Daniela Astone and I have decided on locations and dates for the 2012 Plein Air Courses. The first one is already half full so if you would like a spot let me know asap.
More information over on my Course tab.
I’m off for New York for my solo show at the Grenning Gallery which opens on August 6th. You can download a copy of the catalog here.
I also have recent paintings at Carteret Contemporary Art and Vision Gallery in North Carolina.
While in the US, I’ll be teaching a four day plain air workshop at the Hamptons Studio of Fine Art in Sag Harbor, NY from July 25th to the 29th.
In August I have a couple of portrait commissions in Italy and France.
Then in September Daniela Astone and I will be doing two plein air workshops in Tuscany. The second one in Baratti still has spaces available. More information on my courses page.
Here are a few photos from our ten day plein air course at the beautiful Tenuta Marsiliana in southwestern Tuscany. We’re trying to find the most picturesque spots in central Italy for these workshops.
Dawn painting at the Marsiliana.
On the road up to the castle.
A little ruined church we found nearby.
Plein air on Monte Argentario
Final critiques at the castle.
Overall the trip was a great success. We had a couple of bad days with the weather, but there was a quick portrait workshop to substitute.
Next year Daniela and I will start the workshops again in May to catch wheatfield season. Hopefully somewhere south of Siena. I’ll post the dates and details as soon as I find a suitable location.
I’ll be doing a one-day plein air workshop in Sag Harbor for anyone in the neighborhood. The date is Wednesday the 25th of August from 10am to 5pm. For sign-ups or more information, you can use the Hamptons Studio of Fine Art website or call 631-603-5514.
My painting of the Marsiliana from eleven years ago. 100 x 70 cm
After the success of our Trevi plein air workshop, Daniela Astone and I have decided to do a second course in Maremma (near the coast in southwestern Tuscany). As with Trevi the area is one of the more picturesque in Italy and one of my favorite places to paint. We will stay in the Marsiliana, a stunning castle/hamlet perched on a hill and near enough to the coast for day trips to the beach. It’s an area where I have already scouted extensively over the years, and I had a painting breakthrough of my own there 11 years ago so the place has a sentimental value to me.
Update: The course is now full, but Daniela and I will do more next year.
This is a video from a series I’ve been doing trying to demonstrate single ideas on painting using short films. I thought it was useful to post it now seeing as the landscape season is in full swing and all.
(Cool fact: the video was edited on a Dell mini 10v while sitting in a meadow).
Today is the last day of the ten day plein air course around Trevi, Umbria. One of my favorite landscape painting spots in the whole world. We had great weather after the first couple of days and I was helped immensely by the multi-talented Daniela Astone who assisted me in teaching.
White roads and hay bales.
Poppy fields below Trevi.
This is the first time I’ve done an extended intensive workshop and it was interesting to see how much the students improve after ten days of straight painting. We were also lucky that two professional painters, Charlie Church and Takuma Kaneko joined us. So often the best teaching is a good example.
Takuma finishing off the day from the parking lot of the hotel.
Charlie helping Denise with her painting.
Ben Fenske also did an excellent demonstration one afternoon on aerial (atmospheric) perspective and planes.
Ben giving a demonstration below Trevi.
We stayed at a charming little agriturismo, Le Vedute, on the hill outside Trevi, where Pietro and Marta looked after us splendidly.
Here are a few more action shots from the trip:
Daniela painting ducks on a river bank.
Maike at the end of a long day.
Bob painting in the shade in the valley.
Luigi painting at the Clitunno Springs.
Overall the course was a a great success and we got good feedback from everyone. Daniela will scout around Maremma for a location for our next workshop together and hopefully we can set something up for September.
A few people have asked me about the weekend workshops in July. I have an invitation to Sardinia so I wont be here this year. Instead I’ll try to do weekend workshops before then in a private garden in Florence. The dates will be the 12th and 13th, and the 19th and 20th of June from 8 to 12 in the morning. There are only a limited number of places so let me know via email if you’re interested in joining: [email protected]
View of Trevi from the Bed and Breakfast.
I’ve posted the dates and location for the first of two plein air workshops I hope to do this June. The area around the town of Trevi in Southern Umbria really amazed me for it’s picturesqueness when I was in Spoleto a few years back. I’ve been back a couple of times since then to scout the place out and I feel it has incredible potential for a plein air painting location.
The town is also quite beautiful and without much traffic, if the group is interested in cityscapes.
Picture taken in the center of Trevi this September.
For more information, head over to the courses page.
Using the sight-size technique for landscape painting.
There is a lot going on right now in my life and haven’t been posting much. This is just a quick post to help better explain to my weekend landscape students the principle behind using the sight-size method for plein air sketching. In the photo above you can see how the camera was held in a position where the subject is the exact same size in nature as the painting on the panel. When using sight-size in the studio, the painter moves back to view the subject and the painting together from a distance. In the case of sketching the large view of a landscape onto a small panel with the sight-size method, the trick is to make sure your head is always in the right position where the subject ‘fits’ onto the panel. I personally believe many painters do this instinctively without realizing it.
The sight-size method is incredibly useful for landscape painting as it allows the painter to focus on the colors, values and edges, and the shapes almost seem to take care of themselves. For atelier-trained painters especially, who have spent years painting with the sight-size method already, it seems a waste not to continue using it outdoors.
Painting at the Badia a Passignano.
Above is a panoramic photo of Wendy, Takuma and I painting at the Badia a Passignano this weekend.
