March 4, 2025
Learning new Skills in the off season
In January of 2024, during my last winter break, I took a figure sculpture workshop taught by Alicia Ponzio. I had been wanting to do a little off-season experimenting, and since I’m a huge fan of her work, I signed up for a workshop. I have no ambitions of becoming a sculptor, but I know there’s a lot to gain from studying artistic disciplines outside of painting.
No doubt about it, sculpting is challenging! But pairing things down to studying the anatomy and proportions of the female form - without worrying about composition, value, color - allowed me to focus on accurate observation to interpret my subject in three dimensions. It was an incredible exercise in observation, and under Alicia’s insightful teaching, I felt my visual perception grow in ways that naturally carried over into my painting. That experience made such an impact that I’ve decided to make this kind of learning a part of my annual winter routine.
This year one of my areas of focus was all about boats, and boy is there is a lot to learn!
Since many of my event locations take me to coastal communities - East coast to West Coast and beyond - marine scenes (and seafood paintings - yum) have become big part of my body of work. Check out my collection of Marine Artwork here. But like horse people, people who know boats, know when you get it wrong! So this year, I am focusing more on getting my artistic sea legs where boats are concerned. Of course, my main interest in all of this is to make better paintings, to wobble along as I grow in my knowledge and further my painting skills.
Is it working? Well, see what you think:
Painting on location in Apalachicola, FL - Tucked In, 12x16", oil on panel, Sold.
Painting en plein air, especially in the fleeting light conditions of sunrise and sunset require a strategy for success. For the scene painted above, I scoped out the scene one evening with a plan to return the following afternoon a few hours before sunset. This extra time would allow me to "set the stage"by planning my composition, getting the drawing accurate, and massing in the major shapes, all leading up to the appointed hour, or should I say appointed 15 minutes of panic painting!! I also did myself a big favor by premixing big piles paint on my palette of sunset color to speed up the process. Add in some upbeat music in my headphones and it's time to rock and roll!
Lucky me! The day I scoped out the scene, the only boats present were the two on the right. Upon my return, a third boat tucked itself into the space between the original two boats and a nearly submerged forth boat. Hallelujah, it was painting heaven!
Getting this painting on the easel in the studio this winter was high on my to-do list. I took some time learning how shrimp boats work too, from the form and function of the outriggers and stabilizers, to how the nets work to capture shrimp and not fish or turtles, and how shrimpers tie cod knots to secure the nets with heavy loads but with a tug release the catch onto the work deck. I want my studio pieces to have a painterly feel and the extra time in the studio means I can spend more time with details, playing with sky colors and design and yes, educating myself to paint with more confidence when I get to paint these lovely boats again.
This blog post is 100% human written.