Mike Hernandez Workshop!

Last weekend I was lucky to be in a workshop given by Mike Hernandez.  Mike's gouache paintings that he posts on Facebook have caught the eye of many of us.  He does such beautiful work.

Mike is a very kind person and generous teacher.  He is a production designer at Dreamworks, working with a graphic vocabulary for the commercial artwork he does which also applies to his personal gouache pieces.  Mike's knowledge of light and shadow nuances was boggling.  I took notes as fast a I could!  Mike emphasized the hierarchies that our brains like when we look at paintings.  The hierarchy, what you want people to see, is the composition with contrasts in shape, value, color, and detail.    

"Don't paint things, paint shapes!"  I know that works well, I just need to put it into practice.  Mike pointed out how we improve in technique by doing a lot of paintings.  So in the workshop we did a lot of paintings.  One day we met at a nearby location to do some plein air work after Mike's demo.  These were 30 minute 3" x 5" pieces, mine pictured below.  Back at the studio we did more 30 minute studies from projected photos.  The next day we did more quick, small studies to work on simplifying busy landscape scenes.  We started at 5 minute 1.5" x 2.5" size and worked down to 30 seconds, then back up to 5 minutes.  These exercises were fun to try and I saw I was learning more about simplifying shapes and economy of brushstrokes.  Mike generously ended with a beautiful demo.  As always I have a lot to remember when out painting.  Such an inspiring workshop!

My 3" x 5" gouache

My 3" x 5" gouache

Mike Hernandez

Both, my 3" x 5" gouaches

My 1.5" x 2.5" studies

Mike Hernandez

Chien Chung Wei Workshop!

In August I was fortunate to have the opportunity to take a workshop given by Chien Chung Wei, the amazing watercolor artist from Taiwan.  Chien came to the United States after giving a workshop in Italy, then Canada.  Next he was in Portland, Oregon, working his way down to Pasadena.  From following Chien on Facebook I was getting a hint of what an exciting workshop it would be. 

Chien has a school for watercolor study in Taiwan so he wanted to condense the three year course into three days for us!  It's all about the "DNA of Beauty".  He has ten foundation points of his DNA that we should learn and they should become a habit while we paint.  Six points were "Yes" things to keep in mind (like "more detail in the focal point") and four were "No"s (like "no sameness or overdoing").  Chien's emphasis is on good composition, having the elements of size, shape, value, color, detail, balance, all working together.  He also showed us how to fix bad brushstrokes.  He would rewet part of a stroke and put lines through it using the ferrule of a small inexpensive brush.  Chien also used the edges of a palette knife to add texture and abstract interest.  I hadn't seen that kind of work done before on a watercolor piece.  Opaque watercolors are also something Chien uses often.     

After watching Chien paint a snow scene we all tried the same scene.  This was the only piece I painted in the workshop.  At the end of the first day he handed out a postcard of one of his paintings to each of us and we were to paint it as an abstract as homework.  My postcard was an older piece of his, a floral still life.  I tried the abstract but didn't take it far enough since it still looks like a vase of flowers.  I should try it again.  Chien emphasized the abstract quite often.  He likes detail in a painting to be "loose detail", abstract.  Also what isn't important in the piece should be abstract.    

Originally the workshop was to have some plein air painting outside but the weather was too hot.  A very hot weekend.  Chien asked us if we would like to see him paint more demos or if we would like to paint more.  It was unanimous to watch Chien!  He is a very animated, while thoughtful, person.  What a treat, and I'm looking forward to taking another workshop from him sometime. 

8" x 10" My watercolor after the demo 

Chien's snow scene photo

Chien first day

Completed Venice night scene, second day

Third day demo started

5" x 7" Watercolor - my not-abstract-enough piece

Frank Eber Workshop!

I was lucky to be able to take a recent workshop from Frank Eber.  I took a class from Frank three years ago which was before I started plein air painting and had little confidence.  I was really hoping another workshop with Frank would come my way.  It finally happened, a three day workshop at the National Watercolor Society headquarters in San Pedro.

The first day, after watching Frank paint, we all tried a coastal scene from one of his photos.  A fun scene, lots of green.  In the afternoon, from Frank's photo, we started a pastoral scene with a barn and cows.  Frank loves to paint cows and he had a big board illustrated with basic cow shapes to share.  The next day we met at the Pt. Fermin Lighthouse.  The morning started out cloudy but cleared up and we could add some sun to our paintings.  We watched Frank paint morning and afternoon demos which turned out so beautifully and were so inpsiring.  The last day we all met at the channel next to Ports O' Call and tried a harbor scene.  There is no shade at that location so lucky for me it was overcast.  My boats and water still need practice.  We all chose our views and Frank painted another wonderful piece.  We went back to the NWS studio and Frank advised us on finishing our pieces.  My barn and cows aren't finished yet.  This workshop was such a wonderful experience, and Frank is so generous with his tips and guidance.  So much fun!   

The view I chose - 10" x 8" Watercolor

Frank Eber

The view I chose - 10" x 8" Watercolor

Frank Eber

After Frank's studio demo

Frank Eber

Keiko Tanabe Workshop!

Last month I had the opportunity to get a spot in a 3-day workshop given by Keiko Tanabe at the NWS headquarters in San Pedro.  Keiko is one of my favorite plein air watercolor painters.  I was really looking forward to being able to watch her paint again and absorb some of her expertise.  I took a workshop taught by Keiko two years ago when I was first starting plein air painting and enjoyed it so much.  She is so generous and such a lovely person.  

Our first day was in the studio and we all tried painting from Keiko's photos.  She did morning and afternoon demos and we tried the same scenes of Italy and San Clemente, CA.  The next day we met at the harbor for some outdoor painting.  We had a fun morning watching Keiko paint and then trying the working harbor scene ourselves.  I've mentioned my painting of water and boats needs more practice...still does!  In the afternoon we painted in another area at the harbor and I found something without boats and water to try, a more "industrial" scene that I enjoy.  On the final morning we met at Averill Park which is a beautiful place.  There is a stream with ducks, trees, and dappled light creating a wonderful mood.  In the afternoon we went back to the studio to watch Keiko paint another demo.  She's just so quick and amazing.  Very inspiring! 

9 x 13" Watercolor

Keiko Tanabe

8 x 10" Watercolor

Keiko Tanabe

A diver doing repairs who was surprised to see us .

8 x 10" Watercolor

Averill Park

David Taylor Workshop!

This month I was able to attend a workshop with David Taylor in Santa Barbara, California.  I had been looking forward to this for a long time and I wasn't disappointed.  Meeting David and watching him paint was such a treat.  David painted two demos a day for the 5-day workshop and each piece captures the feel of Santa Barbara.  And I must say Santa Barbara looked stunning, every building perfectly adding to the ambiance.  I found David's way of teaching to be very helpful and he was so generous to us with his time and expertise.  

Our first morning was a little overcast and we were on the beach, painting two different views following David's demos, morning and afternoon.  Painting on the beach was a new experience for me and trying to paint two pieces a day is a push.  On Tuesday we met at the marina and David painted two gorgeous demo pieces.  But for me, boats and water, I need more practice on those two subjects!  I won't finish the two pieces I started.  We were up in the tower at the landmark courthouse building on Wednesday.  We painted street views Thursday and Friday.  Thursday, late evening, we were lucky to have the opportunity to watch David paint a night scene.  Wow, so interesting to see how he went about it.  

I hope I will be able to take another workshop from David sometime.  The week was a valuable experience and I look forward to applying what I learned.  It's difficult to paint something wonderful in a workshop, but here are three of my pieces and some fun photos...

8 x 10" Watercolor,  Santa Barbara Mission on the hill

Santa Barbara courthouse tower where we painted 

Our first day, setting up - Leadbetter Beach

8 x 10" Watercolor

 

David painting in the courthouse tower

8 x 10" Watercolor

The nocturne

Iain Stewart Workshop!

I was very lucky to have a spot in Iain Stewart's workshop this past week.   The workshop, titled Sketchbook to Studio, was at Judy Schroeder's wonderful gallery and studio space in the City of Orange, California.  Old Town Orange was the perfect location for some plein air sketching and painting which we could develop further in the studio under Iain's expert guidance.  

Iain is such friendly and fun person while also being a generous and inspiring instructor.  What could be better!  Well, he's also an amazing watercolor painter.  Workshops are an opportunity for me to see how artists I admire translate what they see to the paper.  Seeing how they mix colors, handle their brushes, apply paint, and add special touches are as valuable as what they say.  I'm happy to have gotten so many terrific tips from Iain's workshop.  I need to pay more attention to a careful preliminary drawing before jumping in with paint, and Iain was an excellent artist to watch at all stages.  Now I'm also paying more attention to relationships and alignments.  I haven't been keeping a sketchbook but I'm inspired to do that now after seeing Iain's amazing sketchbooks.  Should be fun thanks to Iain!  

8 x 10" watercolor after Iain's demo of this view

Sketchbook page of the 55 Freeway after Iain's demo

55 Freeway way off in the distance at the right

Iain added some touches as Dan held an umbrella

Iain Stewart

Z Workshop! Part 2

It's taken some time to wind down from the week-long workshop with Joseph Zbukvic in Fallbrook, CA.  As I've painted on a few paint-outs since then, Joseph's tips are on my mind.  Now just to put what I've learned into practice.  Looking through my pages of notes, some Joseph quotes jump out like, "Watercolor puts you in your place!" "Speed is good, haste is Not!"

As I mentioned in my last post, Z Workshop! Part1, after Joseph's demos in the studio, we then tried to paint the same scenes ourselves.  But twice we went out plein air painting and chose our own subjects to paint.  I'll post my two watercolors here. 

After we watched Joseph paint a street view just outside the art school, we were on our own.  The view he painted was intimidating to me so I chose the car wash across the street.  Another quote, "If your subject is wrong, you're Doomed!"  So true.  When Joseph came by to see how I was doing he gave me some great advice to narrow down what I had in mind and simplify.  He was encouraging when he saw the piece almost finished.  Not so much the way he would do it of course, but I learned a lot.  

The next morning we all met at a beautiful property in the hilly vineyard area.  After watching Joseph paint a gorgeous view of the valley, we were free to choose our subjects.  "Impact and illusion of depth through contrasts of edge and tone." "You must be in the moment.  Don't paint a picture."  I had fun with this view and Joseph seemed to think it was OK.  He warned about judging a plein air piece when you're out in nature since they can't compete.  More good advice.  

The workshop was so much fun and I learned so much from Joseph.  He's such a down to earth person. He rode a borrowed bicycle to the studio every day.  And he invited us all to the local pub after class each day.  I went once and he passed around his sketchbook.  Wow.  I'm ready for the next time he comes to California!