Sunset Season

This has been a summer for crazy/incredible sunsets;
way too big and always too glorious to paint but just watching them unfold over the course of an evening is one major perk of plein air painting and one of the best ways to soak up our precious Colorado summer.  I confess, on the evening shown above, we painted in an on-off rain for quite a while but were also treated to a complete double rainbow opposite the sunset that was certainly the brightest I have ever seen. What a show.

There is still 2 months of plein air painting ahead.
If you are a painter, but never painted in the landscape . . . . .
or a beginner wanting to learn something new - come paint in and around Alamosa.


Join us on Tuesday Evenings, 6:30pm to 9pm
or Thursday Mornings, 9am to noon - or both.
Register at the Alamosa Family Recreation Center -719-589- 2105
or register at the first class meeting.
New Class session starts this week:
Tuesday Evening - August 6th  -  6:30-9pm.
Thursday Morning-  August 8th - 9am- noon
The first meeting of each class will be at the Alamosa Family Recreation Center. We will do a little landscape practice and I will pass out class schedules- so that everyone will know WHERE to go each week.
Painting locations will also be posted on this BLOG - over to the right.

2 ways to attend: pay for the entire session at the first meeting, or pay as you go.
If you register and pay for the entire session, for either Tuesday or Thursday's class - you can attend both the Tuesday and Thursday classes for no extra charge.
Otherwise it is $15 a class:  pay me on site with cash or make cks out to City of Alamosa.
Here in Colorado our summer is so fleeting. Enjoy the beauty, the majesty, the pleasure of it - just a bit more - by actually being out in it.
Hope to see you in the landscape.

Class Notes: Oh, those Summer Nights

Last Tuesday night our class painted out north of town and about 7:30 the sky opened up and we enjoyed one of those WOW sunsets that goes from beautiful to fabulous to amazing - in about 15 minutes;
and about 15 minutes in -
it occurred to me - the complete presumption of trying to capture this wonder of nature. I painted as fast as I could in the twilight and really didn't want to look too closely when I threw it into the pizza box. The next morning I saw it was covered with bugs - silent testimony. . . .
to an evening well spent.
      This is the last week of the Summer Plein air Class.
Tuesday Evening at 6:30pm  we will meet on the south side of Carroll Park for sunset and mountain views.
Thursday Morning at 9am we will meet at the corner of Third St. and Poncha, behind Safeway for street views with lots of trees and shade.
     Summer will be gone before we know it.  Painting out is one of the best ways of making the most of this short season and stretching it out just a bit farther.
And the show in the sky last week had to beat whatever I could have been watching on TV.

Class Notes: Painting OUT

In July and August all my classes go outside to paint en plein air - and I can't remember such a rainy summer.  Colorado weather, in any season makes for hardy painters - but some of my students are feeling tested;  both Tuesday and Thursday classes have had to paint in the rain.
 Bravo! to those of you who braved the elements. Not only does it make you more fearless - the finished piece, good, bad or indifferent, is your trophy for a job done in difficult circumstances - a badge of honor.
Last Tuesday evening we faced rain from the start and ended up finishing class in my studio; not all bad.  These occasions help develop expertise in other areas like working from sketches and memory.

Every time we paint out we are stretching our skill set - sometimes that means figuring out how to tear down quickly and carefully, remembering to take a quick photo - or do that all-important sketch.
The summer rains have pretty much ruined my sketch book - but that in itself is a trophy. I was OUT there.
The landscape is OUT there - don't miss it this summer.

This is of my pieces done during class - a small 6"x 8" of the Rio Grande River as the rain starts to fall. Small panels allow me to work with students and still finish a simple piece.  The operative term here is "simple" and I encourage students to keep the idea simple.  A simple landscape and a good view of the horizon make for the best sunset vistas.

Class Painters - I hope to see you all out there next week.

Class Notes: Painters Just Want to Get OUT

Tuesday evening the class painted on the edge of town; lots of great views but late afternoon showers were still blowing over and we painted in a light but persistent rain.
More annoying than difficult, it does beg the question - WHY?
Everyone says they want to paint plein air and most of my class painters are very hardy but these are times that separate those that do and those that simply want to - it is an observation and a question of motivation.
I have found that most painters that pursue plein air work have one major thing in common: they love to be OUTSIDE.
We could discuss the importance of direct observation, the benefits of being on site and the finer points of technique in the landscape -
all of it good - but when temps are below freezing, wind threatens to blow you over or, as in this case, the drip, drip, drip soaks you through (my under painting literally slide off the panel) - something must make it more attractive than sitting in a dry studio.
It can't be bragging rights (how cold was it?)
especially when there is no painting to show for it - ouch.

We were rewarded with 2 rainbows and a wonderful sunset, this might be part of it. My studio does not have this kind of view.