Mendocino Workshop

Back-to-back weekend workshops can be a bit draining, but last weekend's worksop at the Mendocino Art Center was quite energizing. Although we never saw the sun, an fit was sometimes arctic outdoors, I had a very inspired group of 14 painters who were willing to face the elements.

I did have to do my demos indoors, since the morning temps hovered around 50 degrees and the fog was so heavy that it made standing around watching me too uncomfortable. Plus, the classroom had a mirror so everyone could see. I did do my studies and line work outdoors, but brought everyone back to the classroom for the final painting.

Both of these paintings are from basically the same location behind the center. One looking down the adjacent lane, and the other looking north toward the magnificent cypress tree.

The Mendocino Art Center is quite a vital venue for workshops. The center is undergoing something of a renaissance and there were many artists about. I'm looking forward to returning next year.

Point Reyes-First Workshop of 2015

Had a great workshop last Saturday at the Point Reyes National Seashore, at the Red Barn educational center near the Visitor's Center.

Fortunately the rain storm that rolled through Friday night cleared into a beautiful day for painting.

The group was particularly congenial. I'm always flattered that people sign up to hear my suggestions and advice on how to improve their watercolor painting.

Here are some photos of the participants along with my demonstration painting of the barn. Needlessto say, looking at the photos, we talked a lot about mixing greens.

Red Barn, Point Reyes National Seashore 

Plein Air in Monterey

 I just got back from the Plein Air convention in Monterey last weekend, and wanted to share some of the paintings I did while there. At the end of every day, the entire group went out to paint. Day 1 was Asilomar, Day 2 found us at Lover's Point, and the third day we were at the beach in Carmel.

 It's quite a scene with around 700 painters at work. I'll post more about the convention soon.

 Heres' my demonstration done at the convention. You can compare it to the source in the previous post.

     

Plein Air Convention in Monterey

I'm getting ready for a demonstration next week. I will be one of the faculty members at the Plein Air Convention in Monterey. I'll also be one of the demonstrators (at the ungodly hour of 8:15AM) next Wednesday. 

These images are a sneak peak of the demonstration subject, the Morgan Horse Ranch in Point Reyes. These were done as part of a plein air demonstration during a workshop last year.  In my workshops, I always emphasize the use of a study sketch, so I've included it too. Somewhat counterintuitively for a plein air convention, this demonstration will be done indoors.

I never thought I would enjoy these demonstrations, being a pretty shy guy. But I've come to really enjoy them.

Workshops 2015

There are still spaces left in my SF Bay Area workshops in May. If you're in the Maryland or Whidbey Island areas, please consider the workshops in July and September.

April 25
Point Reyes National Seashore (wait list)

May 2-3
Mendocino Art Center, Mendocino
http://www.mendocinoartcenter.org/Spring15/Reardon.html

May 17
Preservation Park, Oakland
http://www.mreardon.com/workshops.html




May 31
Washington Square, San Francisco
http://www.mreardon.com/workshops.html

July 24-26
Chesapeake Fine Art Studio, Stevensville, Maryland
info@chesapeakefineartstudio.com

September 12
Berkeley Marina, Berkeley
http://www.mreardon.com/workshops.html

September 25-27
Whidbey Island Fine Art Studio, Langley, Washington
http://www.whidbeyislandfas.com/workshops/mreardon_2015.html

October 27-30
New Mexico Watercolor Society, Las Cruces, NM (wait list)

Registration and more information for all of these can be found on my website, www.mreardon.com. I hope to see you there. They should be a lot of fun.

Happy Holidays

Three Chapters Down

I'm quite pleased to announce that I'm writing a book on watercolor painting for North Light Books. Now that I've completed three out of the nine chapters, I feel comfortable letting the cat out of the bag. It will be a 144-page hardback volume, which is quite exciting. The working title is, Painting Light and Color in the Modern Landscape.

The contract was signed last May, but I've been a bit reluctant to announce it. It's scheduled for publication in February 2016, so the need for an announcement didn't feel terribly urgent.

One of the guidelines for North Light is that the images come first, and the words come second, so it will be filled with paintings. I'm using InDesign to compose the pages to be sure the images and words work together, knowing full well that the book designers will be free to do as they choose. But at least my intent will be well communicated.

Yes, there will be a page about brushes, hence the image above. I'm hoping to post here at times as the book moves along. My editor says it's okay to post some images, but not to show too much, since it's very early in the process. My final deadline is next May, so I still have my work to do.