Photos from our 2013 San Miguel de Allende Workshop

Feb. 2013 San Miguel de Allende Workshop Students and Instructors

back row: Tom Lips,  Leslie Roundstream,  Gail Pendell,  Kathryn Boll,  Mary Li,  Lucie Michel,  Gary Heger,  Donna Dickson,  Tom Dickson,  Eadie Richards,  Ian Carter

     front sitting: Cynthia G. Smith,  Carol O'toole,  Elena Sacal

We had a great group and a wonderful week of painting. It's always nice to see impressive results and also gratifying to hear appreciation for the teachers efforts. I want to congratulate all of you for work well done. It would be a pleasure to paint with you again in the future.

We had quite a mix of media, techniques and even weather this year. It was warm the first 3 days but on the last two it turned quite abnormally chilly. Most opted to paint indoors at the gallery on Friday and Tom Lips was nice enough to offer the use of his beautiful home on Saturday. So, we ended up with some very nice interior compositions in addition to the street and landscapes done earlier in the week. 

Tom Lips and Mary Li tackling a very simple subject..... and tackled well it was, as it were, in their hands! Congrats - it was a tough one! Both paintings had a tremendous feeling of depth, good color and design. Obviously these two have got "the stuff".

Our first morning out, drawing lots of attention from tourists that can't be seen in this picture. The famous parroquia is just behind us but I think on this particular morning it was us getting most of the attention. How could we concentrate? - no problem for plein air painters - we ignored the crowd and had a great time learning about the principals of color.

Kathryn, Lucy and Carol in the studio building on that first cool day. They, Eadie and Gail picked the brightest location under the huge central skylight and painted with water media to their hearts content.

I'm giving some pointers to Tom Lips here, who soaks up information pertaining to oil painting like a sponge. He has made tremendous progress since we've known him and he claims our instruction has had a lot to do with it.

Leslie Roundstream with full plein air gear painting alongside some company in the form of an ancient Otomi Indian shrine in the middle of a field in San Miguel Viejo. Les got 2 terrific results that day in the space of about 3 hours!

from left: Kathryn, Ian and Carol, painting at Cruz del Pueblo

Gail with some new amigitos assisting her in the Jardin

Eadie painting at "the Cruz"

Gretchen and Cynthia higher up the "mountain" at Cruz del Pueblo. They were a little chilly in the shade that morning - their blood having been thinned by too much time on the tropical beach sands at Syulita.

Tom demonstrating oil technique back in the gallery with Gary and Mary.

Elena with her chosen terrace, mid-elevation at "the Cruz"

and Lucie a little further down-slope, at the end of another happy session of plein air painting.

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

From Here and There

"En la Plaza Civica"  9x12 in. oil on panel

This one was done on our plein air day 2 weeks ago.

"Dried Flowers" 9x12 in. 

and this one was from this past Monday session. 

I'm happy with both of these - they've got good strength of color and were both very nearly completed on location. I like the direction my technique is going. Like a lot of people, I always felt that everything I did was way too tight. I guess the only way to really escape that is by "paying your dues" and you can rest assured that I certainly paid mine! In the end though painting has become highly pleasurable entertainment. I just wish that there would have been an opportunity to get better instruction when I went for it back in my teens. Even today a young person with potential would have a hard time finding a really useful Maestro with the ability, patience and care to indicate the way forward. It;'s not that they don't exist but they're a very rare hominid indeed. I happen to be married to one! -Donna Dickson. It's incredible .......... she received her early instruction from me, at a time when I could have used some supercharging from above, myself. We both went on through the years to explore together and in the end she not only became a highly skilled painter but unlike myself, an accomplished instructor as well. Now it's great! - when she offers some criticism I really listen up. I only wish I'd bumped into the likes of her way..... back....... when ......................

"Los Vendadores"  24x30 ins. oil on canvas

This one is based on a photo of  street vendors at Sayulito, from our recent trip to the Pacific coast. I'm working on a few bigger beach scenes from the area at the moment but this thing was the most complicated and troublesome to work on and the only one I've actually finished as yet. I'll post the others soon, as they're well on the way and I'm pretty excited with them. Come to think of it, I never got around to posting any of the demos from that workshop in Guayabitos. I may take a few snaps now and post them if the light is decent. If not ..... there is always "manana".

I just remembered - I already took those photos weeks ago and sent them to a friend. So, here they are .....

I haven't affixed titles to them so far. They are mostly 14x18 ins. None of them I consider to be really finished. I don't know when I'll get around to doing that - maybe a rainy day. Trouble is it almost never rains here between now and July.

A Perfect Day at San Miguel Viejo

"AUTUMN, SAN MIGUEL VIEJO" 14x18 ins. oil on canvas

This is from our last plein air day and it was one of the most pleasant days painting I can remember. It was identical to what we used to call back home in Ontario an "Indian Summer Day" - not too hot, not too cold, with a gentle, soft breeze and this golden, quiet afternoon glow to everything. We were surrounded by farm animals and even they seemed especially content. When we arrived a mother cow was licking the face of her calf and when we left she was still soggily at it. An untethered colt came up the path kicking his heels and settled down to munching in the field next to us. Yes, it was a prime day - even the farmers seemed to get it and were extra friendly. When it came time to go we all just kind of bumbled around with no desire to leave. Painting on location is practically always enjoyable but sometimes it's just too cool.

On Thursday we're off to the beach for a couple of weeks of teaching and painting different subject matter (not to mention some nice bobbing in the waves). We'll be going to Rincon de Guayabitos first, crossing to Baja for a meet up with old friends and finally returning to Mazatlan for a few days. I probably shant get around to posting for the next month. (Sorry, - I know it's going to be hard but you'll just have to suck it up and be patient.) God  or  whatever willing, we should be back in a few weeks sporting a good tan and fine attitude.