What I Learned Last Week
Last week was truly a highlight for me. As an artist who still needs to hold dow a full time job as well, taking the time off to attend a workshop is bit difficult. I’m very selective. Anne Blair Brown’s 3- day workshop in Provincetown, MA was SO worth the time and energy. I’ve painting for a long time, but there is always more to learn -much more. Here are my key takeaways from a week well-spent:
- I need to pay more attention to planning my painting and composition. Anne suggested that we need to honor our subject by spending the time to sketch, study the notable, sketch a bit more and after laying in the preliminary underwash study our placement. Extremely helpful. I found that when I followed a process, I changed my initial read on my composition every tine and had a stronger painting. You choose a subject because you see something in it-something that others may not. It pays to honor that vision with a few more minutes of planning tome.
- You really can take a limited palette with you when painting. I tried to really narrow the paints I depend on to about 6- much more cohesive results.
- Plein air painting isn’t easy. Sometimes there is a lot of ‘noise’ visually and audibly. The weather was very hot. Sometimes you forget something critical. Go with it anyway.
- You don’t have to make a mess to paint. I am a messy painter-usually with paint on my clothes, face, ….you get the picture. It is a joyful approach-but messy. I watched Anne paint in nice clothes, no gloves, no paint resulting on her person. She minimizes the use of paper towels as much as possible. Great lessons in Technique.
- Everyone is at a different place on the journey. It is a long journey full of interest and ripe for curiosity. We had a great group, each with her own eye on a subject and approach. Priceless.
So, that’s it for the new things Learned. I can’t wait to practice and paint in the days ahead! Fully refreshed.