Watch Me Paint: World-Class Art, World-Class Instruction
At their best, nocturnes strip away all extraneous detail, leaving us with powerful impressions and nothing more. Nocturne in Gray and Gold, Westminster Bridge, c. 1871-1874, James Abbott McNeill Whistler. Courtesy Glasgow Museums. I’m preparing for my workshop at Schoodic Institute, which starts on August 6. There will be a full moon on August 7. According …
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What do you do when it’s all going wrong, and there’s an audience for your fiasco? Can I finish this successfully? Gee, I hope so. I am tossing around a theory that there’s a sweet spot in composition. On one side, you have the so-called ‘perfect composition.’ We’re always upset when these don’t win prizes, …
The joys of a beach vacation: drying towels and an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. Drying towels, by Carol L. Douglas Cheney Cottage, built in 1881, is now owned by the Ocean Park Association. It includes the Prophet’s Chamber, where the guest preacher stays. A shuffleboard court graces the side lawn; it’s run by a fifth …
In which our heroine blows off painting for a walk in the Maine woods. Breaking Storm, by Carol L. Douglas, 48X30. It’s finished, so perhaps I deserved a day off. I had every intention of working on the Fourth of July. It’s one of the best business days at Camden harbor. At such times plein …
Photoshop is a great tool for figuring out how to fix a painting. Surf at Marshall Point, by Carol L. Douglas Yesterday I painted at Marshall Point. I was with Barbara Carr, who comes to Camden just once a year. My intention wasn’t to create a masterpiece, but to spend a few hours painting with …
Research is not a luxury in a plein air event. Planning and preparation are key to success. The back tracks of Nova Scotia can be a bit rough for an elderly Prius. Yesterday, Mary Sheehan Winn and I spent more than ten hours tracking back and forth over the same 79 km-mile strip of land …
Writers are told to write about what they know. What should artists depict? The Red Truck, by Carol L. Douglas Yesterday I stopped to sit for a few minutes on a stone wall in Rockport. In my solitude, I noticed the beautiful asymmetry of the house across the street. Its white clapboard and modest door …
They can help you fix a bad painting or avoid painting one in the first place. They can be inventive, abstract, stress-free and fun. Value study of my pieris japonica. I knew I would have a small class the day after the long weekend; I didn’t expect it would be just Roger. It would also …
Some painting rules are meant to be broken, but there are some absolutes that just make your painting better and easier. Catherine Bullinger’s tree. I like the delicacy of the branches and the dappled light on the grass. Yesterday I taught a one-day class in Rochester’s Highland Park. It’s hard to distill the rules of …
In the absence of a world-class volcanic event, we can expect a typical, stunning coast-of-Maine summer. What better way to spend it than painting outdoors? There’s been only one time in American history when summer failed to show up. That was 1816, and it was caused by the eruption of Mt. Tambora in the Dutch …
Continue reading “In the absence of volcanoes, learn to paint”