Thoughts on the Steven Walker workshop

The first week in April I took an oil painting workshop with Steven Walker, and it quite an eye opener on so many levels.  I learned so much, but more importantly rediscovered the joy of oil painting.  It's a long post, but I wanted to share my thoughts on the experience.

Steven working on his first demo.

The first day we introduced ourselves - more than half of the other artists were watercolorists, some were full time artists, and most already knew each other - which meant there was lots of chatter and laughter.  Then Steven talked about himself and his background in illustration and how he ended up in Ohio from Richmond, Virginia.   He takes his work seriously - but not himself, a good combination.

After that he showed us his set up, going over colors and additives and techniques in detail, answering questions as they came up.  Then the first demo, again talking as he worked.  It was mostly finished in about and hour and a half.

Then it was our turn.  I rather unwisely chose a single cluster of clouds as my reference photo for the first painting.  I say unwise because I struggled with it for the first two days - it was far more complicated and difficult than it seemed at first.  Watching the professional artists next to me breeze through their paintings with beautiful results made me feel rather inadequate.  By the third day I was done with that cloud whether or not the painting was finished.  One of my fellow students kindly told me that I was being too hard on myself.  I didn't see it at the time, but he was right.

The troublesome cloud painting,
with a study and the reference photo.

Finally found the "zone" with this one.

A landscape was chosen as the next painting, and that just clicked.  I was able to relax and get into the flow of things during the rest of the week.  The fields were painted with gusto and a pallet knife, a first for me.  It is such a wonderful feeling, being in the "zone" and such a relief to finally get there.  The rest of the week went very well I am happy to report.

What I learned

1) Relax.  I put too much pressure on myself to get it right immediately, instead of just going with the flow and letting it happen.

2)  Don't compare to others.  There were some impressive artists in the workshop, far above my skill level.   Experience counts for a lot, and I still have many, many hours of experience before me.

3) Plan.  As fast as Steven works, he still takes the time to think about what the final product will look like.  He had a stack of small scale studies that he often paints before starting on a larger painting, and encouraged all of us to do the same.

4)  Simplify.  It's a painting, not a photograph and not every detail is necessary, so worry only about what's needed.  At the end of the week he made a point that I had never thought about before.  If the painting is small, the viewer will automatically step closer to see details.  If it's large, the viewer will step back to take it all in, so larger paintings can have less detail than smaller ones.

5) Soften.  This goes along with the don't fuss over details idea.  Hard, sharp edges don't often occur in nature so having them in a landscape can make it look forced or artificial.  I was about doubtful about this with my clouds, but I went along with his suggestion to soften and blend cloud edges on my last painting.  The response from other artists and viewers was positive, so it turns out he was right!

Softer clouds on this one -
 I still need to finish the fields though!

There is much more I could talk about, but those are the basics of what I got from the workshop, technique-wise.  But most important of all was confidence.  I feel much better about my abilities with oil and believe that there will be a big improvement in the quality of my painting.

If you ever get the chance to take a class or workshop from Steven, I highly recommend you do so.  He really is a wonderful teacher.  And a special shout-out to Dan Knepper and his son Jordan for encouraging me to participate in the workshop.  Thanks guys, I'm sure I'll be seeing you around soon!

Turning koi

Turning Koi 6x6 pastel, copyright 2013

A few months ago I painted a series of 4x4 pastels, playing with a smaller size and surface.  Though most turned out alright, they weren't quite as good as I had hoped they would be so I've decided to give one of them another try.  Much better - and easier to photograph too.

Waiting for spring

Waiting for Spring 9x12 pastel, copyright 2013

The weather has been volatile this past week - it is March after all - wrecking havoc on sinuses but making for excellent scenery.  The beginning of the week saw heavy clouds and patches of flurries, but there were holes in clouds allowing sunlight to stream through.  I spent more than hour chasing the sunlight down backroads new to me and somehow managed not to get lost.  There were a few times when I wasn't sure exactly where I was, but I did manage to find my way back without having to consult a map, so I can say I was never completely lost.

This little gem of a spot came up unexpectedly when the road took a sudden turn to the right and meandered along a creek.  Corn and soybeans are the most crops around here, but winter wheat is my favorite to paint, as it turns the most wonderful shade of gold when ripe.  Right now it is dormant and a sort greenish yellow as opposed to the brown earth in the other, fallow fields.  Though the darkening clouds foretold six inches of snow (and a day off from school for the kids) later in the week, the bright field predicts that spring is just around the corner.  I am certainly ready for it.

Last Light

Last Light 11x14 pastel, copyright 2013

After I had so much fun with the little 6x6 pastels on claybord, I decided to try again with a larger one.   It works!  I am really loving this surface.  It doesn't take as many layers as the paper, but that's a good thing.  I tend to try to correct mistakes by adding more color and end up with "mud".  It takes some effort to fix when it's on paper and I've ruined a few erasers (and some paper) in the attempt.  But with this surface I can just wipe it down with a wet rag, paint on a little more primer and go back to work.  Perfect!

This scene is from a series of photos I took this fall while my husband drove me around the backroads near our house.  I've gotten a lot of inspiration from those photos, so don't be surprised if you see even more of them in the future.

Evening Glow

Evening Glow 6x6 pastel, copyright 2013

available for purchase $75 in my etsy shop

Two years ago I was experimenting with a new (to me) surface for oil paintings: 6x6 clayboard.   Designed for water based media, the clay coated surface soaked up the oils.  I coated it with pastel primer to make it less absorbant and also gave it a bit of texture.

Lately I've been thinking about surfaces for my pastels, something a little more sturdy but not outrageously expensive.  Some artists use gatorboard, but it isn't acid free.  Suddenly it occurred to me that clayboard would do the trick.  There were only two pieces left.  The first was covered in red acrylic, then pastel primer was applied with a very soft bristle brush.  On the second I used pink.

The results?  It's perfect!  The first one turned out quite well, the clayboard works just as well as any sanded paper, plus when framed it needs no backing board for support.  It looks great in the gold frame I had bought for the oil paintings.  The second one turned into a wiper, but that's okay - I just took it to the kitchen sink and sprayed it down - now it's good to go.  The other nice thing about clayboard is that it can be purchased in large sheets and cut down to size.  I think I'm going to have fun with this!

Tank top

Tank Top 12x16 charcoal, copyright 2013

Back to Life Drawing this week.  There were three poses; two were twenty minutes and one was forty minutes.  The twenty minute poses didn't turn out very well, but the forty minute one did.  The left hand and arm were at a very awkward angle to me and were erased several times, so I never got the chance to finish them.  I'm satisfied with everything else though.  

Tell me a story

Footprints in the Heart 9x12 pastel, copyright 2013

This fall I decided I would give portrait painting a serious try for the first time.  A year and a half of Life Drawing session had given me some confidence, and I had the perfect photo to work from.  Or so I thought.

As I started working, it became more and more obvious that the photo was not the best choice to use.  It was grainy, the lighting wasn't great, and the angle of the face was unusual.  However, this mimics a lot of situations for commissioned portrait painting, so I just went with it.  Four months later I have come to conclusion that I just don't have the patience to be a commissioned portraitist.

Don't get me wrong, I'm quite happy with how it turned out, but the path to get there was long and frustrating.  It was erased and wiped and reworked and overworked and erased again so many times that I had to walk away and let it sit on several occasions.  I have gained huge admiration for portrait artists, they have the hardest job in the art world in trying to make everyone happy!

Some of you will recognize the subject of this painting, but others will not.  The reason I chose this particular image is for the story it seems to tell.  Like Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring (not that I can even compare myself to Vermeer!) a good portrait should tell a story - or let the viewers make their own stories.