After torrential rain on our way from Maine to Vermont, the first day of my Vermont workshop started cool and overcast but, thankfully, dry. Both days offered intermittent sun, which made for some challenging painting. But, my students were up to the task and did a great job of “capturing the moment.”
I have a fond place in my heart for Middlebury. I first came to this town back in 1977 for graduate school, and it was a wonderfully “hippy” place with lots of arts and crafts and good vibes. Although it’s a little more refined than it was back then, it still has many of the qualities that endeared it to me. Way back when, I took a pottery workshop in the very same space in which I taught my plein air workshop this week at the Middlebury Studio School. We painted both days down by Otter Creek Falls, just off Main Street, and it was a great feeling to be back in my old haunts.
Now, it’s off to Millheim, Pennsylvania, for a four-day workshop through Green Drake Gallery. (We still have a few spots available in this one, too.) I’m looking forward to my visit!
Here are some photos from the Middlebury workshop.
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| Falls Oil Demo – 9×12 (Not sure about the photo, but I’ll repost it if necessary when I get to Arizona) |
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| Mascot at The Moorings |
We’ve had a great week here on the “quiet side” of Mount Desert Island, painting both in Acadia National Park and other locations nearby. The weather provided some sunny days with hard-blue seas, but also some days of moody overcast. In my opinion, you’re not experiencing Downeast Maine unless you’ve got a day or two of clouds and drizzle! The students rolled with the punches and turned out some really good work.
Typically, each day started with a short lecture in the studio to cover some fundamental concept. Following this, we went out into the field where I did a demonstration. Some of the topics covered included painting trees and rocks, abstracting the landscape and creating color harmony. Although I have a set curriculum for the workshop, I often am able to customize it to suit the students, which I did this week. We ended up having an advanced color theory chat one afternoon – something we often don’t get to cover in an “all level” workshop.
By the way, I had students from Maine, New Jersey, New York and Texas this time around. They enjoyed the week’s offerings, which included a day painting at The Moorings, a fantastic resort right on the water in Manset with beautiful grounds, and lunch at Thurston’s Lobster Pound in Bernard. I’ll be doing this plein air workshop again June 18-21 in 2013. I’m already getting signups for this, and I hope you’ll join us. If you’re interested, visit www.acadiaworkshopcenter.com.
Now we’re off on the next leg of our trip, to Middlebury, Vermont. I’m teaching a two-day plein air workshop for the Middlebury Studio School Sunday and Monday, October 7-8. We still have spaces left, so if you’re interested, visit http://middleburystudioschool.org/ .
Finally, here are some photos from the week. Enjoy!
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| Manset |
As we make our way slowly west, we have several stops along the way for workshops. Our first is the quaint fishing village of Bernard, Maine. It’s on the “quiet side” of Mount Desert Island, which is home to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. I’m teaching a plein air workshop for the Acadia Workshop Center. This is, I believe, my seventh time teaching here.
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| Bass Harbor Light |
October is one of my favorite month; the fall colors can be spectacular. This year, the color is just beginning, but good color isn’t too hard to find. We’ve also had some heavy rain the last two days, but this morning, the first day of the workshop, the rain began to abate. We were actually able to get out and paint the whole day. I did my demonstration in spitting rain. (And thank you, brave students, for enduring the rain!) After that, the rain moved off, and the students were able to enjoy a rain-free day. I think we’re going to have a good week. Here are a few photos from the day.
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| Rainy Day Palette |
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| My Marsh Demo |
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| Sunset Glow, 16×20, oil – Available |
Recently, I was asked if some of my Grand Canyon paintings might be included in a series of presentations at Grand Canyon National Park. (The lecture series, “The View from Point Sublime – Art in the Grand Canyon,” continues at the Park through the end of November and coincides with the Celebration of Art exhibit at the Kolb Studio.) Of course, I said yes!
I was also asked to comment on the current role painters play in depicting the Canyon. A century ago, painters like Thomas Moran brought its grandness to folks back east and were instrumental in having it turned into a National Park. But what about today? Here is my response:
I’ll never forget what one spectator told me during a painting event similar to the recent Grand Canyon Celebration of Art. He was watching me paint, and as I added the finishing touches, he remarked: “You know, I don’t paint myself and I can’t afford any of these paintings, but just looking at them has changed the way I see. Now, when I hike through the Park, I feel like I’m in a painting.”
His statement really made me think about the role of today’s painters as they work within the boundaries of these beautiful national treasures. The days of showing people scenes they may never see are long past, since today they can hop on a plane and be at the Canyon in just a few hours. Also, the Canyon is now protected for all time, so no PR campaign is needed to save it. And with a few clicks of a keyboard we can see thousands of snapshots of the Canyon’s beauty. So what is there left for the painter to do?
My tourist who said paintings changed the way he sees had it exactly right. A painter’s role isn’t to reproduce the scene photographically, but to capture and convey the sense of the Canyon’s magnificence by stating more firmly the beautiful contrasts of light and shadow, of warm and color colors, and of near and far. The painter pares down the Canyon to its essential grandness and presents that to the viewer. Each painter has his own idea of what to pare away and what to emphasize. The painting that results puts the viewer in the “driver’s seat,” as it were, and shows him the Canyon through the painter’s eyes. The painter is an individual, and as such, each painter has a unique interpretation of the Canyon.
If you’ve seen the Canyon firsthand, seeing the Canyon as the painter sees it adds a richness to your experience and makes it all the more memorable. And if you’ve not see the Canyon firsthand, then painting will make you yearn to do so.
September 2012
Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada
I hiked one of my favorite trails the other day, the one from the Roosevelt Cottage to Friar’s Head. The air was thick with the smell of apples and alders, and so many blackberries lined the path that you could have a feast. This is the best time of year on Campobello Island.
But unfortunately, the day to leave the island is fast approaching. We’ve already shut down the gallery for the season, and in a few days, we’ll be on our way west. We’ll have stops for workshops in Acadia National Park (Maine); Middlebury, Vermont; Millheim, Pennsylvania; and Blue Ridge, Georgia. We won’t arrive in Arizona until October 22nd.
First, some news. I am fresh back from the Grand Canyon Celebration of Art “Plein Air on the Rim” event. We had perfect weather and got a lot of painting done, even with a few clouds and a little fog, to keep things interesting. It was also great to meet some old friends and to make some new ones. As with last year, the event was a fundraiser hosted by the Grand Canyon Association to raise money for an arts center and museum, something the park is sadly lacking. The park’s very existence is due to artists like Thomas Moran, whose paintings helped spark the concept of a National Park of the Grand Canyon, and it has a large collection of art that needs a home. The exhibit continues through November 25 at the Kolb Studio on the South Rim. Although many of my paintings sold, there are still some left. You can see all the Grand Canyon paintings at my Facebook page (Michael Chesley Johnson Studio). Ones that are for sale are marked as such with details on how to purchase them.
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“Storm Rising” 9×12, oil – Grand Canyon Celebration of Art “Plein Air on the Rim”
(See all the Grand Canyon paintings on my Facebook studio page.) |
By the way, if you’ve taken a workshop with me, I’d love it if you would write about your experience. If you do so in your blog, or on WetCanvas or LinkedIn, and include the URL to my website (www.MichaelChesleyJohnson.com), send me the link to your essay. I’ll give you a 10% discount on any Paint Sedona or Paint Campobello workshop you take within the next two years. (Sorry, Facebook doesn’t count.)
In case you missed my last letter, my new book, Through a Painter’s Brush: The American Southwest – Painting the Four Corners States, is available. You can also get my 2013 calendar now. To preview or order, please visit my Lulu Spotlight page. (Hey, it’s never too early to be thinking of Christmas!)
I also want to mention an upcoming plein air-to-studio workshop in Carmel, California, through the Carmel Art Institute. Carmel is a fantastic place to paint and is right near Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. If you haven’t seen this part of the world, take a look at the Point Lobos site and the Carmel Chamber of Commerce site. The workshop runs November 13-16 and costs $440. For details or to register, visit the CAI website.
For a full list of upcoming workshops and events, please see my website.
That’s all for now. I’ll write again once we’re back in Arizona. Till then, have a great fall!
Michael & Trina
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| The 5×7 study I did in preparation for my 9×12 Quick Draw piece. I gave this to the buyers of my 9×12 as a bonus. (Photo courtesy of Amery Bohling.) |
[Update: I’ve posted the paintings on my Facebook studio page, Michael Chesley Johnson Studio. Some of the paintings are still for sale and benefit the Grand Canyon Association’s project of an art center and museum.]
Every time I come back from a major event such as the Grand Canyon Celebration of Art “Plein Air on the Rim” event, I like to take a moment to reflect on what I learned and what I might have done better. I also like to spend a little time looking over the paintings I did that week.
One thing I learned is the power of violet in dulling green. First, let me say that the greens you see in the Canyon aren’t as bright as you think. Most novice Canyon painters push the chroma too high. To be sure, the Canyon got a lot of rain this summer, and the greens were unusually vivid. Also, the abundance of pink rock in the Canyon always makes the greens seem much richer than they are.
In the past, to dull down green so it seems more natural, I used Gamblin’s Chromatic Black. But because it seems to have a greenish cast, it doesn’t do as good a job as I’d like. This time around, though, I threw in a tube of Dioxazine Violet – and I found it works miracles on greens. You can make them as grey as you’d like by just adding more violet.
By the way, some of the painters this week just painted those distant greens as blues. That’s another way of attacking the problem, but again, the blue shouldn’t be too rich or too cool.
So, that’s what I learned. What could I have done better? I might have varied the format from my standard dimensions of 9×12 and 12×16. The Canyon really is about depth and breadth. It is deep, and it is wide – a mile deep, ten miles across from South Rim to North Rim, and 300 miles from east to west. Does a 3:4 ratio really work for the Canyon? It can, but I think the viewer gets a better sense of the spectacle if a 1:2 or 1:3 ratio is used. (I used 1:2 in my 12×24 studio piece, below.) A couple of painters tried vertical long formats, and some of those were truly stunning, as the view looked down a tall tower into the Canyon. Of course, now you have a custom framing job!
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| “Glorious Evening” 12×24 oil |
As I mentioned in my last post from the Grand Canyon, I immediately sold half of the paintings I made. There are still some left, plus a few that didn’t get framed that I have in inventory. Once I’m back home – I’m currently sitting in the Phoenix Sky Harbor waiting for my flight, and there’s a nice exhibit of Grand Canyon paintings by Bruce Aiken, Curt Walters, Gunnar Widforss and others at the PHX Airport Museum – I’ll post the ones that are available.
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| Chamisa in bloom |
It was my last day at the Grand Canyon, so I started the morning by doing some cleanup. I figured that, if I cleaned my brushes and scraped my palette, I wouldn’t be tempted to paint. I was hoping instead to do a little hiking and photography. I wanted to see the canyon with different eyes today.
At 11, I went back to the Kolb Studio for the public opening of the “Plein Air on the Rim” exhibition. We had a great turnout, but by 1, it was time to say our goodbyes. It’s always sad when you have to say goodbye to not just the canyon but to your painter friends. We also said goodbye to the wonderful staff and volunteers of the Grand Canyon Association and to the National Park Service. This superb event would not have happened without their help.
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| The artists before the rush |
And then I took off my name tag and became a civilian again.
That afternoon, I parked my car and rode the shuttle out on the Hermit Road to Mohave Point. Many of the painters found Mohave to be a special spot; I did, too. I hiked out a mile to the west, to the Abyss. I not only took lots of photos, I also spent some time just looking. Looking without a paint brush. I enjoyed letting my eyes rove over the landscape, finding little nooks and crannies I no doubt would have missed if I’d been painting. Painting had sharpened my observational skills, but sometimes I miss seeing the little things. I discovered a little pair of towers I’d never seen before, deep down in the Abyss.
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| Two towers |
My next stop is Sedona, then the Phoenix airport. I should be home on Campobello Island Tuesday. As much as I’ve enjoyed these last two weeks, I’m really looking forward to seeing my family again.
Here are a couple more photos of the Grand Canyon.
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| Beautiful junipers on the rim |
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| Just a nice view |
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| “Morning Light” 9×12, oil – Sold! |
Today was the big day, the day of the Quick Draw. No matter how much you’ve painted outdoors with a crowd watching, you will still get butterflies in your stomach before a Quick Draw. Your mission: Take the complexity of the Grand Canyon, reduce it down to a 9×12 panel, and then frame and deliver it to the auction spot – all in just two hours. Oh, and while you’re at it, field questions from inquisitive spectators about where you live, how long you’ve been a painter and where else in the Canyon have you painted. And, yeah, one more thing, you’ll need to stop and pose for photographs.
Mission: Impossible? Not if you plan for it. Also, I’ve found that once the painting begins, it’s enjoyable. Plus I love all the attention.
I arrived at the El Tovar resort around 6:30. Even though the event didn’t start until 9, I had things to do. First, I wanted a good parking spot. Even though I’m known for “backpacker painting,” I didn’t relish the idea of lugging my gear a quarter-mile because the closer lots had gotten parked up. Second, I wanted to take a walk and scope out possibilities. And finally, I wanted to do a 5×7 practice piece before embarking on the real one.
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| Painting Along the Rim |
I got my parking spot and saw a beautiful sunrise, and by the time I finished my 5×7, I was relaxed and ready to go. With 15 minutes left, I grabbed another cup of coffee and visited some of the other painters. I saw that most of us had set up along the rim right near El Tovar and, not surprisingly, had chosen the same scene to paint. But except for the one, very identifiable rocky outcrop, all the paintings would be different – different compositions, different color palettes, different styles.
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| “Morning Light” 9×12, oil |
My approach to doing “Morning Light” was exactly the same as for all the other paintings I did this week. Lightly sketch in a design, block in and bring to a finish any area in which the pattern of light and shadow was going to change quickly, and then work at my leisure on the area where that pattern was slower to change. In this painting, I worked on the distance first – the area around Zoroaster Temple and lower down near the Tonto Plateau – and next on the rocky outcrop. I also spent a good amount of energy just observing and memorizing the quick-changing color relationships. As the sun rises, these color relationships change by the minute.
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| Auction Preview |
At 11, I popped my finished painting in a frame and walked it over to the auction area on the north lawn. The crowd was already there, milling about and previewing work. I checked in and ran over to the concession tent for a sandwich and a moment of quiet time.
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| The Auction Begins! |
At noon, the auction began. Right away I sensed something different – prices were quickly edging up higher than last year’s Grand Canyon Celebration of Art auction. I was very pleased with the price my painting brought. The Grand Canyon Association (GCA) did an excellent job and sold over $30,000 of art in the auction.
Afterward, I called home with the good news, and then ran over to the Grand Canyon NP museum to view a sampling of their collection. Once the GCA has enough funds in its coffers, it will build a new museum and art center to house the collection. Right now, the museum is small, and when a group comes to visit, there’s space to pull out only a few things. I particularly enjoyed getting my nose about three inches away from a Thomas Moran painting of the canyon. I include a photo of it here; the image is angled in an odd way because I was trying to photograph it without a reflection.)
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| Thomas Moran Grand Canyon Piece (image size about 5×12) |
After a short rest (shower, e-mail, blog, Facebook, but no nap), I headed over to the Kolb Studio for the buyers’ preview and reception. It ended up being a fun night with lots of activity. I’m pleased to say that I sold half of my paintings. One of the highlights of the evening for me was listening to people who love the canyon and want to take a piece of it home with them. One gentleman, a chemist, was so happy to have one of my 9x12s for his office in Kentucky. It’s a good feeling to connect with someone like that.
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| My Wall at the Exhibition – More Paintings are Downstairs! |
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| Artist’s Previewing the Work Before the Doors Open |
Saturday is the official opening of the exhibition and sale, starting at 11 and ending at 1. (After that, the show will be open through November 25.) I’ll be there again with the other artists, of course.
Have I really been at Grand Canyon a week? Every day here is like a first day. Morning dawns fresh and new, and you’d think you’d just arrived in the world.
This morning, all the painters were asked to be painting on the rim between Mather Point and the Trailview Overlook from dawn and 10 a.m. That’s a lot of territory to choose from! I chose a spot with good parking and a short walk from the car. For me, that meant Yavapai Point. There, I found a nice little nook with a view of Zoroaster Temple in the distance and Yavapai Point in the foreground.
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| Zoroaster’s Court, 12×16, oil |
When you paint early in the day, shadows in the canyon change fast. For this piece, I worked exclusively on the shadowed canyon before anything else. I had to “nail” the pattern of lights on the rocky slopes around Zoroaster before they shifted. Part of painting this area also required observation and memory work – I wanted to remember the subtle relationships of value and color temperature, even if I didn’t record them yet in paint, so I’d be able to go back to that area later. Once I’d done that, I was able to work on the view of Yavapai Point at a much more leisurely pace.
After the session, I headed home to frame. All my frames, of course, had been pre-wired and were ready to go. One might think that it’s then a simple matter of slipping in the panels and applying the point driver. Well, there’s more. First, I had to choose which paintings to frame. (I liked them all, and I’d painted five more than I had frames for.) Next, I gave each painting a shot of retouch varnish to even out the gloss. As I framed each piece, I gave it a serial number and a title, and duly recorded both on a sheet of paper as well as on the back of the panel. Finally, I photographed the piece before putting it in a box.
After delivering the paintings to Kolb Studio, I always feel a certain sense of relief. I imagine God felt that way after his six days. But there’s still more to do. There’s a Quick Draw Friday morning (9-11 between Verkamp’s and the Kolb Studio), followed by the Quick Draw auction on the lawn of El Tovar and the Friday night Buyer’s Preview, and finally the opening of the exhibition on Saturday. The Quick Draw is probably the most intense – we’ll have two hours to paint, frame and deliver a painting, all the while on display to the public. But I don’t mind. Talking and painting are second nature to me, thanks to all the workshops I teach.
Now, it’s off to an evening lecture with P.A. Nisbet, Bruce Aiken and Serena Suplee. Below are the paintings I’ve chosen for the exhibit.
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| Colorado River Ravens, 9×12, oil |
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| Indian Gardens View (top) Yaki Tower, Clearing (left) Isis Revealed (right) All 5×7 oil |
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| Kolb Studio Lookout, 12×16 oil |
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| Mather Lookout Afternoon, 9×12 oil |
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| Mormon Tea, 9×12 oil |
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| Wotan Speaks, 9×12, oil |
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| Storm Rising, 9×12, oil |
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| Yaki Point View, 12×16 oil |
It’s hard to believe, but we are almost at the final round. Paintings are to be turned in tomorrow afternoon at 4. That leaves just tomorrow to paint a couple more, make any adjustments and then frame our best pieces. Where did the time go?
Of course, once the work is turned in, we won’t rest. There’s a Quick Draw Friday morning followed by an auction of the Quick Draw pieces, and then the Buyer’s Preview that night. Saturday, the exhibition will officially open to the public at the Kolb Studio. (You can find all these details on the web site.) In addition to my large studio piece, I expect to have ten plein air pieces.
But back to today. After a night of heavy rain, I woke to fog. Having had cold cereal every day for the last week, I decided to go out to the Maswick Lodge for a hot breakfast. Following that, I walked my coffee over to the rim to get an update on the weather. Was that actually sun I was seeing? Sure enough, a little yellow glow was filtering through the fog. I decided to head back over to Yaki Point to finish a rain/fog painting I did yesterday – I needed to refer again to my subject – and to paint some 5x7s.
I ran into several painters who were already there wrestling with the fickle weather. Dan Schultz, Jake Gaedkte and Dave Santillanes were soon followed by Glenn Renell and Gregory Hull. I chatted with Dave for a moment, because I was curious about his experience down at Phantom Ranch. He and Cody Delong had hiked down to paint and hiked back out Monday. He said they actually started their hike back at 1 a.m., traveling by moonlight, to avoid the sun.
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| Dan Schultz |
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| Jake Gaedtke |
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| David Santillanes |
I did two pieces, 9×12 and a 5×7 plus the adjustments on the 9×12 from the day before. You’ll note that two of the pieces are of the same feature, but with much different lighting. This is what makes plein air painting in a complicated place like the Canyon challenging but also exciting.
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| 9×12 from day before (rain/fog day!) |
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| 5×7 from today – same tower, different light! |
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| 9×12 oil – “Wotan Speaks” |
Around 11, I was ready to pack it up. The fog was evolving into clusters of thunderheads over both rims. But of course, that made for more good painting! I headed out to the area around Verkamp’s, met up with Bill Cramer, and painted two more 5x7s. The clouds and shadows were challenging, and I had to work fast on the little impression of Isis Temple. In the second piece, I’m looking off the rim and down toward Indian Gardens. I had some good, steady light for this one.
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| Isis Revealed 5×7 oil |
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| Indian Gardens View 5×7 oil |
Next was a demo by Joshua Been, followed by an artist’s reception at Verkamp’s, which is where the Grand Canyon National Park South Rim artist-in-residence stays. It’s a nice apartment with a view unlike any other. I closed up the day by having dinner with my hosts down in Tusayan.
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| Joshua Been Demo |
Tomorrow, the artists will all be painting on the South Rim between Mather Point and Trailview Overlook so interested visitors can find us. We’ll be there from dawn until 10 a.m.
A Plein Air Painter's Blog 