Sunrise from the hotel.After arriving at the Windberg Art Center, we had a big discussion about why you get so tired trying to learn something! Maybe learning is for the young and not the young at heart. Everyone seemed worn out this morning, even the youngsters in the group. At any rate, after coffee we students perked up a little. Desmond O'Hagan gave a talk on the business side of being a painter. He started in advertising so was prepared for the business side. He encourages the internet presense, mail lists, and trying to get your exhibits, work, ideas in print, newspapers and magazines. His demo was about how he uses his pastels on the side like a paint brush. We had some great instruction from him. (David Patterson, Desmond said "Hi" back to you.)
We then went back to painting for the day. At lunch we took our lunch break and went to Bartlett, Texas, about seventeen miles away.
Bartlett, busy downtown on Sunday, huh?I paid cash so don't have the name of the restaurant, something like The Boxcar, or Rairoad something. It was very good. Burgers, BBQ brisket sandwiches and chicken fried steak as basics. (The place next door may be a Saturday or Sunday stop sometime as they have menudo for Gene.) On Friday we went about 7 miles to Walberg, Dales Essenhaus - Walbergers, for lunch. They had burgers, chicken fried steaks, salad and fried or grilled catfish. Very good as well. They have live music on Friday and Saturday, but we were too tired to go back. These small Texas towns have such interesting places and structures.
We drove through farm and ranch country. It is so dry. It looked like rain, but no such luck. We had some great sights along the way.
A few tired longhorns, waiting for rain, I suppose.
A farm/ranch houseAh, you came by to see some paintings.
The start of my landscape a mesa in New Mexico between Albuquerque and Grants. It looked very colorful under the light and bright on the easel as I worked on it.
It looks washed out under the "Daylight".
It also looks better when you stand back.
So does the lineup.I'm not sure this indistinct look is what I am after, but we did learn a lot about using darks to our advantage. Desmond works with a very few pastels and that is good! With this glazing over other colors and varying the pressure on the pastels you mix color just like with oil paints. That is great. He also works on Canson paper. That is not a favorite surface for me. I'm anxious to see how this technique works on sanded paper or board. We shall see how it looks incorporated into my own style. You will have to come back to see how that goes.
After margarita time with Kathy Gray, I am back home with my feet up. Well, almost.
Susan Carlin and I stayed together. We had such fun. Susan is not a sports fan. She will be happy to know, though, that the Lonhorns Baseball team won today to make it two of the three games this weekend at Stanford against the Cardinal! You can read about the games on Joanna's Longhorn Baseball Page and on the official site.
9 comments:
I like your workshop paintings. When I attend a workshop, I try to do what the instructor teaches while I'm there. Later, I try to take what I learned and apply it to my own style. It is always a learning experience - especially with someone like Desmond whose work is so different.
I'm glad you ate well while at the workshop to keep up your energy, of course.
I like what I can see of the paintings. While it's not necessarily your style, I think you adapted well. 'Glad you had fun.
You must be so tired! I love the New Mexico Mesa - the light on the mesa is wonderful!!
Bag Blog, you are so right. Kind of a waste if you don't try the new method of an instructor. He really emphasized big shapes. I will post the diner sketches. We needed the energy for sure! (ha)
Joanna, thank you. It was a great weekend and I am sure these exercises will help my paintings to be more dynamic.
Regina, two weeks of intense painting is draining. My pastels took a beating. Good excuse to get more! The method of pushing hard and letting up is hard on pastels. It will be a little different on sanded paper, but can work I think.
Jo, sounds like a great time. Enjoy some rest now! :D
Rose, thank you, we did have fun. As you know, rest is relative, time to clean up my pastels and work area in the studio and try the new techniques.
Jo: I miss visiting regular but know I feel a little better each day. I like The Lineup.
I like the idea of using a big screen to watch Desmond's demos...that's thinking!
Nice job on the paintings. I love the landscape (of course) but I really enjoyed seeing you do people too. The figures look great and I like "Lineup" a lot.
Workshops can be so exhausting. We were lucky because the place where we took our wc workshop provides everything...the studio, the rooms, the food, cocktail hours, and even evening programs a few nights. That way you get to spend more time sharing with the other artists too.
Joan, the Art Center is great. The screen and all the equipment is first class. The easels have trays for the pastel dust and built in adjustable mahl sticks.
I like doing figures, but this was such a new way. I never finished.
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