Following on from my Mornington to Mount Martha workshop my pastel masterclasses have now started in Mornington. If you are thinking of joining in the fun make sure you get in soon. As nearly everyone is just starting out this is the perfect time to sign up.
Everyone who signs up by Tuesday 16th of February will receive a complimentary copy of my Working with Pastels DVD (Disc 1) and a 10% discount offer to join my Coastal Trail workshop on Sunday February 21st.
In addition to these offers you will also receive your own exclusive web page which will be updated weekly with your works in progress along with comments by me. This will be a great way to track your progress and watch your work grow as you move through the classes.
Make sure you check out my classes page for recent examples from my current students. You too can produce works like these!
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
I’ll be sharing some of my latest work very soon!
Hi everyone, I thought I’d share some of the works I created on the weekend during a workshop that I was running. The group was a small one (2 adults and 2 juniors) which meant I could guide them while comfortably getting my own works done at the same time. The thing I tried to push home with them was to simplify the scene into the most basic forms and study the tones. While I didn’t want them rushing I did limit the time at each location to 1 hour so that they were more aware of the changes in light as they worked. Each of my scenes was done in roughly 10 minutes, allowing me to concentrate on helping the participants along the way.
All pieces were done on 9″ x 5″ Rustygrit plein air boards. Here are the ones I did for the day.
The first location was the Mornington foreshore, one of my favourite painting spots over the years. Setting up just before 8am everything looked great until dark foreboding clouds came in and sapped the light. My piece still retains some of the light while hinting at the leaden sky in the background.
After wrapping up the first scene we packed all the gear in our cars and made the 10 minute drive to Mount Martha. As we crested the hill and started toward the town I got really excited. The sun had bathed the beach in fantastic summer light and there were crowds of people preparing to sail out on the bay. The bright coloured sails gave me plenty to work with and the scene below is what resulted.
Following on we moved to the south beach where the crowds were building and split up. One of the juniors chose to paint the brightly coloured bathing boxes, another looked at the view of the headland with the crowded beach in the foreground. I chose to look out to the bay and really simplify. I wantes to capture the shifting colours in the water and the people talking on the beach. While I was working on the scene a boat sailed straight past so I decided to use it to give the water some interest.
With the first three locations done myself and one of the students took the trek to the distant headland and set up at the rockpools. I feel it was worth the trip.
Upon reviewing all the works we could all see marked improvements as the day’s scenes developed. I was very pleased – I had converted another group to the thrill of working en plein air!
On the way back from Inverloch on Monday I saw this scene as I came back through Kilcunda. The atmosphere of that place of an afternoon is just amazing. With my pochade and pastels in the car I stopped at the nearest carpark and made my way toward one of the cliff tops to begin work. 20 minutes later the study you see below was completed.
Shelley beach atmosphere
Pastel on Rustygrit by Leigh Rust
Working quickly is one of the things I’ll be looking at during my upcoming workshops. With a scene like this where the movement of the water is paramount to the success of the work it’s a matter of observing that movement for a while before laying down the first strokes.
I’ll possibly develop this as a larger studio work in the near future.
With the warmer weather approaching I’m looking to take a couple of workshops out on site to teach people the benefits of working en plein air. Many of my works are developed from plein air studies which help me capture the essence of the scene and focus on the lighting as the artists from the famed Heidelberg School used to do.
The workshops will show how I work in pastel on site but participants can bring along whichever medium they’d like to work with. Over the years I’ve become proficient in most mediums so I can always offer guidance when required.
The first workshop will be held on December 6th from 3pm in Pakenham. We’ll be on site for 2 hours creating studies to capture the lighting as it changes before we move to my studio for a demonstration on how to work with the study to create a finished artwork.
The cost for this workshop is $60. Spaces are limited so get in quick to reserve your space.
Toomuc creek – Studio artwork by Leigh Rust
Following the first one there are 2 proposed workshops looking at capturing the coast during summer, both slated for January. These workshops will be full day runs with morning spent on site and the afternoon sessions developing the works.
