"Summer afternoon — summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." — Henry James, quoted by Edith Wharton, "A Backward Glance", (1934) While painting outside, the constant sound of buzzing, clicking, chirping of bugs and birds can be heard in between the alarming ka-chun-king start-up whirr of a giant air conditioning generator. Men shout … [Read more...]
ANE / Bennington — Week 2, Monday
Comfortable overcast morning turned into a cold downpour in the afternoon. I set up on the lawn directly behind the house. In the afternoon I found an overhang that proved inadequate for the wind driven rain. Everything was soaked by the time I packed up. All kinds of problems with the drawing in these two paintings. It's the first day back to working outside in oil. The paint felt like clay after … [Read more...]
ANE / Bennington — Week 1, no. 3
Last painting was done on Friday in the acryla-gouache figure class. The female model alternated between two poses within the same paintin, while the third figure is from a photograph. Saturday we had final critique and discussion of the week's work. ABOVE: 3 figures, acryla-gouache on panel, 16 x 20 inches ( 41 x 51 cm), 07/22/11 Eleven paintings in a week, acryla-gouache on panel, … [Read more...]
ANE / Bennington — Week 1, no. 1
During my first week at Art New England, I am in a class called "The Figure in Context" taught by Susan Lichtman. The first night we were assigned two homework paintings: a quick twilight landscape and a still-life, leaving space in both to fit the figure. We did a direct painting of the figure on the first morning of class. In the afternoon, we painted her into the still-life using light tones … [Read more...]
ANE / Bennington — Week 2
Week 2 of Art New England / Mass Art workshop at Bennington College, Vermont. After all this time, I was thrilled to finally be in a class called "Advanced Painting." As a complementary medium to working in oil, we were shown methods of using pencil and a slurry of graphite powder in stand oil/OMS on mylar. It's a deliciously slippery medium to use for filmy values. The drawing/paintings have … [Read more...]
ANE / Bennington — Week 2
My time on the road included a side trip to visit Tad Spurgeon. After years of appreciating his work online, Tad generously let me interrupt his painting time to meet him and see his work in person. His studio is a wondrous cavern filled to the brim with paintings stacked and hung on every surface; it is a marvelous workshop of intense explorations. His extensive experiments with materials are a … [Read more...]
ANE / Bennington — Week 1
Week 1, continued. These pictures are hand-held snap-shots of the last two paintings done during a one week independent study offered by the Art New England / Mass Art workshop program at Bennington College, Vermont. ABOVE: Scone and Rose, oil on paper, 5.5 x 9.5 inch (14 x 24 cm), 07/23/2010 EE: "Category bending: still-life as landscape." PY to EE: "They're doing baked goods; watch … [Read more...]
Outdoor Painting Workshop
If you like the way your paintings look as they are, don't take a class with a guy who paints from life every day and will tell you what he sees. Instructor's comments below. ABOVE: North Bridge, oil on paper, 10 x 10 in (25 x 25 cm), 06/07/2010 • ... has bounce; you protected the drawing; bridge is the best part; shape of field not clear; were trees as bright in highlight -- yes or no?; squint; … [Read more...]