Oil Painters of America Plein Air Paint-Out

The national organization, Oil Painters of America, has selected Evergreen Fine Art Gallery as the site for their Twenty-first Annual National Art Exhibition of Traditional Oils.  It's the first time this prestigious art show has been in Colorado. 

As part of the festivities, Southwest Art Magazine sponsored a paint-out for OPA members last Wednesday.  In addition to the Exhibition inside the gallery, they had a tent show for all the plein air paintings created at the event.  I created 2 quick oil paintings and both of them sold! 

 

Evergreen Fine Art Gallery is at 3042 Evergreen Parkway (303-679-3610)  http://www.evergreenfineart.com/.  The Exhibition runs through July 21.  This is a must see show if you can get there!

Plein Air Oil Painting Workshop

What a beautiful day! Five students joined the class to paint at the lovely Sterne Park in Littleton. The person standing in the top photo was another plein air artist who had also been painting in the park and stopped by to say hello.

After a picnic lunch, the class moved to the rose garden with a picturesque gazebo and a war memorial across the street. You can see 3 students in the photo below. The rest of us were on the opposite side under a tree.

We were surprised when a group of people showed up while we were painting. Turned out they came for a wedding! I offered to move the class, but no one seemed to mind our being there. There were about 30 chairs set up in front of the gazebo, and the wedding took place on it as we painted. It was quite romantic!

Crazy Summer!

Three family medical emergencies have taken up a lot of studio painting time.  Everyone is doing better now, and I'm  back to the painting my faces.  We also had a wonderful time at the plein air workshop on Saturday the 9th.

I'll be posting some photos of our outdoor workshop and some new portraits soon.  Also look for my fall ACC schedule coming soon!

Art Show

You can view several of my portrait studies at the ACC Community Education Instructor and Student Art Show.  Join us at the reception on Tuesday, May 22 from 5-7 pm.  The show will run until June 22 at the Colorado Gallery of the Arts in the Annex Building on the Arapahoe Community College campus.  For more information, and for viewing hours, call the ACC Community Education office at 303-797-5722.  Hope to see you there!

Summer Oil Painting Classes & Workshops

It's spring!  Many of you have been asking about my teaching schedule this spring and summer.  In addition to my classes at ACC beginning this week, I will be teaching the usual Thursday oil painting classes this summer at ACC.  Click on the ACC button above for details.  I hope to see you there!

I will also be teaching  two outdoor painting workshops on Saturday, May 12  and
Saturday, June 9,  both  9am-4pm.  You can choose either or both.  Check the workshop button above for details, and email me if you're interested!  I may be adding additional dates as we get closer to summer, so check back here for updates.  We always have a great time.  Come join us!

This picture shows students enjoying a beautiful day at one of our workshops last summer.

Practice Portraits

My art goal is to paint 100 faces in 2012, as quick studies to learn to paint portraits quickly.  Check out my new 100 Faces page (click on the button at the top of this page) to keep track of how I'm doing!

Still Life in Brass

Still Life in Brass, oils, 14 x 18

The challenge of this painting was painting the reflections, which came from everywhere, and changed every time I moved. I had to close the black drape on my studio window to minimize unwanted light and reflection from outside, and place a black screen on the side of the set-up to control the light on the objects. Otherwise, brass is a lot of fun to paint! I loved painting the oranges and grapes.

The composition was designed in the classic style, to move your eye around the painting toward the focal point (the white ball on the candlestick). I was careful to keep the spout of the pot in shadow, so it wouldn't lead your eye out of the painting. The light areas were also carefully controlled, to get progressively brighter as your eye moves toward the focal point.