Leaving for one week for the Bill Cone Workshop

Finally the time has come!!!  I have been waiting so long it seems!!  Tommarrow I leave for a week,  that will be so odd as I haven't gone anywhere myself for sooooo long!!!!    I am going to the Sierra Buettes area in California to be at a workshop called "Pastel and the Natural light" which is taught by artist Bill Cone.   Bill Cone works for Pixar ,, and has been teaching this workshop for a long time.  His own work is amazing and is so full of light!  I really do hope to absorbe, learn , all I possibley can.  More after the workshop week, stay tuned!!

              Here is an example of Bill Cone's amazing pastel work:

Its so beautiful!!!    I am so looking forward to this!!!!   Later Folks!

Plein-air morning from Last Sunday

The last time I got out to Plein-air was last Sunday, and I had a great time.  Made it back home in time to scrap more paint from the ceiling in the room I am painting.  I used a Mounted Uart paper, on a foamcor board that just makes my life so easy!   I wish compostion was as easy as just enjoying painting on this type of prepared board.  This is an old Pine tree trying to hang in here .   atop a very rocky hillside above the river.  I think I will return to this area and others like it as I enjoy the granite rocks,   and the brush and things that do try to grow.   Also, some great vista's can also be seen from the right places as well.    

9 a.m. on a great morning - - -

This is today's work, from Faith Valley off of hwy. 88 in California.   Its really a beautiful spot that I don't go see very much.  I met some ladies , one of which has a beautiful home on Blue Lakes road in Hope Valley, and we went looking for a place to spend the morning.   I used a Sienna colored pastlemat , 9 x 12, and after doing a thumbnail sketch in my notebook, I drew this onto the pastlemat, and then used alcohol to wash the d/L patten down.  The alcohol acted very strange on this support and I doubt I would use it again - -  --still, I was able to Finnish the painting.   I believe I put too much into the picture, even tho I used a viewfinder.  I do plan to return and distill this a bit more.    One of the other ladies had a wonderful painting - - -it was at least 16 x 20!!  And on Wallis Belgium mist dry mounted onto foam core.  She didn't say, but she used a chosen palette and really pulled if off wonderfully with color harmony throughout - -  -giving me plenty to think about.   I not only try to put everything into the painting that I see, but also try to use every color out there!!  More painting en plein-air will help me thru this. 

Getting to the Middle of July

I haven't been painting en Plein-air  as much as I wanted to this summer and time seems to be flying by!     After the week long Plein-air paint out in June I guess I felt I needed to switch gears and get busy doing something else which would also allow the experience to settle in my mind.   It was a great week with a lot of good art work created and I sure hope we have it to look forward to next year.  here is a linc for you to see the last day of the plein-air in Markleeville!   http://www.youtube.com/user/evelynyonker.  This shows some of the better artists on the last day, and also some of the Gallery and the reception.  It was great.

Today, I was up early and loaded up my companions, the 3 dogs I travel with and went to Hope Valley on my own.   I have been working on our big living room in the Dutch Valley house, scrapping paint, and re-painting  so I can hang artwork and perhaps use this room to work in and also show work, also sew, draw, and do some lite entertaining!  (right).........Anyhow, its a lovely room with a huge bay window that looks out at one of the pastures and a lot of cows, and no other houses roads or lights or anything!   Its also a north facing window!!   You could paint clouds on site all year from this window, and I plan to try.   Still, I needed a break , so went out to try a plein-air study.    July 24th, I will be leaving home to go to a Bill Cone workshop near the Sierra Buttes in Sierra County, Ca - - - - I felt I needed to get ready for that and also to use some of the Canson Paper he suggests we use for the workshop.   As you know I do use Canson and look froward to learning from Bill Cone!   My study for today:

This is on Canson " Twilight"   Which is a purple-grey   and I like it a lot.   I can't wait to learn what or how Bill Cone uses it to capture a feeling of light on the landscape.  It was fun today getting out there in the a.m. with my dogs to paint!  They love it , too. Trees are such a difficult element to get, and I do love them, but still have more to learn about that!   The other color of canson B.Cone suggests we try in "Tobacco"  This one is a warm brown-grey, med-dark - - -  -and I like it too.  I also really like the moonstone shade that Lorenzo Chavez uses  a lot.    I hope to get out again really soon!!!!