Class Notes: Finding METHOD in the Madness

My painting classes resumed this week and tho' we plan to paint outside for the remainder of the season, this first week painters got back into things with a paint-a-long demo that focused on basic METHOD in the landscape.
We talk a lot about METHOD in class. Just having one goes a long toward bringing order to chaos. There are so many variables in the landscape, many that have nothing to do with painting, so it helps to have a method, a way of doing things that does not vary but keeps you on course.
I teach certain methods in class, sometimes as simple as how to lay out your palette, knowing that another teacher could have a totally different take on the process. No worries; and no wrong answers. Just have a METHOD and use it.

This demo was a refresher on painting using the INDIRECT METHOD.
The INDIRECT method refers to the practice of starting a painting by laying in major masses with their relative color -in a wash of paint and thinner. This allows you to cover the canvas very quickly and analyze the shapes before getting too far.
Once the canvas is covered, it is much easier to follow up with heavier, more opaque paint to bring a piece to finish.
A good under painting (- good, not tight) can do a lot of the heavy lifting in a piece, while the opaque paint does the job of defining the subject instead of working to cover the canvas.
The INDIRECT method has been around for centuries. Tonal painters often lay in an under painting with one color (Burnt Umber is popular) and bring color on top. Most contemporary painters however, will use the local color to lay in major masses, adding light effects with heavier, more opaque paint, on the second pass.

Annual Exhibition from the 2010 Zapata Artist Invitational Gathering

This show was a result of the Artist Invitational Gathering that preceded it in late July - and a one day wonder hosted by Janet and Duke Phillips who run the Medano-Zapata Nature Conservancy Ranch in the San Luis Valley. The Zapata Ranch is a living demonstration of how cattle and bison operations can co-exist with conservation efforts.
Briefly, the "Artist Gathering" brings artists together with the Nature Conservancy and revolves around the land and people that work it. At the core, is the intent of communicating, not only the natural beauty of the area, but also the urgency of protecting vanishing spaces. The Artist Gathering in July brought 29 artists from all over the West to the Medano-Zapata Nature Conservancy Ranch. Click on the link to learn more about the Conservancy.
Very much in keeping with the "ranch" theme the show was held a the Chico Basin Ranch east of Colorado Springs. The art was displayed on stacks of hay bales - very unique and show-goers enjoyed a beautiful afternoon in the Ranch's cottonwood grove. In the photo 2nd from the top, my work hangs next to that of Bill Alther and Laura Mehmert. Below that is shot of myself with David Montgomery and his wife, Cindy Cutts, and Laura Mehmert.

A "City" Show is planned for December 4th at the Design Center in Denver that will feature larger work, inspired by our time at the Medano Zapata Ranch. I will keep you posted.

The EVENT Formerly Know As . . . . 2010

Painting in the area of Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park is always a highlight - partly for the views but also for the good fun of meeting up with other artists to do what we love- paint.
This year, "drama" and confusion surrounded the Event formerly known as "Estes Park Plein Air"- which blew apart because one of the major sponsors got greedy (for lack of a better word). And this is not the forum for a discussion about THAT, but (and it's a big one)
in all of this - it is always the artists who suffer. Sadly, a lot of plein air painters chose to just stay away this year. It was some consolation, that galleries who have been involved in the past each hosted major shows that opened in Estes Park on the Weekend of August 28th.
I was in the Western Light '10 show, hosted by Earthwood Gallery(s).
Of the artists who did show up in the area, we still managed to paint together, visit each others shows and generally make the best of it.

This is how I spent one morning at Lily Lake. A great group of artists meet there on Wednesdays and a lot of them are from the Plein Air Artists of Colorado- of which I am also a member.

Painting in Rocky Mountain National Park

On Wednesday afternoon I caught up with Eldon Warren in RMNP. He painted, looking right down into the water - see the FISH also posted here - very gutsy, very beautiful. Those fish should be proud.
And I painted Eldon, painting the fish - which I have yet to finish. sigh.

Other WILDlife in Estes Park

These are some of the other painters gathered in Estes Park last week; some painted in the Plein Air Event and some did not. Here, Dennis Reinke, Dewain Stoll and Cecy Turner paint in the downtown Quick Draw.














To the right are David Harms,
suffering from Quick Draw
anxiety,
KC Benson, and
Sterling Hoffmann whose piece "Legible Cascade" won Best in Show at the 2009 Event - formerly known as Estes Park Plein Air Event. Check it out
on Sterling's website.




















In another part of town
- I am painting with
Maggie Renner Hellmann,
Lou Renner, Eldon Warren,
and Margaret Jensen.
Eldon and Margaret stand
with Eldon's painting
clearly enjoying a really
beautiful day.










The bottom shot shows
Ulrich Gleiter painting
the model in the Downtown
Quick Draw, which he won.
Later, Ulrich would go
on to win First Prize
in the Plein Air
Event show.
Gratulation! my friend!

Click on any of the photos to see them larger.

Best in Show at Estes Western Light 2010

My piece, "A View Through the Autumn", 48"x 24" won
Best In Show at the 2010 Western Light Show Fine Art Exhibition hosted by Earthwood Gallery in Estes Park. This came as an unexpected but pleasant surprise considering the gathering of great western painters in this show: Margaret Jensen of Estes Park, Maggie Renner Hellmann of California, Dawn Normali of Estes Park, Cindy Carillo of Arizona, Mike Brouse of Colorado, Carole Gray- Weihman of California, Eldon Warren of Colorado, Dee Boyles of Oregon and Lou Renner of California.
Clicking on the artist's name will take you directly to their website.

Western Light 2010

I have been home from Wyoming just long enough to do some laundry, take the dog to the vet, buy school supplies and pack up the truck again.
I am headed to Estes Park for 5 days of painting in Rocky Mountain National Park, home to some of Colorado's most scenic landscapes - can't wait.
. . . AND










On Saturday night August 28th, Earthwood Collections of Estes Park will host the Western Light Show, to highlight, not only my work but work of several other fine painters who will be painting in the area next week.
The show reception is from 5-9 pm, at 141 E. Elkhorn Ave. If you are within 100 miles of Estes Park, it will be a trip worth making. Hope to see you Saturday night.

Wyoming Plein Air Event

It doesn't get much bigger than this - the sky, I mean. The Wyoming Plein Air Event was pretty big too - attracting painters from all over the country, and even 2 from abroad. Sue McCullough and I spent 3 days in the Snowy Mountains, with fellow painters, Ulrich Gleiter - from Germany, Peg Immel - from Taos and Patrice Walker - from Santa Fe.
I am not sure what is going on in this conference. I think I heard someone say "he went that-a-way".





To the right are some of the event highlights, from my point of view:
Sue holds a brush out at arms length to "sight" a complex alley view.
Peg painted in the same alley, facing the other direction. It was a challenge, dodging passing trucks, forklifts, painting in heat and blowing dirt from the cement factory on the other side of the fence;
worth it though - Peg's piece, shown here won the Artist Choice Award in the Link Gallery. Tough conditions- nice work!






At the opening Saturday night:
in the Link Gallery Ulrich Gleiter stands with his piece "My Wyoming" (the lower painting) which won First Place. Bravo!
Sue McCullough and Scott Eckberg pose in from of their work- Scott's on the left and Sue's on the right, and
Dawn Normali and I stand in front of her amazing painting of a Wyoming farm which won the Artist Choice Award in the Deselms Gallery.

Click on the images to view them larger.

Coni's Wyoming Work

These are the best of my work from the week.
At right, early morning in the Snowy Mountains as the mist rolled over them and the morning sun highlights a distant ridge; below I saw clouds flying up over the ridge as I stood by Brooklyn Lake in the late afternoon.














A view out on the prairie where windmills create wind power and below it, Cottonwoods on the Hereford Ranch.

Cheyenne Quick Draw

No plein air event is complete with out a semi-nerve wracking Quick Draw. Personally, I think Cheyenne's Depot Plaza venue is especially hard because there are few traditional landscape elements.
Top photo is the view from the depot north into the farmer's market, below that is Ulrich painting the model, under that is my long view of the capitol and on the bottom my painting that sold to a local couple wanting a souvenir of their hometown.