First Day Of PAAM

Today was the first day of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum's summer workshops.
My first day of class went off with beautiful weather; we painted a simple landscape of the pier on the beach. We finished the class as the tide forced us off the beach.

White In the Light

White has often been said to be the absence of color. In order to make white convincing we need to express first white in the light as well as the shadow.
On the right is an example of Henry Hensche's resent auctioned painting shown at the PAAM.
Clearly a typical silhouetted  outdoor portrait, Henry painted the white blouse very cool without being just some blue formula.

Clearly the white is many colors and their reflections holding within the mass.
Students hate to paint simple blocks because they aren't as exciting as the model or landscape; the struggle with white can be reduced through those exercises.

The White on the shoulders is not the white of the board it's a particular color, that relates to all the light planes.

Dulah Evans a student of Hawthorne, expresses an almost tour deforce of white in painter's on the beach.Hensche always said, "white in the shade is deeper than blue in the light. You can see all the reflections of color expressing the shade.

close up of hat by Dulah Evans

Dulah Evans oil on Masonite courtesy of Jim Bakker

The Hat below is a great example of this fundamental truth.

Hillary Osborn

 

My recent workshop in Falmouth, included a short visit to the Osborn Rugh Gallery. Hillary and I painted together in Provincetown years ago. It was wonderful seeing how her work has grown and discovering that Hillary and Her husband Dough Rugh have opened a gallery in Falmouth.
Osborn simplifies the landscape to the essentials and details are subject to the landscape as a whole.
I love Hillary's treatment of the foliage, because she treats them as masses more than a distracting linear approach.
Osborn's work is colorful and simple.
If you find yourself in Falmouth stop in and meet Hillary she is approachable and interested in sharing her work.  Osborn's website with address is   http:/www.osbornandrughgallery.com
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Falmouth Artist's Guild

Painting at Quissett harbor

Quissett Harbor brush demo by John Clayton

My workshop at the Falmouth Artist's Guild this weekend, brought me to exciting new painting places that I never would have explored.
The Falmouth students were for the most part accomplished artist's and very much open to painting with color.
I enjoyed sharing some of the principles of cape school painting, along with passing on some history.
We started with simple block studies and then moved on to some elements of landscape painting; using the pallet knife to keep things simple.
Some of the students felt the knife created much needed challenges that will help their painting stay loose and fresh. Others found the knife difficult to handle.
The weather was perfectly sunny. I was becoming concerned that I wasn't going to demonstrate the cloudy day; crucial to understanding the light key.
Sunday  we had an overcast morning and I did a quick demo before the sun came out.
The last part of workshop we used brushes.
It was great to see the growth during a few days of painting; teacher included.