Daily Painter Goes Out in the COLD

Monday, Sue McCullough and I braved the cold to paint in Alamosa River Canyon. It is amazing to me that it can be about 8 degrees in the valley and actually 10-12 degrees warmer in the mountains. Either way, it was a great day and 2 Bighorn sheep crossed the road right in front of us - beautiful! We painted by the river for a couple of hours (thankfully, in the sunshine) then headed down the hill to paint near the tracks in Monte Vista.
'Below Freezing', 16"x12"oil, $375.
This was my original title but someone suggested that viewers might not want to feel the cold - and it WAS cold. Anyway, I am changing the title to "Sunny Spot". I guess that "feels" better.

Daily Painter at the End of the Day

Monte Vista as the sun dropped low - right into my eyes. I love this kind of stuff.
'Cold Storage', 9"x12"oil, $310.

Coni's Class Notes

Tuesday we painted 4 red apples, each on a different colored background. The color theory of complements tells us that the complement of a color will make that color appear more intense; when you see it for yourself - you really get it.
Thursday morning we painted 4 different colored objects, and painted them on a ground of each color's complement. Ah, the complements; a straight forward choice but always a good one, and for a beginner, the safe one. If you don't know what color to make that underpainting or background? Choose the complement.
At the opposite end of the artistic/philosophical spectrum from Monet, Van Gogh said this about color, “I improvise [on] color... And then my brush goes between my fingers as a bow would on a violin, and absolutely for my own pleasure.”
If we could all paint with that kind of confidence. . . .

Painting Class in the New Year

With the holidays over and a good case of cabin fever, I could not wait for Painting Classes to start. I don't think I am the only one in town feeling this way - both the Tuesday evening and the Thursday morning classes were well attended; fifteen painters on Thursday.
With so much white outside- we are concentrating on color. Claude Monet said this about it“ Color is my day long obsession, joy and torment.”
It can be very much a torment for the beginner and having a good color theory base is essential to moving on as a painter.