Today was the first of a three day plein air painting work shop with legendary landscape artist Don Demers. I plan on posting extensively about the entire experience and sharing my notes and images here on this blog. Sitting here with my laptop I'm realizing that there is so much information and I have so many images and notes to share after day one, that I am going to space out the information over the course of the week. He did two demos today, each with a different technique and goal. I'm going to post about the first one today.
In the morning we met at the Creative Arts center in Chatham. There were 14 painters, including myself. Most were from the Cape and after painting and chatting with them, found that all were very capable and some were professional with gallery representation. Most had already studied with Don before..this was my frist time meeting him. He's a really nice guy and I'm not just saying that. He's very down to earth, smart, witty and very passionate about making art. After a brief synopsis of what to expect for the day we all met at Round Cove landing in Harwitch. (click on any of the images to see them larger).
Don set up for his demo using an Open box M plein air set up mounted on a camera tripod. It was mostly sunny with high humidity and heat expected to reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit with strong winds. Not perfect but far better than rain. Here are my notes: (I will expand them as best I can but forgive me, it's very late and I need to rest to do it all again tomorrow). Dons plan for this first demo was to help us clarify our thoughts and simplify the subject matter before us on canvas. He started with a thumbnail sketch of the composition using a soft pencil on paper.
His thumbnail sketch, shown above, was only a few inches but proportionate to the size and shape of his canvas. He squints his eyes to better understand the value structure of the composition and then assigns those values in his thumbnail drawing. He's not interested in detail at this point. he's looking for abstract shapes and organizing them in an artistic manner. He's not seeing boats, he's seeing abstract shapes. He's not staying exactly true to whats before him, rather, he may make a shape larger or smaller, longer or shorter...whatever he feels would make the composition serve or support his initial intent. This thumbnail drawing will serve as reference and he will stay true to it as the painting progresses and the sun and shadows move and change.
Dons palette is made up of various oil painting brands, he's not committed to any one specifically but said he was getting rid of his Rembrandts. He likes Utrecht. He talked about historical palettes of former artist and stressed not to get to caught up in all of that, palettes are no big deal. Keep them simple, at least two reds, two yellows and two blues. Don changes his palette with his paintings but mostly lives in the neutrals. His palette today was pretty typical for him. From lower left to right, going clockwise:
Alizeran Crimson, Cad Red medium, Cad Orange, Yellow Ochre, Cad Yellow light, Cad Yellow Medium, Viridian, Cobalt blue, Ultramarine Blue...those two earth colored worms at the bottom are Raw Sienna and his favorite Greenish Umber...He swore greenish umber will get landscape painters out of a lot of binds. No white yet!
Here was the scene before Don. He noted that he was attracted to it for it's close value range and smokey air atmosphere. He said that subjects with close value ranges are more moody and have more feeling.
He began by mixing a dark color and added liquin...Liquin is a quick-dry alkyd based medium. He then began drawing the shapes with a small bristle brush, taking care to stay true to his thumbnail and nature before him. For this demo he is working on the white of the canvas (No wash) he's using linen mounted on birch panel. While working, he quoted artist and recommended books. He recommended a Dover publications book titled "Composition" and quoted from it, "Don't seek beautiful objects to paint, instill beauty in the everyday arrangements"....or something like that. Is it too late to say that I am personally responsible for everything that I write here about Don Demers. If I misquote or misrepresent what he communicated in any way, I defer to baking in the sun all day.
When the painted drawing on the canvas was done, he switched to a larger brush and began washing in some of the dark shapes, again, staying true to the values he already established in the thumbnail drawing and trying to interlock pieces of the dark puzzle. He said that in art school, they told him to use the biggest brush to get the job done, but Don disagreed to the extent that it makes more sense to use the right brush for the job at hand. "I understand the concept of breadth with a large brush but it can lead to sloppiness...instead, use the right brush." He recommends using a variety of brushes; flats, rounds and his favorite and most versatile, the filbert brush. He was using bristle brushes but will also use synthetics to soften edges later if needed. He wants to cut down on his brush collection. He shared his thoughts as the painting developed: Areas of inactivity should be complimented by areas of activity. He cleaned his brushes with Gamsol (an odorless turpentine substitute)
Here he has quickly laid in the background foliage and simplified it as a color shape. This was key for me to see personally...I would have tended to fill that background landscape mass with more detail, darks and lights. Don laid it on, pow! He then had to make a critical decision about the sky and water color and value. They were similar but one had to be definitively different from the other in color and value...He made the sky darker.
As Don filled in the water, he switched to a bigger brush because he had more space to fill. He's trying to build connections with his color, making it warmer or cooler as needed. He prefers to work from the neutrals outwardly and noted that paintings can live in the neutral zone for almost the entire painting and then in the last five minutes can pop and come to life with the addition of chromatic colors or whatever color is necessary to do so. Again he mentioned the inherent moody feeling you get from using neutrals and similar value ranges. He compared it to the evocative and emotional response you get from black and white photography. He deliberately opted not to begin this with a transparent wash under painting because the smokey and moody atmosphere is better expressed with rich color. Don used a viewfinder to isolate and focus on a color relationship between the sky and where it met the distant landscape. As the painting progressed, the tide and landscape changed, this is where a landscape painter must stay committed to the original thumbnail or they will be chasing their tail.
This was a cool tool...a small metal rod that Don bent the end on and uses to help him paint straight lines.
"I'm not a formulaic painter...I'm more reactive to the subject, thats where the truth is".
Don started laying in thicker paint, gliding it across the canvas using the side of the brush sometimes. He went back into the tree shapes on the right and used a darker and cooler color, pushing, touching and dragging color. Using a very light color and a small brush he added small notes to the background looking to add to the spirit of the piece..small punctuations...this is where the art is...even thought he's a realist, he's thinking in abstract terms...looking, thinking, feeling, selecting....Artistic selection of the landscape.
Here is the finished painting. Click on it to see it larger...he added that mooring ball on the lower right and saw it as oriental in it's concept....a small, quiet shape surrounded by all this shape...it was almost like a musical sound..bing! He started the painting at 9:45am and finished an hour and twenty minutes later at 11:05. He asked us to find a spot and do an exercise-not a painting-but an exercise to find structure, organize our thoughts and image. I'll post my exercise manana.
Kate Wyeth Bonita. Born Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 7:57 am. 8 pounds. 22.5". 
I'm taking reservations for next years Monhegan Island, Maine plein air painting workshop which will take place September 6 - 9. We will spend four days, totally immersed, painting outdoors around the village, small coves and craggy coast of this Island art colony. This is a relaxed workshop, open to all levels. Cost is $300. 
The annual Button factory open studios is happening this coming weekend and I will be opening my doors for the fourth year for this event. My studio is #224, please come by and say hello, I will have beer, wine, cream soda and treats....and oh yeah, plenty of original artwork. This is a fun time as over 70 artist open their doors for this once a year event. Here are the details:
I'm thrilled to announce my new relationship with The Bowersock Gallery in Provincetown, Mass, they will be representing my still life oil paintings in the coming 2011 season. I couldn't be happier as they have been on my radar since 2006. I've had their gallery postcard tacked to my bulletin board for three years and have sent them my work on two occasions since 2006. They are extremely professional, believe in their artist, appear to have a clear mission and vision for their approach to the market and they invest in the promotion of their artist and themselves. This is evident by their advertising in national art magazines and involvement with things like leasing booth space at this weekends 14th annual Boston International Fine Art show. I'm honored to be affiliated with them. 
I finished this small gallery painting (6x8") that I have been tickling in the studio...I titled it "Breathe". To me, this old working craft is taking a breather before that tide creeps in. It started out as a plein air painting and then evolved into a class demonstration where I showed how to turn your out door studies into a more thought out studio painting.
I did this small little painting (5x7") as a mental exercise in simplicity. I love the idea of "K.I.S.S."...."Keep it simple stupid". I pretty much base my design theory on it as most of my studio paintings are about a singular, simple subject existing in a subordinate space. I borrowed the premis from Ken Beck, my first painting instructor at the Art Institute of Boston almost twenty years ago. He once asked our class to paint a bunch of bananas and then at critique time he suggested we focus or crop in closer to get at the essence of the subject and to make a more interesting design. He stressed the importance of squinting to simplify the big shapes and asked us to step back so we could see our composition on canvas from across the room...ideally, it should pop from across the room. Ken paints huge, pallet knife paintings, usually a singular subject and they pop from across the state line..they are strong works of art and stand out in a room full of paintings.
Ken Beck with some of his art.
I just finished this small oil painting on wood panel and titled it, "Sea shack" (6x8"). This is a painting I completed from referencing my plein air (outdoor) study of this salt box shack in Chatham, Mass on Cape Cod not long ago. (see below) Seeing them side-by-side makes me appreciate the characteristics and finishes that each version possesses. I like the freshness, looseness and sketchy-ness of the outdoor study (below) while at the same time, I like the amount of detail, textural variety and mood I put in the studio version (above). I get a different satisfaction from each, not to mention, the experience of making them had there own inherent but different joys.
This is a sketch I did today of Lt. Raymond Murphy. He was a New York city firefighter and a hero who died while saving lives on 9/11/2001. I did not know him but thought it might be a respectful way to pay tribute to him today. Here is a link to a web sight that was set up by his family as a way to remember him. Raymond Murphy Rest in peace and thank you Raymond.
This is from my recent plein air painting trip to Chatham, Mass on Cape Cod.
I found this cool little salt box shack near Chatham harbor and started my lay-in.
I'm using the 9x12" Open box M pochade mounted to a tripod and working in oils on an 8x10" wood panel prepared with gesso. In this above photo, I am washing in the local color very loosely with a paper towel and without any drawing. I'm just looking for a loose representation of the big mass shapes, values and colors.
Here above, I am taking my time to measure and draw with paint. I've changed a few things in my composition, like taking out that un-sightly "No Trespassing sign". I felt it was stopping the veiwer from entering the picture plane.
I kept the foliage pretty simple and used it to silhouette the shack. This is about two hours. At the time of this posting, I am almost finished turning this plein air painting into a finished studio painting. I will post that in a few days.
Just getting around to posting this small (6x8") oil on wood panel painting titled, "Lovers". This is one of the paintings I finished for the Kennedy Gallery show and is currently hanging there. The image started from photos I took in Winthrop, Mass (where I grew up) not far from where my mother currently lives near the public boat launch. I've flipped it, adjusted shapes, pushed and pulled compositional elements until I was satisfied with a design that supported this little concept. The darkest darks - lightest lights and the hardest edges are on the boat in the foreground. This is to control the journey of the viewers eye throughout this picture..it begins on that boat and eventually makes it's way to those gulls in the background. The lovers. This is achieved by placement of shapes and softening the edges on the gulls...your eye will go first to harder edges and greater contrasting areas (ie: the boat). As a narrative, you first see the empty and worn surfaces of this quiet and perhaps contemplative boat. Your eye then horse-shoes clockwise to the boat reflection - mooring - land shape - and then to the gulls. It happens in a second. It doesn't matter that the viewer recognizes all this tom-foolery....for me, on the other hand...it keeps me interested when I try to achieve something with another layer beyond picture making. Great fun for me.
I was thrilled to see two of my favorite seacoast painters come to my opening last night at the Kennedy Gallery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Pictured above are Stan Moeller and Mary Byrom.
Thank you Wendy, Terri and Lyn from Kennedy Gallery for all your hard work and doing a beautiful job designing the show, you are awesome.
This is part of my Bonita crew (above) after the show at the Portsmouth Brewery. (From Left: Sister Kara licking my hand, Mom, Me, Bobby in the yellow shirt; he was the model for my "Smitty" painting..and my sisters boyfriend Scott. 
Add for the show from Fosters (click to see larger). 
When the painted drawing on the canvas was done, he switched to a larger brush and began washing in some of the dark shapes, again, staying true to the values he already established in the thumbnail drawing and trying to interlock pieces of the dark puzzle. He said that in art school, they told him to use the biggest brush to get the job done, but Don disagreed to the extent that it makes more sense to use the right brush for the job at hand. "I understand the concept of breadth with a large brush but it can lead to sloppiness...instead, use the right brush." He recommends using a variety of brushes; flats, rounds and his favorite and most versatile, the filbert brush. He was using bristle brushes but will also use synthetics to soften edges later if needed. He wants to cut down on his brush collection. He shared his thoughts as the painting developed: Areas of inactivity should be complimented by areas of activity. He cleaned his brushes with Gamsol (an odorless turpentine substitute)
Here he has quickly laid in the background foliage and simplified it as a color shape. This was key for me to see personally...I would have tended to fill that background landscape mass with more detail, darks and lights. Don laid it on, pow! He then had to make a critical decision about the sky and water color and value. They were similar but one had to be definitively different from the other in color and value...He made the sky darker.
As Don filled in the water, he switched to a bigger brush because he had more space to fill. He's trying to build connections with his color, making it warmer or cooler as needed. He prefers to work from the neutrals outwardly and noted that paintings can live in the neutral zone for almost the entire painting and then in the last five minutes can pop and come to life with the addition of chromatic colors or whatever color is necessary to do so. Again he mentioned the inherent moody feeling you get from using neutrals and similar value ranges. He compared it to the evocative and emotional response you get from black and white photography. He deliberately opted not to begin this with a transparent wash under painting because the smokey and moody atmosphere is better expressed with rich color. Don used a viewfinder to isolate and focus on a color relationship between the sky and where it met the distant landscape. As the painting progressed, the tide and landscape changed, this is where a landscape painter must stay committed to the original thumbnail or they will be chasing their tail.
This was a cool tool...a small metal rod that Don bent the end on and uses to help him paint straight lines.
"I'm not a formulaic painter...I'm more reactive to the subject, thats where the truth is".
Marilyn Graziano holding her Bonita reproduction.jpg)
Finally finished the beast...this is the largest oil painting I've done to date at 48x60". I've painted some larger murals but the focus on this level of finish was much more intense for me. I really enjoyed the experience of this scale and I'm looking forward to doing another and maybe something obscenely larger in the future. That would be great fun. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I painted a smaller version (18x24") of this painting titled "The Lake", but always felt that shallow water in the foreground needed to be almost life size. .jpg)
This is a 48x60" I'm working on for an upcoming solo show at Gallery 51 in Meredith, NH on lake Winnipesaukee this summer. I have been thinking of painting a whopper for a while and this seemed to be a good opportunity. I painted an 18x24" version of this about two years ago. I really liked the way it came out and wanted to explore the shallow water in this on a larger scale. The 18x24" painting sold three days after exhibition so I never really had a honeymoon period with it. She's been on my mind ever since so it's time for a rebirth on a grander scale...Or as Brody put it in Jaws, "Gonna need a bigger boat".
The Swinging Maxes.
Christopher Volpe
