Tuscany

Here's a shot of our first class painting plein air in Tuscany a few weeks ago. what a beautiful landscape. and the light, wow! thanks for the pic, chris!

Today was the first day of the Rhode Island workshop. we talked about the importance of values in the painting process. without understanding values you can never fully understand color.

its sort of the "which came first? the chicken or the egg" argument about color and value. if you mix the right color you WILL have the right value because to have the right color you HAVE to have the right value.

next we covered drawing and its importance. if you struggle with drawing you'll always struggle with painting. your shapes have to be correct no matter how proficient you may be in the area's of mixing color, or brushwork, etc. The painting will always look amateurish if the drawing looks amateur. i'm sure youve heard me say all this before. its my mantra when i'm in teaching mode. i want to make better painters and giving folks the truth is better than trying to decieve them into thinking they'll be better painters just by taking a three day workshop. you can learn stuff but if you dont practice what you learned, it wont produce long lasting results.

the students who paint the miles and miles of canvas it takes to get better, will get better. Lots better!