Perhaps I should have confessed it up front to Elizabeth, but I had had never been in an art classroom in an institution of higher learning. I have been in art classrooms at art schools, but never a college or university. Being primarily self taught the last 45 years of painting, my art comes from what I love. The only ‘formal’ instruction I have had is various workshops from artists I admire the last 15 years.
It was a class of about 10 students, all pursuing different disciplines. After a short talk about “The Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley”, we launched into a demonstration painting. I chose a seascape in Garrapata State Park for my study. I really enjoyed the intimate setting where students scooted up right around my easel to watch me paint.
Here are some photos during my demo, some courtesy of Elizabeth. (Click on the thumbnails to see larger versions)–
Here is the painting about where I left it in class…
The painting about where I left it in class.
I touched up the painting a bit after returning to my studio which can be seen at the top of this weblog entry.
The Cambrian Artists League invited me for an ‘encore’ demonstration last Saturday. I had previously done a demo for them several years ago, and they wanted more. I did a snow scene for the last demo, and they wanted a seascape this time.
I chose as my subject a scene from Perkins Park in Pacific Grove, CA. In the spring, the ice plant blooms there and the entire park is covered in a blanket of reds, pinks, and purples. I had painted there last year for the Carmel Art Festival, and in fact lately have been doing a painting in the park for the festival every year as they always sell. I have wanted to do a larger studio piece of the same scene.
Here are a few pictures near the end of the demo. (Click on the thumbnails to view larger pictures)
Here is the painting after about two hours of demoing…most of the major elements were at least blocked in…
The painting at the end of the demo
Thanks, Cambrian Artists League! It was a fun morning with a lively bunch of artists!
I later finished the piece in the studio, pictured above. As usual, a painting is never completely finished until it goes out the door, but will set it aside for now.
Enjoy this short video of a 90 minute demo I did for the Society of Western Artists reduced down to about two minutes. After watching this, it seemed I was turned around talking to the audience as much as I was painting!
You can also read about this demo and a revolutionary new painting technique on my weblog here.
AKA How Not to Transport a Painting
AKA A New Type of Street Art
AKA Society of Western Artists Demo
The story starts at a demo I did for the Society of Western Artists in San Bruno, CA, last Saturday. I never thought in a few hours I would discover a new painting technique not heard of before.
It was a great two hours of demoing, technique, and jokes with a lively crowd constantly peppering me with questions. Here’s a few pictures during the demo– Click on the thumbnails for a larger picture
SWA Demo
SWA Demo
SWA Demo
I am usually not crazy about my demo paintings, but this one was turning out well, even though it was only half done, so I was anxious to complete it back in the studio. Here is a picture of the piece as I was nearing the end of the demo–
Original painting near end of the demo (courtesy John Barrow)
After loading up, and heading out for the hour drive home, as soon as I entered the freeway, realized I had left the wet demo painting on top of the car! I pulled over, and it was gone! So, I turned around, went back, and found the painting face down in the middle of El Camino Real, the busy main boulevard. It was in the middle of the lane and didn’t look run over, but one corner was damaged. Here is a recreation of the scene with the painting in the road.
Recreation of my painting face down on El Camino Real
…and the painting now looked like this:
My demo painting was now a snowstorm!
The asphalt had gouged out spots all over the surface and my misty Yosemite painting had turned into a snowstorm! I just accidentally discovered a new way to paint snowstorms! What a great new technique! Just do your painting, then go out and rub it on the road! Asphalt probably works best, but maybe I can try cement streets also!
To top it off, a copy of a Neff original, even though half done, is now in the asphalt of San Bruno, albeit a reverse image. Maybe I should charge them?!?
All tongue in cheek of course, and I actually don’t recommend you transport paintings this way!
So now, the decision is: 1) pick out a few pieces of asphalt, trim the bad corner off, leave it as is and finish it; 2) paint back over it; or 3) start a new painting. The corner was damaged enough I started a new painting since at most a couple hours painting time was lost during the demo. Here is the new painting at about the same development as the demo was before the snowstorm–
The new painting at about the same completion as the demo.
I spent the next few days finishing the painting —
Misty Sentinel,16×20,oil on board
So now, what do I do with the original snow storm painting? Any suggestions?
BTW, we are planning on producing a short video of the demo as SWA videoed much of it, so stay tuned!
Pacific Calm, 24×12, oil on canvas
I was invited by a long time painting friend, Steve Wise, to do a demo at the Valle Del Sur Art Guild in Morgan Hill, a town about 10 miles south of San Jose. I have painted this area many times including during the Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley.
Steve asked me to do either a seascape or lake scene, so I chose a seascape. Recently, I have been doing a series of vertical water paintings, so picked a seascape to start for the scene. As usual with these demos, there is not enough time to do a finished painting, but I tried to finish off certain portions to demonstrate various techniques in painting seascapes.
It was a small, but lively group, and seemed like questions were coming once a minute as I tried to paint. Steve is quite the art historian, and kept things lively with his historical quips.
Here is the final version of the painting I started as a demo at the San Leandro Art Association last week. At the time it was less than half done, and I spent another couple hours on it in my studio.
You can read more about the demo and see how much I did in the 90 minutes or so during the meeting here —
