I'd never received any instruction on landscape painting before, even from a book, so I was really excited to get acquainted with this area. Although I still have lots to learn, I really got a LOT out of this workshop. By the way, if you aren't familiar with Ray Roberts, here's an example of his beautiful work:
I have to admit, I find it pretty difficult to get excited about landscapes, even though I love the process of plein air painting. But Ray is one of the handful of landscape painters that I just love.
So during the workshop I did five paintings over the 2 1/2 days on location. The first four were "learning experiences", and I'd rather not tarnish my large and impressive reputation by posting them. We didn't have a lot of luck with the sun--it was sort of hazy and cloudy for most of the time, so it was trickier for me to find an interesting subject. Luckily, the sun came out on the last outdoor day and my fifth painting was one I was happy with and interested in turning into a larger painting during our time in the studio:
Plein air sketch, backlit tree in Eaton Canyon
I probably painted for about 45 minutes to maybe an hour. You can see at this point the light was totally different and wasn't lighting up the tree at all anymore. This is what makes plein air painting fun. And frustrating, if you don't work fast.
Here's how my painting began once we were in the studio--figuring out a light and dark composition that I liked:
It's amazing how much of a difference it made to have that color study on hand to refer to. It's so easy to lose the essence of what you saw in person that made you want to paint something, when you're just going off a photograph alone.
Here's the finished painting!
The Golden Hour -- 14"x18" --oil on canvas
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