Toscana Americana

How much is enough? That depends. This workshop will explore how much information you have to put into your painting to capture the essence of a place in time. This can vary with the subject and the artists intent. Learning how to see is really the challenge we face as artists. Not everything our eye settles on need be included in our painting. Often less, really is more. Especially when seeking to engage the viewer. This workshop will study the quality and color and effects of light, and how it can be rendered in such a way as to convincingly portray to the viewer the time of day and season of the year. We will practice how to lead the viewers eye into, through and around our paintings by utilizing color accents and contrast. Plein air painting typically affords a relatively short amount of time to capture a scene. Getting sidetracked into working on unnecessary details can upset the rhythm of a painting. We'll work to keep compositions simple but strong, striving to provide the minimum of detail in our attempts to capture the essence of the scene. Working small at first we will build on a process which we can then use to complete larger more complex works by increasing the amount of detail as needed.

My work has been influenced by the first plein air painters of late 19th century Italy known as " I Macchiaioli " primarily Vicenzo Cabianca, Giovanni Fatori, Telemaco Signorgni, and Giovanni Boldini.

"Being an artist to me means learning how to see light and color in its constantly changing states. It is high drama that gets my heart pounding from the thought that I just might be able to "catch" it."

The week at a glance...

First day of our workshop the morning session will focus on the basics of executing a painting in pastel en plein air. This will include composition, value scales , aerial perspective, color,edges, contrast, and equipment set up. These basics will be become the fundamental elements that we will use repeatedly during the workshop. I will demonstrate my painting technique, emphasizing these fundamentals.

The first day afternoon session will focus on small (8x10) paintings striving to produce a number of quick sketches implementing the fundamentals covered in the morning session. Our goal is to begin capturing light , shadow and movement with the focus on simplicity.

Each subsequent morning we will study a historically significant artists painting that illustrates the strength in simplicity. Some of those artists are : John Singer Sargent, Giovanni Fatori, Vincenzo Cabianca, Giovanni Boldini and many of the other Italian artists known as the Macchiaioli. This will be a brief discussion. (No more than 1/2 hour)

Following this discussion I will demonstrate my pastel technique for recording a scene. This will take the better part of an hour after which we'll take a short break.

After our break participants will set up their easels and select a scene, execute a thumbnail sketch or Notan and begin painting.

We will continue working on smaller paintings with individual instruction and guidance being given to each student. This activity will take us up to lunch time.

Afternoon workshops will focus on a larger painting (12x18 or larger) incorporating more bits of visual information.

The final day of our workshop we will focus on a medium size(11x14 or 12x16) painting and a large painting following lunch.

An art show of participants paintings and friendly critique will wrap up this workshop.

Overall Basic aspects of constructing a painting will be discussed and emphasis towards sound compositional principles and a representational style of painting will be our focus. Additional questions regarding materials , such as different types of pastel papers and grounds, different makes and grades of soft pastel, framing , handling ,transporting , etc will be answered to the best of my ability and experience. Having fun is an important ingredient for my workshop. I expect many laughs will be shared, new friends will be made and good paintings will be taken home to be framed and treasured.

Casa Santa Magherita Special...