Being My Own Art Teacher

At one of the demos I attended during the Plein Air Convention in San Francisco in April, the presenter/artist (can't recall her name) talked about how painting the same scene several times can help you become a better painter.  So I chose this photo that I took on the way to the Viansa Winery outside of San Francisco. It was an old boat sitting in a field of flowers. Who knows why it was there.  It was pretty, though, and so I took a bunch of photos of it.

The first photo below was my first attempt. My goal was to paint quickly and without getting bogged down withe details. I had difficulty getting the boat right, and the flowers look exactly like what I did - just dabbed an orangey-white color all over the grass. 

The second try was better.  I actually got the boat name (Edith) on the boat.  The boat shape STILL isn't right, though - although it's not bad.  The flowers look a little better. Still not happy with it - although this is my favorite of the three paintings I eventually did.

After painting the scene twice, I thought I'd do something different - I'd do it entirely with a palette knife. Hmmmmm. Some people can make gorgeous paints using only a palette knife. I don't know if I even want to develop that particular skill. Palette knives use a LOT of paint - and I have a LONG way to go to make it look right. I got this far with it and decided that palette knife painting isn't for me. So I stopped.  It is interesting that the color didn't look right with the palette knife, and I have no idea why since the tool used shouldn't affect the color - and I was using the same palette of colors as I did with the other two paintings.

Looking at these paintings, I know I need to make the boat a little smaller to make it appear further back in the scene. Most of all, it doesn't LOOK like I want my art to look. I am being too literal in some ways and not literal enough in other ways. I'm still working to develop Mary Carol's art.

I decided to stop after these three tries.  I threw away the palette knife version and will probably throw away the first version as well and only keep the second one. I don't have the stamina or desire to paint the scene a fourth time.  LOL!  I don't think painting the same thing more than a couple times is appealing at all to me. It was a helpful practice, though, and I kinda/sorta like the second painting.

Back to the demo from the PACE19 class. The point was that by painting the same scene repeatedly one, in effect, becomes one's own art teacher - seeing more clearly what needs to be worked on and improved.  I probably should paint this scene a fourth time and follow Kevin Menck's mantra of painting the big shapes and values and see how the scene will emerge. 

A Workshop with Kevin Menck

This past weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday), I took a plein air workshop with Kevin Menck. As it turned out, there were only four people in the class. So we each received a lot of help from Kevin.

On Friday, we went to Green's Grocery in Leiper's Fork where Kevin did a demo. Then my friend, Sheryl, who was also in the class, invited us to her house for lunch. After lunch we met at Garrison Creek which is the first exit after you get on the Natchez Trace in Leiper's Fork heading west. We looked around the creek, and I picked out this scene to paint. I didn't take a photo while we were outside - I keep forgetting to photograph my painting with the actual scene in the background. I finished it (added the tree reflections in the water - and worked on the foreground a little) in my studio at home. The actual painting looks better than the photograph of the painting. The photograph makes it look grainier.

Then on Saturday, we just about froze to death (it was 32 degrees outside) while Kevin did a demo outside on the side of the road entering the Natchez Trace.  We had brought folding chairs - and I happened to have two blankets in the back of my car - so I wrapped one around me and gave the other one to another student.  It was COLD!!!  Ron was nice enough to bring us hot coffee - which was wonderful! We convinced Kevin that after lunch (at Sheryl's again!) we should paint inside. So we met up at Green's Grocery again in Leiper's Fork, and we each painted using one of Kevin's paintings as a reference. I chose a painting that had a house and barn - and here is my version of it. It's my favorite painting from the workshop.

Sunday was a much better day in terms of weather - warmer and sunny.  We went to a farm on Bailey Road in Leiper's Fork. I chose a fence row with a large tree in the foreground and a pasture and some hills in the background.  It's my least favorite painting for the workshop. That large tree was my nemesis for the day. Since it is November, most of the leaves had fallen off, but there were still some hanging on - and I had the hardest time showing that in the painting.  I painted it, scraped it off, and painted it again.  I like the play of shadows in the foreground which was one of the reasons I chose that scene. I had told Kevin my goal was to paint the scene entirely from looking at the actual scene - and not taking a photo and looking more at the photo than the scene. So I accomplished that. I didn't look at a photo of the scene at all; it was painted entirely en plein air.  

This was my second Kevin Menck workshop.  I like his style of painting, although I'm probably a little tighter of an artist than he is.  He's good at helping me to be a little looser - to concentrate of big shapes and values rather than getting bogged down with unnecessary details.  It was a good workshop.