Speaking of Paris Bridges

Coincidentally, I was painting another Paris bridge when the Pont-au-Change sold. This one is the Pont Notre-Dame, which is one bridge east of the Pont-au-Change. This one has been on my "to paint" list for five years. I finally got to it. It's a very similar palette, but a different mood from the previous one.

Farewell

I just learned that my painting, Pont-au-Change, was just purchased at the Epperson Gallery show. Some paintings I have no problems selling, but there are a few where I feel some regret. This painting is one of them.

It originated in 2005 while I was in Paris with the Gabriel Prize. I walked over this bridge countless times, since I lived nearby. Near the end of my stay, I decided to do a plein air sketch. This is the one on the right. The following summer, I did the studio version based on the sketch.

This painting has had quite a track record. It has appeared in Watercolor Magazine, Splash 10, and a Watercolor West exhibition.

The good news is not only that I sold a painting, but that it is going to one of my students. I'm honored to have it go to a good home.

Workshop Redux

I just wanted to post three of the paintings done during the last workshop. We were focusing on trees and their shapes. The painters are Geddes Ulinskas (bottom left), Larry Hatfield (right) and Stephen Schumm (left). After all, they do the bulk of the work in the workshops.

Workshops

I just finished my third monthly workshop of 2010 this past weekend. This time we focused on using various greens to create lively tree shapes. Saturday was a bit tough due to the 90 degree temperatures and the 28% humidity made washes very challenging. Sunday however was superb.

The painting to the left was my 5" x 8" demonstration of the "garden shed" at the Oakland Rose Garden. I chose the view primarily for the variety of tree shapes and shades of green. The photo on the left shows me in the process of demonstrating (thanks Stephen Schumm for the photo).

The most gratifying aspect of these workshops is to see how much the students progress in just two days. At all my workshops there are breakthroughs on Sunday after struggles on Saturdays. My green recipes require some mental adjustments. (You really use red to make greens?)

Next month, July 17-18, we will do "The Dark Side" and work on creating rich, dark darks.