Hidden Corridor, 7 x 10 workshop demo, L. Daniel © 2012
My workshop on St. Simons Island was called "Garden Vignettes En Plein Air", and it involved painting in various private gardens around the island. A garden is such a personal space and it's always a pleasure to be invited "in". This is the demo I did on the first day. One of my participants and fabulous painter, Claudia Hammer, took the following pictures that show my process. Thank you Claudia!
I began by blocking in my composition using a mix of French Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna.
Once my composition was established, I focused on all the darkest darks in the upright planes (everything vertical: bushes, trees, pottery, etc). Since there is no sky in this piece, the ground plane had the lightest lights which I saved until last (the actual ground, the tops of the hedges, everything parallel to the sky).
The day began with an overcast sky, but the sun popped out just in time. It lit everything up and cast some great shadows through the garden that I was able to include in the painting. (I love it when that happens!)
After all the areas were massed in I painted back into them, breaking them up with subtle value and temperature shifts. At the very end I added the highest highlights. Btw - the marks below the painting are just little side demos that happened while I was painting and explaining my process. :)
Hidden Corridor, the final demo piece, 7 x 10, L. Daniel
8 comments:
Beautiful painting! And I love when you share your process- it just makes so much sense and you do it so well. Wish I had gotten to be at this workshop- Have heard it was over the top amazing- like you:):)
I remember the day, it was magical what you painted and I loved hearing how you edit and make the color work to transform a 2D surface into something with more depth. It was a fabulous workshop and I am recommending it to everyone. Thanks for the mention! ;-}
What a beautiful painting, Laurel! The step by step demo/explanation is so helpful. And also thank you Claudia for taking of the photos of Laurel "in the process" of creating this gem.
It truly was a fabulous workshop experience. Laurel, you are the best! Your teaching method, enthusiasm and patience can't be beat. We had a great group of ladies also -- we were all so well-behaved, you didn't have to use the "hook around the neck" once! Thank you again, Laurel!
I know paintings are meant for frames but I love seeing the "rough" paint edges. Adds to looseness and energy. I would be tempted to frame this one with ALL of it showing.
Wish we had an audio to accompany this great demo. Then we could hear some great Laurelisms...
Shapes not color are integral to our survival... so look for that bear on the horizon.
A number of us did see "Claude Monet's" S shape near that lemon tree...but he was just observing us painting! Fantastic workshop Laurel!
As you know, I SO hated to miss this, but it looks like it went great and I am so glad you shared this with us!
Greetings from the West Coast of the UK. Thanks for sharing your process Laurel, I found it very inspiring!
Have a great day!
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