Claude Monet, Ross King, and his Recent Book "Mad Enchantment"...

Before reading about Claude Monet's water lily paintings, I am teaching a terrific plein air workshop in Sicily this fall. Italy is now open so we can eat some great pasta, drink some good wine, and paint some beautiful sun-drenched pictures!  

For more information, download my pdf brochure below...

October, 17th - 24th, 2021

Click to read my detailed  22 page brochure about this painting adventure!

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Ross King and his Wonderful Talk on Claude Monet for Oil Painters Of America...

Here is a special treat from the folks at Oil Painters of America. 

They invited celebrated author and art historian, Ross King, to talk about Claude Monet and his large waterlily paintings which now hang in the Musée de l'Orangerie, in Paris. The paintings are the subject of his recent book, Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies, a book which presents a fascinating tour of Monet's late life, and his final obsession. 

This lecture is well worth the 90 minutes it takes to watch, and remains accessible on the Oil Painters Of America's website. It is free to watch here at www.OilPaintersofAmerica.com. 

Or use this direct link: https://tinyurl.com/MadEnchantment

And if you are a representational painter, consider joining Oil Painters of America. It is a great association filled with all levels of artists from all over the world.

And finally, Ross King is also the author of many other books on Art & Culture, among which is one of my personal favorites, The Judgement of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave The World Impressionism – all of which may be found here: www.rosskingbooks.com

Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies

Pub: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Length:416 Pages

TJK

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Here is a short trailer I created to entice you... enjoy!

Berthe Morisot and her Brushwork...

I received an email today requesting me for a quick take about how Berthe Morisot painted. I thought my reply might be interesting to you readers, so here it is...

On Feb 25, 2019, at 11:36AM, Malcolm wrote: 

Mr. Kitts,

I received your email this morning about the micro and macrocosm of your painting brushwork and enjoyed the video. Very nice surfaces!
This evening I will purchase, and watch, your ‘Sergeant' video and hopefully that video will answer a question that I have about gestural brushwork.

But in case it does not I am also sending you this email to ask: in the attached image of the Berthe Morisot painting the brush work is very loose and superimposed over other brushwork, what medium (if any) would she have mixed with her oils to achieve those flowing strokes? They are fluid and almost translucent in areas.

And my reply...

Hello Malcom. Thank you for your email.

First, the recent Video Demonstration you mentioned focuses exclusively on Sorolla, not Sargent. Just want you to know that before you purchase it. But that Sorolla demo is more in line with the way I painted the Micro/Macro Five Palms painting than any Sargent methods. In fact. I was sticking pretty close to Sorolla’s mature technique as I painted it. And yes, there will be a comprehensive Sargent DVD demo as some point. I just haven’t scheduled it yet.

I don’t consider myself an authority on Morisot per se but I can make a few educated guesses based upon what I know about the materials and methods in use at the time. Although, it is important to understand that very few artists worked the same way, with the same technique and materials, over the entire course of their lifetime. So the conclusions I draw here should be considered merely quick generalizations, and not encompassing in how Berthe always worked…

Berthe Morisot, The Artist's Daughter Julie with her Nanny

click to enlarge

First, I have attached a large jpg of a different Berthe Morisot painting (above). It was probably executed close to the time of the painting you shared. You should be able to zoom into this file and see distinct layers of paint, which may help answer your questions. (I have even larger files, but this image should suffice.)

And please remember, the following observations I have offer below refer to the image above, not the one you attached to your original email to me...

1. In both of these examples, Berthe was painting on a tightly woven linen support. The linen would likely to have been ‘gessoed’ with a lead oil ground, a common practice at that time and it is a nice surface to paint on even today. Try it yourself. Your ground will dictates what happens with your brushstrokes. 

2. The prepared ground was stained with a pigmented earth color, likely a burnt umber from the look of it. The wash would have been applied thinly using a solvent, likely turpentine, and left to dry before starting the painting. I say dry because there is no softening or diffusion in the lower layers of paint that sits directly on the ground. 

3. The paint pigment itself can contribute to the character of her brush work. Berthe is painting with a palette used by most of the original French Impressionists of this period. Cad Yellows to Reds, and I am guessing Prussian and Colbalt Blue, a Viridian or Emerald Green, and a few assorted earth colors such as Umbers, Ochres, and Siennas. And she was definitely using a Lead White. No black. There may be additional pigments involved as well, but if so they aren’t obvious to the eye and it would require some lab tests to determine what else is there. But largely, it is the lead white that is facilitating the thick ropey impasto character to Berthe's marks, and the drags, pulls, and the way the paint breaks at the edges and ends of her strokes. 

4. Look at how the paint is applied. Either as a few thin washes (underneath), with little attempts to model form (except in the hair), or it has been applied is thick and full-bodied, with each stroke retaining its individual character and gesture. Not a lot in between. I see no visible slumping of the impasto as it set so there probably isn't any fatty oil or medium incorporated beyond whatever may already be in the paint itself. Again, this would be a common way of painting for the French Impressionists because most of the leaders of that movement eschewed a glossy surface or overly mixed their colors. They felt such practices detracted from the optical partitive effect they were pursuing. They liked to allow flecks of pure color sparkle amongst the other mixes, sometimes analogous, sometimes complementary, unlike the academic painters of the same time who tended to mic 'dead' color and or glaze over underlying hues. The French Impressionists, such as Berthe, also likely to push one wet pure color into another on the canvas, rather than mixing everything with a knife on a palette. (Variations of this abound.) And, in the child's lacy collar you can see a ‘double-loading’ where Berthe picks up two colors on her brush before dragging it across the surface. An entirely different kind of blend. This was also common to impressionists of the period. 

5. Berthe is using a stiff haired brush, likely hog hair, and even more likely, a combination of few different-sized filberts or short stubby flats with grounded corners. She applies restrained touches of color with small round every now and then for the fine details, such as the eyes and eyebrows, but she isn’t using the small round to render out or ‘detail' things like hair or drapery. All of that are big gutsy pulls with a loaded brush. 

6. And finally, look at the directional gesture of her strokes. She often pulls them in alignment, sometimes changing the direction to follow along the surface planes of her subjects – look at the shoulders of both figures – and sometimes simply pulled along the side of a flat shape, like the side of the mother’s face. Other times her strokes are short and multi-directional. Both contribute to the activity you feel on the surface. The French Impressionists often used such brushwork to convey the crisp sparkling of light. 

Conclusion: So on a quick review, based on this painting and others I have seen first-hand, I don’t think Berthe used much painting medium at all, beyond a little turpentine at the outset. I don’t see any evidence that turps were used towards the end since the nature of the strokes on top belies it. With one exception being the isolated brilliant cobalt or ultramarine blue strokes representing the nanny's left wrist cuff. That is clearly an improvisational turpentine wash of pure color on top of dry paint below.

And in your opinion would that painting be completed in one sitting or over many days? 

Both paintings look as though they were executed all prima, or completed within a single session. Perhaps there may be a few areas that were further worked after the initial paint layer had dried, maybe as corrections, but given how the layers of paint ‘break’ and overlap those re-workings would be minimal. And there is no sign of Berthe working fresh paint into or on top of an ‘oiled out’ area, which is how some painters of this era made multiple session paintings look as if they were a one-shot wonder...

Malcom, I hope this information is helpful as you continue to study Berthe Morisot. But be sure to look at as many original paintings by her as you can find. 

And of course...keep painting! 

TJK

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And for those interested in practical painting lessons:

Workshops!... Workshops!... Workshops!...

It's that time of year when some of you look for Summer and Fall workshops. Click here to learn about my upcoming classes with detailed downloadable info. But don't delay, most classes are about half-full as of this posting.

Polarizing the Light to Photograph your Paintings without Glare...

Not the way to do it...
© Trevor Taylor 2019

I am often asked what is the best way to photograph a painting, especially if it has a glossy finish – and while my answer can range between shooting it outdoors on an overcast day, or in the shade, and digitally correcting the color for the inevitable shift that will occur – I think Trevor Taylor has detailed an easy low-cost way to shoot your work in your studio. Trevor's method is exactly what I pay a pro to do when I don't want the hassle of photographing my own work.

The cleverest part in Trevor's post is how to use cardboard boxes to hold the polarizing filters to the aluminum clamp housings, and +90 CRI index GE Reveal™ Lightbulbs for full-spectrumlight. Once you get the gear and set up your studio, shooting your work becomes easy. 

One thing to note, however, is that when you polarize the light your paintings will look as though they have gained in contrast, especially in the dark passages. (They may even appear a little warmer in overall hue.) This is because the polarizing also eliminates the subtle 'velvet' (soft reflectivity) you are used to seeing in those darks – not because you are doing something wrong. So if the appearance of extra contrast is an issue you will still need to digitally fuss with the image after each shot.

(Re-published with the author's permission © Trevor Taylor 2019)

How To Eliminate Glare When Photographing Artwork 

The first impression of your artwork matters most and in today’s age that will most likely be a photo. You may need to submit pieces to galleries, post on social media, send out newsletters, or update your website. Whatever it is, paintings are notoriously difficult to photograph but paying for professional shots for each piece quickly adds up. Thankfully, a small investment and a little practice will give you great results, perfect for online use and even small art prints or reproductions...

(to continue reading Trevor's blog post, click below...)

How To Eliminate Glare When Photographing Artwork

And if you would like to see more of Trevor's work visit his website here:

https://trevortaylor.net

Thank you Trevor for allowing me to share this tip with my readers!...

TJK

Info on Sargent's Watercolor Technique...

Sargent Watercolor Show Review

John Singer Sargent Watercolors: Exhibition Report

 We recently visited the Brooklyn Museum to see the show of John Singer Sargent watercolors. It’s close enough to Montreal that I couldn’t really pass it up. Not and still call myself a serious watercolorist. The exhibit ends July 28, so by the time I post this it’s basically over – however, it comes to the MFA in Boston (Oct 13/13 – Jan 20/14), so that’s another chance for Nor’easterners.

Like most artists, I’ve always admired Sargent’s mastery of calligraphic brushwork in oil. I wasn’t as aware of his watercolors before this show. Which I suppose was the point. The curators have brought together a never-before-seen exhibit. 

So, for those that don’t have a chance to get there in person – here’s my report...

I don't often cross-link to another writer's blog, but here is a link to a fascinating post about Sargent's watercolors. The author, Marc Taro Homes, author of The Urban Sketchbook, took some lovely close ups of JSS's watercolors in the Brooklyn Museum, and his observations with regards to Sargent's use of gouache on top of watercolor and other effects are quite illuminating.

So visit his blog page here and learn something new about Sargent's technique...

https://citizensketcher.com/jss-watercolor

It looks like I'll be in Boston next October while this show is there so I'll add to Marc's report when I see it.

Enjoy!

TJK

Sorolla and his Vision of Spain...

Happy New Year Everyone!

Here is a present from me to you – a five minute sweeping video I produced of the astounding murals hung in the Hispanic Society of America in New York City. This is one of the grand, but lesser known, bodies of work from the great Valencian master painter, Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida (1863-1923)

Sorolla was commissioned to paint fourteen monumental canvases by the American railroad-heir Archer Milton Huntington fill a room at the society – only minutes away in uptown Manhattan.  Paintings which were meant to represent all the people of Spain in their various costumes and culture. It was a commission that would demand eight years of his life when he was at the height of his artistic power, and require constant travel throughout Spain in search of models and inspiration for what would eventually be championed as Sorolla's "Vision of Spain."

Nearly 12 to 18 feet tall and over 200 feet in combined length, these canvases were painted in various locations throughout the country between 1912 and 1919. The final canvas, Ayamonte, was finished in July 1919. Sadly, Sorolla died before his murals could be installed in 1926.

If you ever have the chance, visit the Hispanic Society and see these painting in person. They are just minutes north of midtown Manhattan and trust me when I say you will never forget them. 

For more information visit: www.hispanicsociety.org

This video will play at high resolution if you click on the HD setting. (check your bandwidth!)

If you have trouble viewing this video, click here...

To stream a smaller version off my Facebook page, click here...

PleinAir: The Next Generation...

Hey, they are just doing what your Grandmother used to tell you: 

"Go outside and play"...

If this video won't play properly you can watch it here:

https://youtu.be/E0Be9rDz6ug

Brought to you by:

https://www.facebook.com/donate/10209836058512231/10211747640514549/

PLEINAIR PODCAST: EPISODE 16 – ERIC RHOADS WITH THOMAS JEFFERSON KITTS

Click Here to listen... (link will take you to OutdoorPainter.com)

In this week’s episode of the PleinAir Podcast, Publisher Eric Rhoads interviews the outstanding painter Thomas Jefferson Kitts. Among several compelling topics, Kitts offers some sage advise for budding artists including starting small and setting time limits. Rhoads and Kitts also take some time to discuss the alchemy of paint and bygone traditions.

The podcast runs one hour and I hope you enjoy it!

TJK

From Field to Studio with Marc Dalessio...

Here is a recent short time-lapse video of Marc Dalessio producing a large scale painting in the studio from a smaller field study...

This video presents some of Marc's process and underscores the need to make modifications that improve a composition. What? Why? Because sometimes Nature needs a little help.

From Marc:  

"Gammell (who taught Charles Cecil) would always say "err on the side of beauty". That's what I always think of when I make changes to nature."

(Posted with Marc's permission.)

Below is Marc painting his original outdoor study two years ago on Cape Good Hope, South Africa. He also sketched and photographed the site so he had multiple references at his disposal for his large painting.

Marc has an informative blog filled with helpful tips and a lot of his work and he is very generous with his knowledge.

You can check out his blog here: www.marcdalessio.com

And finally, here is a permalink to the original post, where Marc offers additional information about his painting: www.marcdalessio.com/time-lapse-studio-landscape

Enjoy!

TJK

A Statistical Analysis of the Work of Bob Ross (from the website FiveThirtyEight.com)

Hey All:

I don't often post work from other websites, but frankly, this one was just too good to pass up... (ha!)

From the Statistical Geeks at FiveThirtyEight.com... (The datawonks who bring us eerily-accurate polls that predict the odds of a presidential candidate's chances for election. This must be the kind of analysis they do between election cycles to stay sharp...heh!  –  TJK)

Link to full article

HAPPY SPREADSHEETS 10:21 AM APR 14, 2014



A Statistical Analysis of the Work of Bob Ross

By WALT HICKEY

Bob Ross was a consummate teacher. He guided fans along as he painted “happy trees,” “almighty mountains” and “fluffy clouds” over the course of his 11-year television career on his PBS show, “The Joy of Painting.” In total, Ross painted 381 works on the show, relying on a distinct set of elements, scenes and themes, and thereby providing thousands of data points. I decided to use that data to teach something myself: the important statistical concepts of conditional probability and clustering, as well as a lesson on the limitations of data.

So let’s perm out our hair and get ready to create some happy spreadsheets!

What I found — through data analysis and an interview with one of Ross’s closest collaborators — was a body of work that was defined by consistency and a fundamentally personal ideal. Ross was born in Daytona, Fla., and joined the Air Force at 17. He was stationed in Fairbanks and spent the next 20 years in Alaska. His time there seems to have had a significant impact on his preferred subjects of trees, mountains, clouds, lakes and 

snow.

Paintings by Bob Ross featured on PBS’s “The Joy of Painting.”

THE BOB ROSS NAME AND IMAGES ARE TRADEMARKS OF BOB ROSS INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USED WITH PERMISSION.

Of the 403 episodes of “The Joy of Painting” — whose first run was from 1983 to 1994 and which continues to air in reruns on PBS stations nationwide — Ross painted in 381, and the rest featured a guest, most frequently his son Steve Ross. Based on images of Bob Ross’s paintings available in the Bob Ross Inc. store, I coded all the episodes1 using 67 keywords describing content (trees, water, mountains, weather elements and man-made structures), stylistic choices in framing the paintings, and guest artists, for a grand total of 3,224 tags.2

I analyzed the data to find out exactly what Ross, who died in 1995, painted for more than a decade on TV. The top-line results are to be expected — wouldn’t you know, he did paint a bunch of mountains, trees and lakes! — but then I put some numbers to Ross’s classic figures of speech. He didn’t paint oaks or spruces, he painted “happy trees.” He favored “almighty mountains” to peaks. Once he’d painted one tree, he didn’t paint another — he painted a “friend.”

Here’s how often each tag that appeared more than five times showed up over the 381 episodes:




Now that we know the basic probabilities of individual tags, we can also find the joint probabilities of some of these events. For instance, how often do a deciduous tree and a coniferous tree appear in the same painting? We know that 57 percent of paintings contain a deciduous tree and 53 percent of paintings contain a coniferous tree. According to our data set, 20 percent of paintings contain at least one of each.

What’s more, we can also find the probability that Ross painted something given that he painted something else, a statistic that’s called conditional probability.

Conditional probability can be a bit tricky. We know that 44 percent of Ross’s paintings contain clouds, 9 percent contain the beach and 7 percent contain both the clouds and the beach. We can use this information to figure out two things: the probability that Ross painted a cloud given that he painted a beach, and the probability that he painted a beach given that he painted a cloud. You divide the joint probability — 7 percent in this case — by the probability of the given — 44 percent or 9 percent, depending on whether you want to know the probability of a beach given a cloud or a cloud given a beach.

The biggest pitfall people often face is assuming the two probabilities are the same. The probability that Ross painted a cloud given that he painted the beach — essentially, how many beach paintings have clouds — is (0.07)/(0.09), which is 78 percent. The vast majority of beach scenes contain clouds. However, the probability that Ross painted a beach given that he painted a cloud — or, how many cloud paintings contain a beach — is (0.07)/(0.44), or 16 percent. So the vast majority of cloud paintings don’t have beaches.

I figured out the conditional probability of every Bob Ross tag against every other tag to answer the following pressing questions.

What is the probability, given that Ross painted a happy tree, that he then painted a friend for that tree?
There’s a 93 percent chance that Ross paints a second tree given that he has painted a first.

What percentage of Bob Ross paintings contain an almighty mountain?
About 39 percent prominently feature a mountain.

What percentage of those paintings contain several almighty mountains?
Ross was also amenable to painting friends for mountains. Sixty percent of paintings with one mountain in them have at least two mountains.

In what percentage of those paintings is a mountain covered with snow?
Given that Ross painted a mountain, there is a 66 percent chance there is snow on it.

What about footy little hills?
Hills appear in 4 percent of Ross’s paintings. He clearly preferred almighty mountains.

How about happy little clouds?
Excellent question, as 44 percent of Ross’s paintings prominently feature at least one cloud. Given that there is a painted cloud, there’s a 47 percent chance it is a distinctly cumulus one. There’s only a 14 percent chance that a painted cloud is a distinctly cirrus one.

What about charming little cabins?
About 18 percent of his paintings feature a cabin. Given that Ross painted a cabin, there’s a 35 percent chance that it’s on a lake, and a 40 percent chance there’s snow on the ground. While 72 percent of cabins are in the same painting as conifers, only 63 percent are near deciduous trees.

How often did he paint water?
All the time! About 34 percent of Ross’s paintings contain a lake, 33 percent contain a river or stream, and 9 percent contain the ocean.

Sounds like he didn’t like the beach.
Much to the contrary. You can see the beach in 75 percent of Ross’s seaside paintings, but the sun in only 31 percent of them. If there’s an ocean, it’s probably choppy: 97 percent of ocean paintings have waves. Ross’s 36 ocean paintings were also more likely to feature cliffs, clouds and rocks than the average painting.

What about Steve Ross?
Steve seemed to prefer lakes far more than Bob. While only 34 percent of Bob’s paintings have a lake in them, 91 percent of Steve’s paintings do.

One useful lens we can apply to this sort of data — where we’re comparing vectors of information — is a clustering tool. The idea behind clustering is to determine how close certain groups of data are to other points in the data set. Researchers use clustering analysis in all sorts of areas — from biology to consumer marketing — as a way of segmenting a population of, say, plants or people. It allows us to find interesting subsets of data based on how similar or different certain subgroups are from the rest of the set.

I used an algorithm to divide the entire set of 403 paintings from “The Joy of Painting” into clusters of similar paintings. I wanted to know whether it was possible to identify the 10 basic paintings featured on the PBS series. To do this, I ran a k-means clustering analysis of the paintings.3 The results were mixed...

Keep reading this article...

So hey, if you are a fan of Bob Ross – or even if you are not – click below to keep reading. It just keeps getting better and better!

Link to full article

I learned a few things about Bob I did not know – things which now cannot be unknown!

Enjoy!

Thomas

And Here is a Reader's Post-Mod Hack that is now a Post about my Post about my Mod... ;-)

I received this today from a reader in response to yesterday's post – it is another nifty way to install a glass palette into the Strada Mini. I would think this would work for the full size Strada as well...

Posted with permission:

"Hi Thomas, I saw your blog and I solved the problem this way. I had a friend build me a small insert into which I glued glass. I put it between the notches and inside the area where the side trays go. So far I have been very happy with it." 

  –  Marie H.

(Photos by Marie)

It is great to see other folks making hardware hacks to their gear. It demonstrates creativity and ingenuity in another way, if those two aren't already the same thing...

UPDATE: 

Another email about another palette mod for the Mini...

Hi Thomas 

I enjoy your blog and thanks for all the great info. 

I wanted to share one thing. For over 5 years I have used acrylic plastic for a palette, I paint the back side grey. I saw another artist who did this and I thought as you did you cant scrape it with a razor blade so it cant be as good as glass. Well I was wrong...I tested it out and yes it scratches eventually, I change mine every few years...but my glass scratched too over time. Having broken a couple in transit I made the change. You would not have to mod the box by grinding it down etc. you could just caulk it in. It would be so much lighter and easier and leave the box intact. 

I asked Tap plastic about plexi or acrylic, and they said acrylic is harder( and cheaper) I have used all kinds of solvents, turps gamsol, mostly, no problem. But once I left a clove oil q-tip in and the clove oils melted a spot a bit, and so will Winsor Newton Brush Cleaner and Restorer. 

I scrape off the thicker stuff, then wipe with a towel and final clean with an alcohol pad....the same system as Schmid, only on acrylic instead of glass.
Just thought I'd let you know in case you want to share with readers....My 3 year old palette is about ready for a change, but its still useable, just have to use the alcohol a bit more to get the paint all out, to squeaky clean. 

Sincerely,

Colleen

Thanks for sharing, Marie and Colleen! Always welcome to see.

TJK

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Would you like to improve your outdoor painting skills in Italy this next September? If so, click here to learn about my annual Plein air Tuscany! workshop. It is a fantastic experience and garners rave reviews! 

If you want even more info send me an email asking for a FAQ Sheet. It will detail where we will stay, what we will do, what we will learn, and of course, what it will cost. But wow, the US dollar is strong against the Euro right now so there may never be a better year to go than in 2015. Registration is open and folks ARE signing up!...

In Search of the Authentic...

For all you art geeks out there, like me...

Eric Hebborn: Portrait of a Master Forger | Runtime: 45:35

Facebookers click her to watch the video

Master forger of old master's drawings, author of "Drawn to Trouble" (1991) and "The Art Forger's Handbook" (1996). I have his second book. It is a fascinating how-to...

Hebborn was found in a street in Rome with his skull crushed in by a blunt instrument shortly after his second book was published. He died in-hospital three days later. It's been speculated that an unhappy collector was involved. The case was never solved and remains open.

Enjoy...

High Tech Meets Low Tech 

I was at a figure drawing session last night and preoccupied with painting the model when I noticed someone on my right using her iPhone in an unusual way. She wasn't surreptitiously snapping photos to work from later, she had her earbuds in and was listening to her music, but she was also moving the iPhone over her eyebrows and then next to her right eye, as if she needed to shield herself from the light. But the studio wasn't that bright. (left: Christie – here is her website)

After my double-take I realized what Christie was up to. She was using the black reflective glass screen on her iPhone as a smoked mirror. She was checking the structure of her painting, ala Claude Lorraine. (c.1604 - 1682)

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

I am always a fan of multi-purpose tool of any kind – as opposed to a single-use device such as a wristwatch – because I am a fast-and-light guy and multi-purpose tools lighten the load out in the field. But what Christie did took things to a new level.

For those who may not know, the Claude Glass, was used predominantly during the 17th century by outdoor painting enthusiast, but recently the tool has been coming back into vogue. The mirror part of the iPhone screen flips the image so you can see it with a fresh eye, and thus spot any structural problems in need of correction. And the smokey black glass consolidates the values you can see into simpler families of value. (left: portrait of an artist using a Claude Glass by Thomas Gainsborough)

Apparently I have been carrying a Claude Glass around in my pocket for over five years and didn't even know it. Christie said that she has a real one at home but forgot to bring it last night. So she used her phone instead. Duh. Brilliant.

Absolutely the best painter's Hack of the Year.

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If you would like to work on your plein air skills with me next May in Tuscany check out the upper left corner of this blog! There are five spots left, so don't wait! Spouses and partner welcome.

Cost is inclusive, from €1640 to € 2400. 

(Approximately $2,220 to $3,240 US; airfare not included.)

But don't wait to sign up, the early discount ends December 31st!

Email me for more information. – TJK

Picasso's Touch and Flow...

Say what you want about the man or his art,

but Picasso's brushwork flowed...

Facebooker's: To see this video clip click here.

Facebooker's: To see this video clip click here.

–––––––

 

If you would like to work on your plein air skills with me next May in Tuscany check out the upper left corner of this blog! We have ten artists signed up to go paint in Tuscany this May and you can come too. There are five spots left, so don't wait! Spouses and partner welcome.

Cost is inclusive, from €1640 to € 2400. 

(Approximately $2,220 to $3,240 US; airfare not included.)

But don't wait to sign up, this early discount ends December 31st!

Email me for more information. – TJK

Another article coming up in PleinAir Magazine...

Hey all:

I recently rafted the Rogue River with some plein air friends and then wrote an article about it. (That is James Sampsel, our trip leader, painting behind me.) 

The article will be about the experience itself and how one goes about preparing for it, and it will appear in the December/January of PleinAir Magazine. So keep an eye out for it and have fun as you read it!

And if you aren't already a subscriber perhaps you should be one.

It's available in print and online.

 

If you would like to work on your plein air skills with me next May in Tuscany check out the upper left corner of this blog! We have ten artists signed up to go paint in Tuscany this May and you can come too. There are five spots left, so don't wait! Spouses and partner welcome.

Email me for more information. – TJK