Pastel painting reworked

One if the things about attending a class is that you look at all your paintings with a new eye. I was holding off framing this piece because I wasn't quite happy with it, but I didn't know how to improve it. If in doubt, simplify. So, with a few well placed strokes of pastel I was able to turn this piece into a much better painting.

Plein air Intensive Workshop Day 2 afternoon

One of the subjects Albert Handell (www.alberthandell.com) is known for is rocks: big rocks, rocky outcropping, rocks with still water, rocks with moving water. This afternoon started a series of visits to sites with rocks. Albert, our mentor and teacher, chose a small falls over the rocks. Instructions included for us to paint the underlying rocks first, then lay the water over the rocks. Sounds easy enough. I struggle with rocks, and the moving water was an added challenge. I practiced the falls by making some studies, and took breaks to watch the progress of Albert's painting. So much can be learned by watching a master paint.

Plein air Intensive Workshop Day 2 morning

Another beautiful Lake Superior day dawns, and we go back down to the lake. The rocky formation is called "Artist's Point", and there is enough inspiration here to keep an artist busy and happy for many days. Our teacher starts right in on a complex rocky outcropping. It's amazing to watch the painting emerge from the paper, bit by bit. More on that another day.

Looking SW the Sawtooth Mountains are visible receding into the distance. I am able to finish a small piece featuring them. I like the shapes, and I paint a nice sky, one of my favorite subjects.

Plein air Intensive Workshop Day 1 afternoon

The class went up the north shore of Lake Superior to a rocky beach. Piles of driftwood were all along the shore. Our teacher immediately set to work. It was amazing to see how he took such a complex scene, simplified it, and produced a beautiful painting. He demonstrated how to use cast shadows on the driftwood to show the curve of the log, and to create interest along the length of the log with changing colors.

I did a study of driftwood and was able to incorporate some of the lessons. I look forward to using what I learned in a finished piece.

Plein air Intensive Workshop Day 1 morning

Monday morning 9:00 out on the Lake Superior rocks in Grand Marais. Clear and sunny, how lucky can I be? I gathered with the class around our teacher,

Albert Handell (http://www.alberthandell.com) while he did a demo using pastels to create a beautiful painting. Then it was time for me to paint. The rocks and water provided plenty of inspiration. But workshops can be difficult, because you're learning new things, yet feel like you have to paint well, because people are watching, even if they are fellow students who are also anxious about learning new things and painting well... .

Plein Air Intensive Workshop with Albert Handell in Grand Marais, MN

Preparing for a class is more than packing the paper and pastels, especially one like this one. We will be painting outside ("plein air") every day, one site in the morning, one in the afternoon, for 5 days. Beautiful Grand Marais has plenty of subject matter for us. We must be prepared for weather ranging from sunny and 80 degrees, to raining and 45 degrees. We carry our painting supplies over rocks, streams, through campgrounds, into ravines. There are sometimes nearby bathrooms. Our instructor paints along with us, but does not directly teach while he and we paint.

In the evenings, we meet with our mentor, Albert (www.alberthandell.com). This is when the teaching happens. There is a critique of the day's painting, and then instruction. Painting all day outside can be tiring, but there is always plenty of energy in the room for the evening mentoring. It's why we are there, and where the real work happens. I have goals for painting (better rocks), for my technique (finish a painting on site, not in the studio later), for my vision (does my viewer feel it?).

But how do I get ready for that?

To Crop or not to Crop...the right size for a painting

While struggling with a painting that wasn't working the other day, a painting friend reminded me about the benefits of cropping. Today in my studio I dug through my stash of unresolved paintings and applied the crop theory. One was immediately improved, and is now ready to frame

("Lupine Field" ). Another I am still struggling with. Then I remembered that instead of playing around with pieces of cardboard to crop, I could use the computer. So here is the painting and some options. I even came up with a diptych option which I hadn't thought of earlier.

What do you think?