From last weeks workshop

....... from Monday morning. Cruz del Puebla 12x16 ins.

(unfinished)

.......from Monday afternoon in the Jardin Principal 9x12 ins.

(unfinished - needs some bench sitters)

"Iglesia San Antonio"  12x16 ins. oil on canvas

........ form Tuesday morning (completed)

......... from Tuesday afternoon at the Jardin  12x16 ins. on panel

(completed but untitled so far)

The restaurant owner apparently wants to buy this one. He stood at my shoulder for a while and watched the process. He gave me his card and I seem to have lost it somehow. I walk by his place all the time but can't remember the restaurant name. When I find out I'll grace the picture with a title and let him know it's ready. Our group attracted a lot of attention that final afternoon. For some it was a bit nerve wracking. We couldn't have parked ourselves in a busier location. The attention comes with the territory - you just have to get used to it. Some really get off on it - they either like the showman part or they love talking to all the people. Personally I can't say as I like either of those aspects, so I just about totally ignore the crowd and immerse my consciousness in the process. Some probably think I'm pretty grumpy but it's actually a case of total involvement. I can't imagine how anybody can paint plein air and talk at the same time - amazing -

I made the mistake of smiling at a little boy who seemed particularly enthralled and hung behind my back for a while. When I packed up my gear I couldn't find my "wet painting separator strips" and I fear this ninito had something to do with it. I'm always pretty careful with my stuff but it shows you can't be too careful. The strips of course are worth about 1 centavo and will be totally of no use to the kid - just made the carry home a little miserable for us. Anyway, I was happy with both the paintings I did on Tuesday and it was a really good group to share two perfect days with. I hope we can do it again some time.

All next week is our yearly San Miguel workshop so we'll be doing lots more plein air and I'll post the results along with group photos the following week. It's a large group and some are pretty advanced painters - the weather coming up looks great and I'm looking forward to having  another exciting week!!

for those mid-Feb. blahhs

"Watching the Surf" - Syulita
24 x 36 ins. oil on canvas

This one is from Syulita, a small fishing/surfing beach just (far enough) north of Puerto Vallarta. I'm working on a few with similar theme at the moment. I like this one. I think you can almost hear Bob Mally in the background. If so, I really hit it right because of course, Bob was omnipresent and always is at a surfin' beach - I wonder how long Bob will "live on"? ............ another 50 years? ............ another hundred??
I remember the first time I heard Bob - It was "I shot the sheriff" - I must have been about 10 years old. Well, I heard it again about a week ago and it still sounds great! - must get back to the beach soon!!!

The Plein air from Sunday

"The Church at San Miguel Viejo"

14x18 ins. oil on panel

This picture started out fairly well but quickly turned into a disaster and it was embarrassing because it was a paid demonstration (of my masterly technique) for one of Donna's students . I had trouble visualizing it. I had trouble drawing it. I had trouble applying the paint and I had some trouble with the color. I had lots of  poorly timed trouble......................

For the benifit of those few of you who have any interest in the matter, I'll point out the main avoidable problems that were throwing me off and maybe we can remember what not to do in the future. .........maybe.........

 By the way the picture you see above is a bit of a rebuild - I worked on it today for about 3 hours. I'm actually happy with it now. I think now it's the most interesting painting of that church I've done to date. Those flags were worrisome to say the least!

 

 

Firstly I was distracted by the circumstances of the event. I've got to totally concentrate when choosing a scene and planning the execution of the painting. There are just so many factors to keep in mind. A good instructor can blot most distractions out - I'm not a good instructor.

 

Secondly the wind was blowing like crazy and we took a little longer to set up because of it. We tried to find the best protection but the scene precluded total escape.

Thirdly, the worst of it was we were standing under some very dark trees and looking out toward the light. Not only that but the view was up-sun, in the afternoon, making the contrast of light to shade even worse. We couldn't judge our values and colors that we were mixing. I've run into that one lots of times but this was the worst case yet. On top of it all I've been experimenting lately with dark, primed panels. It would have been bad if the surface had been white. It was all too much for this painter. Some of it was fun but there was a point at which I was tempted to scrape.

.........Evolve/Devolve/Whatever ?????

"Late Afternoon Light S.M.A. 

14x18ins. oil on canvas

"7 p.m." 

14x18 ins. oil on canavs

"Mexican Fishermen"

14x18ins.  oil on canvas too