Art is an Imperative...

Well, that pretty much covers it.

Apropos of nothing else, my Essential Alla Prima Techniques workshop begins tomorrow. I expect we will have a good time and learn a lot...

Thomas

OutdoorPainter.com Highlights 'Moi'...

The Heck with the Oscars!™

Because for just today it's all about me at

OutdoorPainter.com

(My Outdoor Painter acceptance speech)

"I want to thank my beautiful wife, without whom I could not have done any of this; my handsome son who still talks to me at the dinner table; my sweet precious little dog who's always happy to see me come home from the studio because it must mean it is dinner-time; my mom and dad and sister who never lost faith in me (except for that one time the family still won't talk about...); the few friends I still have left; any number of gallery owners who foolishly pinned their hopes on me over the past 28 years; my erstwhile lawn-guy and his unlicensed mortgage broker – hey wait, NOOOO! That isn't the music starting up yet, is it? – Oh my gosh... My nice neighbors who have never once complained about my odd working hours or about that time I laid down in the middle of our road in my bathrobe while the school bus went by – and wait, wait, NO!... I can't leave out the guy who installed my dishwasher last week, and, and, and most certainly not the pizza-delivery boy who smuggled art supplies to me every week while I was on the inside!...

Oh jeez, they're coming out from the back stage for me. Gotta go everyone! (grin)

But really, a heartfelt thanks to PleinAir Magazine!™ 

Thanks for promoting plein air work everywhere!

See you in Vegas!...

The Awe-Inspiring Work of Edgar Payne...

But first, Last Call for my January Alla Prima Essential Techniques Workshop. (More information here.) We still have room for a few more participants, but if you want to join us for this year you must send me an email immediately as the workshop is January 27 - 29. This class will teach you how to work quickly, paint wet-into-wet, and how to maintain control of your color and values as you do so...


Here's a wonderful visual treat from the folks at Colorado Public  Television. There will be an amazing show of Edgar Payne's work on display at the Pasadena Art Museum from June 3rd to October 12th, 2012. Many paintings I've never seen. I'll try to find out if the show will travel and if so get the schedule and post it here.

Edgar Payne: The Scenic Journey

Watch Edgar Payne: The Scenic Journey on PBS.

This special will follow painter Edgar Payne from his childhood in the Ozark Mountains, through his years in Chicago, and on to his discovery of the California landscape that became his lifelong inspiration. Produced in association with the Pasadena Museum of California Art, and created with the curators and scholars behind the touring exhibition of the same name.

From the Pasadena Art Museum website:

Edgar Payne: The Scenic Journey
June 3, 2012 – October 14, 2012

As part of its tenth anniversary celebrations, the Pasadena Museum of California Art is pleased to present the first major showing of Edgar Payne (1883-1947) in over forty years. One of the most gifted of the historic California plein air artists, Payne utilized the brushwork and color of Impressionism, but his powerful landscape paintings departed from the genteel refinement depicted by most Impressionist painters. He imbued his works with an internal force and an active dynamism achieved through majestic, vital landscape subjects and a bravura application of pigment. The exhibition will trace his artistic development as he traveled the world, finding magnificence in diverse settings, including the southern and central California coast, the Sierra, the Swiss Alps, the harbors and waterways of France and Italy, and the desert Southwest.

This exhibition has been curated by Dr. Scott Shields, with Dr. Patricia Trenton advising.

Edgar Payne: The Scenic Journey catalogue can be purchased online.
The exhibition catalog will run 272 pages and contain 120 full-color reproductions of Payne's work, with essays by authorities such as Peter H. Hassrick, Lisa N. Peters, Scott A. Shields, Jean Stern, and Patricia Trenton. This is going to be one awesome show!





And thank you Chase for bringing this to my attention!

Doing an In-store Painting Demo at Dick Blick Art Materials store in Portland...

Hey blog-readers, this February I will be offering a free painting demo at the new Dick Blick Art Materials® store in Portland, Oregon...

     Date and Time:
      February 9th, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm


     Location: 
      Dick Blick Materials Art Store, at
      1115 NW Glisan, Portland, Oregon 
      Google map

Hey, did I mention it's free...?

I'll also let you in on a little secret: I am doing this demo with a new paint that hasn't been released to the market yet. Well okay, a limited set of this paint was released back in Spring of 2010 but the colors I'll be using for this demo are new.

Gamblin has been busy developing an extended range of FastMatte™ colors and I've been working with them behind closed doors for over a month. (Check the image at right) You know, paling with them to see what they can do. In the studio and out in the field... If you come to my demo you can be among the first to see this expanded line of alkyds in action. I am impressed with what they can do. They were originally designed to be a fast-drying underpainting for classical painters, but having the entire spectrum covered – including those all important earth colors – makes working with alkyds a realistic option for the alla prima and plein air painter. (You can read a review of the earlier FastMatte line here.)

So come by Blick Art Materials on February 9th to say hello. I'd be happy to meet you...

Also:

This is my (almost) last-call to sign up for my January's "Essential Alla Prima Techniques" Workshop. This is a three-day intensive class that will focus on what you need to know about the most direct form of oil painting. If you plan to jump into plein air painting this spring, or simply want to learn how to paint wet-into-wet then this is the class for you! My approach to teaching is encouraging and respectful but gets you to work. It won't be a 'boot-camp for painters' but you will graduate more fit than you were when you came in!

Details may be found here or up in the right column of this page.

Workshop closes next week.

Keep painting!

Thomas

Why Plein Air Painting Should Never Become a Competitive Sport...

A little moment of fun demonstrating why it is not a good idea to get too competitive when out in the field.

The Artists from Giant Creative on Vimeo.

A tribute to Tim Bell and Stephen Griffin, a couple of friends who like to paint big canvases outside. Four feet by four feet and larger...

Hope to see you two guys again this summer at Easton!

Thomas

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There is still room in my "Essential Alla Prima Techniques" class coming up in January. If you want to join the group let me know soon, as spots are filling. For more details, check out the info in the right hand column. Or click here.