Marc Hanson Workshop Report Day 3

'Morning Quiet'         6x8     oil on panel   ©Karen Margulis sold

 Let me begin my report by commenting that today's painting was done yesterday when I got home from the workshop. I believe it is important that you take time after a workshop to paint as much as you can. More on this later!

The third and last day of the workshop began with a bit warmer temperatures and the promise of sun. We gathered at a small lake to paint and Marc began with a quick demo. There was a wonderful mist and mystery on the lake but by the time everyone assembled it was gone.  Marc had wanted to demonstrate how he paints backlit situations and mist but it was a good lesson to see how to approach a plein air painting in very rapidly changing conditions.

We spent the rest of the morning painting on our own. I chose a distant bush across the lake and wasn't too pleased with my results. I had decided to add to my limited palette so it was a learning experience to see what the added colors did. You know what they say.....you don't do your best work at a workshop because you are in learning mode.

After lunch Marc had an exercise for us.  I really enjoyed having guided exercises at a workshop. I learn more from solving structured problems then just muddling around on my own.  The afternoon exercise was a Memory Painting.

Painting #1   1 hour Memory Painting

 For this exercise we did 2 paintings of the same subject.  We had an hour for each one. This is how it worked. We chose our scene and set up our easels facing away from the subject.  Marc started the timer. We had 5 minutes to look at the scene and then 20 minutes to paint.  Then another 5 minutes to look and another 20 to paint. We did this for an hour.  The painting above is my memory painting.

Painting #2  1 hour painting while looking at subject

For painting #2 we turned our easels back to face the scene and we had one hour to paint as usual looking at the scene.   At the end of this exercise everyone line up their paintings so we all could see the results. It was interesting. For most of us, our memory paintings were looser and less fussy.  We tended to put in what we thought were the most important elements.  In comparison, the second paintings had more detail and tended to be fussier.  The memory paintings were more an impression of the scene rather than a copy.  It was an interesting exercise that I will be sure to repeat on my own.

The workshop ended to soon! I really enjoyed meeting new artists and the camaraderie that was developing.  Three days is just a teaser!   I did learn a lot that I still need to process.  I roomed with two of my artist friends Marsha Savage and Candy Day and our evening art discussion really gave me a lot of food for thought.

Read Marc Hanson Workshop report Day 1 HERE
Read Marc Hanson Workshop report day 2  HERE