Class Notes: Painting out in Alamosa

At this time of year, all of my classes go outside to paint en plein air. Not because these dedicated students aspire to plein air genius- but because painting "from life"- should be part of the painters vocabulary; and it's the best way to learn.

Last week our Tuesday night class had just hit the street downtown when the clouds began to throw lightning every which way; a portent of the massive storm activity and drenching rain to come.  I took this one photo of the pub before abandoning the field.


The Thursday class had better weather and we gathered on the shady side of a downtown building for vistas across the street to the County courthouse, a choice of churches with trees and blooming hollyhocks and views of business people, mostly lawyers,  heading to court. We also got a visit from local law enforcement.  I guess the sight of 5 painters on the street looked a little threatening.
Here Judith takes an alternative to painting with a small sketch using water-based crayon-style colors.

 Saturday we met in a local park by the Rio Grande River in Alamosa and above Lara sketches the view of a shaded walkway down a long avenue of cottonwoods. The painting here is my view from the park- looking toward Mt. Blanca.
For students who have only painted with me during the studio season, the idea of dragging it all outside is a little daunting -
but I hope to encourage the idea that "painting from life" - whether in doors or out, is the norm, not the exception. We go out because "real life" resides in the landscape- not in photos.
And, I have yet to hear a student say " I am sorry, I went outside to paint today."

Class Notes: Why Plein air?

The last couple of years have seen a big explosion of the "plein air" phenomenon. Everybody's doing it!  And to stay in step, or to keep up with the trend, some are - that shouldn't and many should that aren't.
So what's it about?
If you aren't familiar with the term- it simply means to paint out doors/on site.
As a kid, painting and drawing at the back yard picnic table, it would not have occurred to me to do anything else but try to make images based on what I could see. In college, the best classes sent student artists tramping into forest and field, to the docks or downtown to make the best of what was in front of them. The lessons of direct observation were hammered out back in studios, but it all started with learning to see.
Whether painting en plein air (outdoors), from a live model, or from a still life set up in front of you, direct observation reveals things that cannot be seen or gained from photography or taught by any other means.
This was the whole idea that drove the Impressionists into the landscape, seeing from LIFE. That particular group of painters called Impressionists, did work defined by Webster's as a "style of late 19th-century, characterized by short brush strokes of bright colors".
Whoa! That is a pretty terse definition for a group of artists who were actually less technique driven but gave us the philosophical ideas about artists - that today, we take for granted.  The Impressionist ideas of artistic freedom - not defined by politics or fashion, propelled art and artists into the Modern age. But I digress. . . .
They were impelled by the need to SEE, not rely on the formulas of the past that had long since parted ways from anything having to do with direct observation.
Recently, I participated in an outdoor quick draw and met a local artist doing the event because they felt they SHOULD- for self promotion. What a shame. And YES- that artist SHOULD have been painting outside - more because their studio work lacked freshness or the breadth of light and color variation that comes form outdoor observation.  For this artist, it was all about getting on the "plein air" band wagon, instead of using landscape observation to improve the studio work.  Maybe we all do that sometimes; we hitch our wagon to a current trend.

So the question I ask myself is: Why PLEIN AIR?  If for its own sake - we are just a bunch of painters, taking studio formulas and standing in the landscape.
There IS a real benefit to going out doors. I don't want to forget that next time I am scrambling to get my name in print or jockeying for position with a group of painters lined up for a event photo.


This plein air piece done in the Rockies last year, sold out of my studio this week - that's a good thing - but I had planned to enter it into a gallery show this August. Hmmmm. . .
So, my intention is to recreate it in the studio, from the sketch.
The challenge here is to resist the desire to "fix" things but make it true to the original in freshness and life;  that may prove harder than it seems.
. . . and ps. it will not be billed as a plein air painting. That fact to me is incidental but I will try to capture that plein air vigor.

July in France

July has been amazing in France. I am getting up at dawn every morning to view some of the most beautiful landscape in the world- not painting tho'; it is Tour time and we are big cycling fans at my house.  We all sit in front of the tv to watch live feed of the Tour de France and for 3 weeks my heart and mind are virtually in France. Each day when I head off to the studio I feel like I have had a mini European holiday.

Jens Voigt above with my kids (the 2 tall ones) last year at the Colorado Pro Cycling Challenge and below, my husband, and the star biker in our household heading off to ride a local century race (100 miles).

La Veta Plein Air Event

The LaVeta- Cuchara area in southern Colorado is so beautiful - being there to paint for this plein air event was pure pleasure. Above is the West Spanish Peak; there are 2 and they dominate the landscape. If you look carefully at the top photo, - behind and above the left, foreground bank of trees, up to a green valley nestled in the arms of the mountain and, not quite covered with the shadow of the great stone "vein" - that is where the lower photo was taken. Sue McCullough and I painted from that spot and below she stands by her First Prize piece of that view.











 Here, David Montgomery and Kathy Hill discuss, what else - art, while looking at Sue's painting of the 2 Fox Cabins and Dave's piece sitting above it - which- unfortunately, was not delivered in time for the 2pm competition deadline.
Curt Gillispie won 2 Place with his piece "Painter in the park", Kathy Hill stands with her 3rd Place painting of the Spanish Peak and Aaron Fanning won Honorable Mention for his triptych paintings. Click on any of the photos to view them larger.

LaVeta Workshop

I had a great time last week, teaching a 1 day workshop in LaVeta. My students were all accomplished but had not ever worked out in the landscape, en plein air. This is the best kind of student -  motivated for information with skills under their belts. I have found however, even long time painters can struggle in the landscape.
How does one see, analyze, and synthesize information- do it quickly and apply it to canvas in a way that creates a reasonable composition- and in the end a reasonable rendering of the subject?
Ah, there's the rub. . .  everyone looks at the landscape, not everyone sees it.
In the morning we talked about materials and method (I am big on method) and how to see composition in the landscape, with the help of a 2 value sketch.
A workshop teacher can yak all day about color and light in the landscape but learning how to see the landscape for what is possible - is where I like to start with students.
The view I used for demo was front lit and a little flat. In the 2 value sketch I work out the large value shapes; meaning I create the shapes from what is in the view. At this point, there is no right or wrong, just better and best. Another artist may see and work out a totally different value pattern with the same view; the point is - to see it and WORK it out- in a sketch.
By working out my thoughts early on, and making decisions about how to handle the value shapes - later when the light has changed, I will be less likely to chase it.
Of course, that is only the nutshell version of the morning . . .
Below is my demo, and probably one of my quickest, ever. It is only a 9"x 12", but once I had the sketch worked out, the painting took less that an hour.

Stepping Up Your Game, LaVeta Plein Air Event

Are you a painter, maybe a student painter, trying to gain confidence?

 I am addressing my students mostly, but if that title rings a bell for you, try stretching your skills a bit and think about entering a plein air event this summer. In Colorado there are small, non-juried events all summer in almost every part of the state. They attract local artists and sometimes a big fish will enter and raise the bar a bit, but getting your feet wet at a small event can do wonders for your confidence. These events help encourage artists, not discourage them and if you are willing to submit, and later allow the judge to critique your work -
in my opinion, that is worth the price of admission.

The LaVeta Plein Air Event is just such an event.  Hosted by the Spanish Peaks Arts Council, it is Friday, June 15 and Saturday, June 16 and the registration fee is very small.
Each artist has their supports (canvas, panels or whatever) marked at registration on Friday morning and then they head out into the landscape to paint. On Saturday afternoon artists frame the work that they want to enter into the show, and yes the work is framed wet.  At 2 pm all the work is turned in and hung in the gallery for judging and the weekend wraps up with an awards reception on Saturday evening - with cash awards, food, the camaraderie of fellow painters and the knowledge that you have stepped up to a new level.
Click this link to Spanish Peaks Arts Council for information and registration.

Class Notes: Compositional Motifs

The dictionary defines  Motif (noun) as "a distinctive feature or dominant idea in an artistic or literary composition".

Most artists use them as something developed within the sphere of their own work. A motif can be idiomatic, coming about as an artist's work evolves and becomes more specific to the artist; an expression of their own creative "voice".
I started thinking about this while preparing for the Creede Quick Draw. Unlike most of the plein air quick draw events that I participate in which are about an hour and a half and require the artist to paint from the view, the Creede Quick Draw is only an hour but allows artists to paint from a sketch, or recreate something that they had painted previously.  It is a good opportunity to do a painting that is memorable and distinctly "me".
This got me looking for themes in my own work and compositional ideas that I have used over and over: aspens in the woods, cotton wood trees, deep forest scenes; these are compositional ideas, or motifs that I like and return to.
For our class sessions I came up with 4 compositional motifs taken from my sketches, and we used them as a starting place for small 6"x 6" paintings. The great thing about these is that once the shapes are established, all kinds of things can be changed to create distinctly different paintings: a high or low horizon, light direction and value variation, color or season change, the addition of other elements.

With the two bottom sketches I have shown paintings that were created from them. The Aspen and Pine piece is my 10"x 8" Quick Draw painting from Creede using the Aspen sketch.  The idea of a small stand of aspens together with pine trees is something I see all the time and creates a naturally strong value sketch. The other 2 paintings are based on the Cottonwood Grove motif. One painting is vertical, one horizontal and they use very different color and levels of stylization, but both reflect the same compositional motif. Cottonwood trees grow in groups like this all over the San Luis Valley and I use them as a theme in my work with a compositional motif that is very adaptable.  I look for these compositional motifs in the landscape. It is one way I have used composition and regional elements to develop a more distinctive painting voice.

Taste of Creede Quick Draw

Sunday of Memorial Day in Creede turned out beautiful and though the whole weekend is dedicated to Food, Culinary Arts, Fine Art, and good fun, the 1 hour Quick Draw is a highlight and attracts artists and buyers from all over.  In the top photo, from left to right you can see Kris Gosar painting the model, Lana Woodruff, Charlie Ewing (also painting the model) and Stephen Quiller.
The auction drew a crowd willing to bid and happy to buy. Everyone had a great time, even the artists who would as soon donate a painting and run for cover as sit through a nail biting auction. Work sold at a good clip tho' and I don't think anyone went home disappointed. I sure didn't. The good folks from the Denver area (6 hours away) who came last year and purchased my painting, were there again this year and purchased my piece. YIPPEE!
The center photo is my 10"x8" Quick Draw piece, painted from a compositional idea of Aspen and Pines that we see everywhere here.  It is a "Motif"- or reoccurring theme in my work. More about that in the next post.

TASTE of CREEDE

Memorial Day Weekend is coming up and for me that means
"The Taste of Creede".  A kick off for the summer season in one of Colorado's most colorful and classic high country mining towns. Tucked away in the San Juan Mountains, Creede is a town that loves tourists and a holiday up there is always memorable.
The main event for me will be the Artist's Quick Draw on Sunday at 1 pm right on Main Street in downtown.
Stephen Quiller (internationally known artist and writer) hosts this party and it attracts some of the best artists from several states including Kris Gosar, David Montgomery,  Peggy Stenmark Morgan, Charles Ewing, Jan Thompson, Frankie Will, Sue McCullough and myself - to name a few. We all paint together under a tent, usually sharing the space with a couple of models. There is always a lot of jostling, elbow throwing and general good fun as artists put on a show for the crowd.
Quick Draw fun starts at 1 pm and there will be an auction immediately following. This is a chance to bid on work that you watched being done by top artists.
Creede will be the site of a lot of holiday partying - live music, vendors, Silver Chef Competition, stuff for kids and the National small Prints Show at the Creede Repertory Theatre;
all well worth the beautiful drive into the mountains.
Have a great holiday.

NEW WEBSITE

I am still struggling with this "NEW" and supposedly improved Blogger and lost a few posts here and there. OUT THERE somewhere is a post that lets you know that I have a new Website, one I am very excited to share.  That post is refusing to show up so I am adding it here.
Check out my new Website at ConiGrant.com.
A whole new look and  some new work as well. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

New Website!

I am excited, and relieved to announce the publishing of a new Website for ConiGrant.com. A clean new look, and new work. This last year, after some arm twisting, my tech friend convinced me to develop, publish and handle my website - by myself.
The new site covers similar information but in a new format and hopefully, easy and quick to negotiate. I hope you will take a look at ConiGrant.com, and if you have comments- let me know what you think.