Who owns access to the ocean?
I used to do an annual invitational plein air event in lovely Rye, NY. It’s just above New York City and home to an historic amusement park. That means lots of day tourism. Rye has a beautiful shoreline, but waterfront streets are all marked with no-parking signs. Although the sea is a resource that nobody-and-everybody …
Monday Morning Art School: preparation
James Gurney somehow unearthed a 1942 copy of American Artist Magazine that included an interview with a young Andrew Wyeth on his technique. Wyeth, in his later years, became schtum about method and his estate is highly restrictive about images. As a teacher, this is frustrating. Students could learn much from studying his method and …
The value of critique
Critique ought not be a question of likes and dislikes. It involves analyzing a painting in terms of formal elements of design, which include: Focal point Line Value Color Balance Shape and form Texture Rhythm and movement I’ve expanded on these ideas here, for those of you interested in how to use formal criticism to …
Why does anyone paint plein air?
Painting the fog at Blueberry Hill I’m in Acadia teaching my annual Sea & Sky workshop, and yesterday was a fog-bound day. We were at Blueberry Hill. The great granite slope, the spruces, and Schoodic Island drifted in and out of their wrap of soft wool. Not only do I love painting in this atmosphere, …
Monday Morning Art School: more better, faster
My painting for Camden on Canvas, called “So Many Boats!” Sold at auction yesterday. One of the questions we are often asked at plein air painting events is, “Did you really finish that whole painting in one day?” The answer, of course, is yes-or sometimes two or three paintings. We have trained ourselves to be …
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