Day one at the Asheville workshop

Well it has been an interesting time here in Asheville so far. Yesterday it was beautiful and sunny, but C-O-L-D and very windy. The combination made it almost unbearable for most of us.  We stuck it out though!! The way they've organized this workshop is to split the group into two, so that one instructor gets half for half of the week, and the other gets the other half and then they switch. Ken Backhaus was teaching the first half of my workshop. His focus for the class was "the figure in landscape painting".

Okay, so I didn't read the prospectus that well and I had no idea we'd be doing figure painting. Being so excited about painting the landscape here, I was a bit taken aback and somewhat put off by having to paint from the model. I kept looking at this gorgeous land and thinking that if we were going to paint outside in the freezing cold, why not paint the landscape and work from the model indoors any time?

But having taught workshops before I also understood how hard it is to have control over a class and offer something that pleases everyone. In fact, it is nearly impossible! So having remembered "what it's like" I relaxed and decided to just enjoy the teaching, knowing that this was a time to learn and be challenged, not to worry about coming away with any "finished" paintings.

In fact the figure is the most challenging subject a representational painter can attempt. There is a reason why the the old masters started their training by painting and drawing the human figure. If you don't get the proportions right, it is obvious for all to see! And the figure is a great instructor of proportion for any other manner of painting that one might attempt.

Ken started out the workshop with a very interesting and informative session on color mixing. He uses the following limited pallette:

• Ivory black
• Alizarin Crimson Permanent
• Permanent Rose
• Ultramarine Blue
• Raw Sienna
• Cadmium Lemon
• Titanium White

His "color" demo showed how he can mix a myriad of colors from his palette. This palette was somewhat "earthier" than I am used to, but I enjoyed experimenting with it. The one component that I really do not use in my own palette is the Ivory black paint. I'm not really sure it will find its place on my own palette when I return home, but I  think it always helps to learn more about color by limiting the palette. Plus, it is a good way to provide color harmony in your paintings.

After the color demo, Ken showed us how he designed a painting using the figure. He spoke much about how to design the painting using large planes and notes of color. His approach was a bit like composing using puzzle pieces. Everything was about comparison. Comparing one proportion to another, and one value to another. It was very helpful and very informative!

Afterwards, we were able to start a painting of our own using the figure. Unfortunately by that time it was about 30 degrees and the winds were at 20 mph. Most of us were woefully underdressed for the occasion! We all finally had to stop due to the extreme temperatures. Many of us were shaking so bad from the shivers that we couldn't even draw any more. I went out immediately afterwards and bought boots and long johns.

This was a difficult day even for a seasoned plein air painter. Ken is from Minnesota and even he admittedly struggled. I felt for him during his demo, but not as much as I felt for his model! Nevertheless, the days lessons were very instructive.

I've taken some photos but I have yet to figure out how to upload them withouth my usual setup. Once I figure this out I will post some images!

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes Oil Paintings and art prints online www.jenniferyoung.com Contact

How it all began

From time to time I get asked the question, "When did you know you wanted to become an artist?"  My answer is always the same. 1st grade. I remember the moment of that decision too, believe it or not. Our class was assigned a project of deciding what we wanted to be when we grew up. Once we figured that out, we were to create a presentation about it. We could use magazine pictures, crayons, paste, and writing.  Well, at six years old, I hadn't quite had my lifetime career figured out just yet, but I set to work nonetheless.

Flipping through the magazines I found a picture of a pretty lady dressed up as a nurse. So I cut her out and pasted her on my construction paper. Then around her I drew a hosipital with trees, massive butterflies, flowers, etc. In my best print I wrote, "I want to be a nurse".

When it came time to present my project to the class, I stood up there and held up my picture. My fellow students began oooh-ing and ahhh-ing. I hadn't really thought much of my project beyond the fact that I had loads of fun making it. But in that moment of appreciation from others I thought, hey, maybe I'm onto something here?

So my first desires about becoming an artist were based on the appreciation I received from others. But as the years have gone on, I have come to realize that while that kind of appreciation feels really wonderful, it is temporary if I am not at the same time appreciating my own experience as an artist. If you aren't letting yourself be guided by your own internal compass, you kind of feel like a leaf blowing around in the wind.

The art school that I attended has been consistently ranked among the top 10 or so art schools in the country. It is a great school and I learned a lot, but the painting department leaned more towards abstract expressionism, pop, and conceptual paintings. It was not the place for me to freely explore my colorful landscapes. At least, rightly or wrongly that was my perception at the time. Looking back now I am glad that I was exposed to the variety artforms and styles. But it wasn't until I got out of school that I felt free to explore what would have been considered more traditional genres like landscape painting.

I am really enjoying landscape painting and I still get excited about learning new ways of seeing and executing that vision. And yet lately I have also started to get really excited about exploring abstractions too, without having any idea if it will lead anywhere at all. I am loving exploring both! It feels just as fun as when I was six drawing gigantic butterflies and flowers, and that feels like a pretty good vibe to me!

And now for something completely different

A while back I posted about experimenting with non-objective work, so I thought I'd share the results here. I'm not sure what you'd call this configuration of canvases...an installation? In any event, I installed this piece in my living room this weekend during the power outage, and even without electricity it brightened up the place. This is my first abstract in quite a while:

As an artist exploration and experimentation is very important to me. On the surface this doesn't seem to have much relationship to my landscape paintings, but there is something to learn here, and perhaps at some point these experiments can also help me to grow with my landscapes as well. In any event,  it was fun, fun, fun! Installed, this work is pretty large, measuring about 39" across by 40" tall. The small canvases to the side may not be quite to scale, so I will try to photograph the whole thing installed in the room and post it here when I do.

Here it is in the room:

One day when I have time I'd like to get rid of those green walls, but I guess they'll have to do for now.

painting artist abstract art non-objective painting

Welcome to my new blog home!

After having so much trouble with my other blog host, I decided to take the leap and move my blog to my own domain: www.jenniferyoung.com/blog. I've updated my feeds and subscriptions accordingly:

Subscribe to my blog feed

Get blog updates by email