SQUARE Show Sales

The SLV Painting Group Square show is coming down this week. Congratulations to everyone who participated and "Hoorah" for all the sales. I received more comments about this show than anything I have yet seen hung in Milagros, so we were favorably received and sales proved that.
Thanks everyone.

Shown here are the paintings that I sold and all are were painted as class demos.

Class Notes: Ladies of the PAAC

I shot the photo scrap for this little piece at a Plein Air Artists Colorado paint out in Taos almost 2 years ago. The directionality of the painters at the easels is interesting enough but without the contrast of the dark bluff behind their highlighted forms this would just be, so - so photo scrap.
I am always looking for scenes with strong value that translates to good patterns of light and dark.
Can you see strong value shapes in your color photos? Not sure? Take them to a copier and print them out in black and white. A color photo with good value will pop in black and white. Once you see clearly - exactly what you are looking for - look for more photos with the same sensibility: strong darks and strong lights. You will eyes will recognized what it is and your photos will get better and lend themselves more readily to paintings that communicate the sense of light.
And isn't that what we all are going for?

Class Notes: Can We Get Small Without Getting Small?

This is my offering this week- on the Square format.
The challenge at this small 6"x 6" size, is to be disciplined about brush size and making each stroke work harder for you as opposed to pulling out the tiny brushes and - well, you know - noodling.
Personally, I am a less-is-more type of painter, trying never to use 2 strokes when one will do. It is a technical style I don't force on my students but I do push for more disciplined brushwork that leads to a straight forward, loose and non-fussy end product.

Class Notes: Landscape in the Square

In class we have been enjoying the 6"x 6" square format and now are applying it to landscape. The same rules of good composition apply but we are now using them to address our own photo scrap, or in my case,
a sketch done in the landscape.

Remember the Rule of Thirds? It is a classic compositional idea that deals with both composition and placement - meaning,
it helps you organize the space and position subject matter so it is visually balanced.
The Rule of Thirds, means to divide the canvas into thirds, horizontally and vertically, and position major elements along those third lines.
In my sketch above, the major shapes almost split the space in half, which is the least interesting or desirable way to break up the space. Applying the Rule of Thirds, I can raise those major shapes or lower them. I chose to lower those shapes to create a deeper sky and a better division of the square.