This Sunday January 10th was the first of my Outdoor Pastel Workshops. We started at Cape Paterson just before 8, setting up easels at a lookout that looked east to the busy beach filled with early morning swimmers preparing for the hot day ahead. As expected all participants were out of their comfort zone but all did very well to craft scenes which captured the view in front of us. The strong lighting really pushed their colour reliant attitudes as they were forced to simplify and look at the tones instead.
When we arrived at the second location we had 2 views to choose and the girls chose the one with the sun behind the them, a nice little procession of headlands and open ocean with swell of in the distance. This was an interesting choice for them as they all created completely different scenes, each with it’s own merit. These studies were deemed the strongest of the group when we moved to the studio session.
While we were at this location I did 2 studies, shown below.
The final outdoor scene was the beautiful rockpools at Flat rocks. The location offered a multitude of views, the most appealing being the view straight out to the surf, the rocks acting as a path to the glorious jade water. In the hot summer light the girls again wrestled with the issue of colour versus tone.
This was the scene I did on location.
After a brief stop for lunch at Inverloch we set up outside the Art Gallery of Inverloch and I got stuck into showing them how to take the magic of the outdoor study and create a studio work that accentuates those characteristics. Using the study for atmosphere and light along with a photo for details I set about on creating as faithful rendering of the Cape Paterson scene.
With the demo complete it was time for the girls to get stuck into their studio versions of the second scene, this time with less focus on detail and colour but more on light, tone and form. While working we spoke at length about colour theory as it relates to water, atmospheric perspective, the intensity of colour and it’s impact in your work.
Here is shot of the girls hard at work
Thanks to the ladies who came along and also the Art Gallery of Inverloch for their support in getting this event set up.
Next up is my mount martha workshop on Sunday the 24th of January. If you think you’d like to have a go let me know. It promises to be a lot of fun and you’ll walk away with some new ideas on how to work in pastel.
