
Thank you to all the volunteer assistents for all their help and the m. graham paint company for providing the paint.
Please join us next year and through out the year as sedona arts center is always running day, two day, or week long or once a week classes in all media and all levels from beginner to advanced.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Michael Chesley Johnson - Stormy Autumn


I am now down to the final days before heading off to Sedona for the Sedona Plein Air Festival (www.sedonapleinairfestival.com). Besides tying up loose ends, I'll be going through my painting gear to see what I absolutely must take, and what I can leave behind. What with today's air travel restrictions, the less luggage I can tote, the better. I dream of someday flying unecumbered with nothing more than the shirt on my back!

A few days ago, I took some local students out on a one-day painting adventure. Rain never seemed far off, but they braved the raw wind to paint. On the lee side of the island, I found a sheltered nook near the Upper Duck Pond where we could paint. I did the above 5x7 demo in pastel. Bad weather aside, it was a beautiful day for clouds!
- Michael Chesley Johnson

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

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.

Friday, October 24, 2008

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)

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

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.


Saturday, September 27, 2008

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