Derek Penix - 3-Day Workshop

I’m two days into the three-day workshop with Derek Penix at On-Track Studios.  It is interesting.  He demos a painting each morning. He almost always paints from photos.  So as he paints, he talks about what he's doing and why - and generally keeps up some art-related chit-chat.  I've learned a lot.  I'm still not sure how I feel about some of his methods.  He's very definitely "out of the box" and does a lot of "fracturing" lines in his art.  After he's finished with his painting, we have lunch.  Then for the afternoon we seven class participants do our own painting with Derek’s guidance.  He walks around and talks to each of us, gives pointers, and will even, with our permission, take the paintbrush and show some strokes.

Derek’s Day 1 Demo painting:

I like it well enough that I’m considering buying it. ($400)  Later note: I DID buy it - and I love it.  Now I need to get it framed and hung. Even later note:  It's framed and hanging in the hallway upstairs at my house.  Here it is in my upstairs hallway (12/3/2017)

Below is my Day 1 individual painting.  It is from a photograph I took over at our property on Bear Creek Road - the old tobacco barn at the bottom of the hill and a wheat-looking plant at the top of the hill.  In class, I got it to the point where I considered it done.  Derek looked at it and said that the photograph shows a sunny day, but my colors made it a cloudy day.  He took the brush and with literally only three strokes, changed it.  He added the white to the sky right above the tree line on the left of the painting, and stroke of lighter green to the right of the barn.  And then a little stroke of the light green to the right of the wheat-looking plants.  Bingo - suddenly it was a sunny day.  I went over those strokes myself to make sure I had the "feel" of those changes.   I really like it  Once it has dried, I will frame it and put it somewhere in the house - Oil on 10 x 10 canvas panel.  

Bear Creek Road Barn and Grass

Old tobacco barn

Falling into disrepair

In a field of grass

Day 2 - Derek had a photo of a peach tree that he had edited with Photoshop.  In his editing he took out a lot of the background and substituted white space.  Here is his demo painting of it. 

I’m not a fan of that painting.  First of all, even up close, I can't tell that the reddish shapes are peaches.  Even when I initially saw the photograph before he started painting, I had to look at it closely to see that it was peaches.  I actually thought it was a bird when I first glanced at it.  (Note:  At the end of the workshop, Derek offered this painting for $600 - which is $200 more than the boat painting from the day before - because he said the peach painting was "gallery quality."  Even gallery quality, it just isn't my taste).

During our individual painting time on day 2, I worked on a chickadee from a photo that Derek had.   I chose it because we have so many chickadees are our bird feeders in the back yard.  I love black-capped chickadees.

Here is my painting - which I finished at home.   Oil on 6 x 6 canvas panel.

Chickadee on a Branch

Little Chickadee

Looking out from the tall branch

What scenes do you see?

At the studio I had the chickadee partially turned towards the front but by the time I finished reworking it, he’d somehow turned back to a profile - which I don't like as much. Amazing how a little change makes such a difference. I like the soft colors and edges of the background. It makes the chickadee itself stand out more.

Tomorrow is the third and last day of the workshop  It will be interesting to see what Derek does for his demo painting.  I have no idea what I'll choose to paint on my own.  I took some photos outside On-Track Studios today during our lunch break, and some of them are really pretty. There are some really gorgeous flowers called cosmos - which I love the name. So I may do one of those photos. Landscapes are generally easier for me than birds or other objects.  

Day 3 - this is what I ended up painting.  It is from a photo I took when we were at the Audubon Camp on Hog Island in Maine. We made a day trip to Monhegan Island, and on the boat ride there, we passed Franklin Island and this lighthouse. I liked the name since we live in Franklin, Tennessee.  Derek came over and showed me how to do more “fracturing” and smudging lines. I really like this painting. I worked on it more after I got home - added more white to the waves to make them stand out a little more.  I like the softened edges - the way its almost blurry.  

Franklin Island Light (Maine)

Weathered yet steadfast

The Maine sentinel still stands

Alone, keeping watch

And here is Derek’s demo painting for the third day.  It’s a city scene viewed from above.   It was fascinating to watch him - just values and shapes.   That was what he emphasized repeatedly. As we paint, we look for shapes and values.


So I completed the 3-day workshop.  It was really good.  I was WITHOUT A DOUBT the least experienced painter in the class. Yet, I felt at ease and not intimidated even though some of the other artists are quite well known and accomplished.  Amazing to me how taking a workshop can inspire me to paint more.  I've been painting so much the past couple months since I've been taking so many classes.

In one of the classes someone mentioned that an artist can get burned out by taking too many classes.  I'm far from burned out.  So far the classes I've taken have inspired me to paint more.