May 7 - Serious second pass on the 12 x 16 oil

I've spent a good amount of time working on this painting to get it to this point (far from finished at this point). Still here in Florida, and today was the last day of the wonderful first-timers Color Boot Camp. Details of the journey as viewed by one of the attendees Maggie can be seen here. (Thanks, galfriend!)

I've been putting details in the grasses of the pastures and talking up composition to the Boot Campers. I will miss their pleasure at learning the beginning steps with the Color System, and hope to see them again in Florida next year as "Repeat Offenders". Tomorrow morning I drive up north to Georgia and return to the Farm for the second week-long Color Boot Camp for newbies. I'm not tired at all!

Lynn Wade came by the Art Walk event in the downtown area, including a visit to Voilart Gallery, and I had a friend take this image of Lynn, Shraron Crute and myself with Sparky. Both Lynn and Sharon are great equine artists and I do hope you made some time to see Lynn's paintings: www.lynnwade.com and Sharon's web site.
Sharon is the co-owner of the gallery with Jackie, who put up with me. Kathie Camara organized the event and for all that, I'm eternally grateful! Thanks so much for a wonderful time!

My hair's gone all curly because of the humidity. I was born with curly hair, yet it went straight when I moved to California years ago. LOVE having it back! Can you say, "POOF?"

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My workshop schedule for 2010 is HERE.
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July 31 - Going to the Dogs!

I'm starting this 9 x 12 oil of one of the two Teddy Roosevelt Terriers today, as I am enjoying the "recuperation" from my birthday a few days ago... turning "of an age" can be solemn, or it can be a bit crazy. I took the latter path...no surprise.

So today, to do penance if I were so inclined to think like that, I'm going to the dogs! Inspiration for this painting came literally "right under my feet". In the leg space under my roll top desk (where I sit typing this) there's a donut dog bed and I glanced down and saw Onslow in a familiar sleeping position. So I took out my camera and lights, and took several images, adjusting the lighting and shooting without a flash. The source material is below. Total comfort!

The linen canvas was scumbled with an under layer of ultramarine blue, burnt umber and yellow ochre, setting the tone for the colors to come. This scheme will be with the Color System, and I'll keep the complimentary dominance of blue/orange and yellow/purple to make it work.

You can see I don't spend a lot of time drawing, although for this unusual pose I did do a sketch in my sketchbook to lock down the location of all those airborne paws. The painting is coming along nicely now.

There may be one or more spaces in the Sebastopol Color Boot Camp in August--less than two weeks before I head up north of San Francisco to both give a painting demonstration in Ukiah, and then the workshop and demonstration in Sebastopol. Please let me know if you'd like a dose of "Yellin' by Elin" in this Color Boot Camp workshop. Please contact me using the email link below, and I'll forward your interest to the person in charge. I hope to meet some of you there!

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2009 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.

Apr 4 - Color Boot Camp in Progress--Student Samples

After the first full day of the Color Boot Camp ended, I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the students' paintings instead of mine. They say one can measure the success of a teacher by the quality of the students. Everyone "nailed" the morning light lesson, after the opening morning learning the importance of values in designing paintings. Here are two of the students' pieces, both completed to this stage in just under three hours. I asked permission to share them, and they enthusiastically said, "Yes!".

First is Christine's image of an elephant in water. She came in with a standard photograph taken by a friend on safari, and it was a traditionally gray and blue photo. By applying the color system, and relocating the head off to one side, she accomplished the goal of creating a dynamic composition and also set the time of day to morning. She'll add the ripples and define the water and the details on this 12 x 16 oil later. But this painting shows a great "AHA" moment for her, in that she said she'd never think to add the yellow to the right side of the pachyderm.

Second is a morning landscape from an ordinary photograph taken by Claudette. She finished this large (16 x 20 oil) in the afternoon of the first day! Knowing what colors to use allowed her to push forward and really get what she wanted without fighting to achieve the gentle light of morning. All of the students were successful in getting the morning light in their work.

Tomorrow, they'll be doing sunsets and noon lighting. I'll share more of their work with you then, if you like. I'm so pleased with the way the workshop is unfolding for these students. Then there are my demonstration paintings coming, too...

There's still room in the May Florida workshop (Georgia is full), and the September workshop in beautiful Maine. Color Boot Camps for FIVE FULL DAYS!

You can see my entire blog HERE.

My workshop schedule for 2009 is HERE (except for the June Riverside workshop).

Color System information can be found HERE.

If you need to email me directly, please click here.

August 29 - Plein Air from Maine Workshop Week, Oil, 12 x 9

The change in my life since reluctantly ceasing the daily paintings has been enormous, and all positive. Today I met Juliet Harrison, an equine artist with a camera, who came up to my studio today. She is out visiting relatives here in California from her own state of New York, with her family. We ate lunch in the outer studio, and I showed her around the place at her request. Her son Jackson loved the goats, especially wanting to meet Vincent. I should have taken more pictures, as it was fun to see excitement all over the place and how much Vincent van Goat loved the attention.

The weather has been beastly hot and slightly humid, and over 100 temps are hard to bear. Especially for the workers taking out and rebuilding the new entrance to the outer studio, where I'll have my February workshop. It will be great to have a proper entrance and patio for the workshop. Looks like that will be President's Weekend, Friday night through Monday, so if you want to be considered for a slot, please email me. I have a list.....

But I'm off to teach again, heading to Georgia in September. Twelve excited soon-to-be Color Boot Campers await my arrival. We'll be sited at the farm of a friend of mine, and it will be fun, fun fun! I'll send more and write more then. This past month has been a mini vacation for me, and it renews my energies to create more new work! Here's one from the workshop in Maine, we were painting Somes Sound and this is the demonstration piece for the late morning light. I can feel the wind in it! 12 x 9 oil, available for $255.

It's GOOD to be back!!

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May 15 - After the Workshop, Oil Demonstration

The workshop was a great success, with 18 people exposed to the Color System and learning new things. I took a picture of the group (minus one) holding their different paintings. Each attendee chose a time of day to work on, and painted from their own material or from mine. I'm so very pleased with the new knowledge they gained, however I'm a bit bushwhacked on the floor in front of the happy group! All in all, a great day. I'll be doing a three-day workshop in February in Riverside as a continuance of the process for new and returning students.

The painting is the little demonstration piece I did in the morning to present the basic concepts about the Color System that I shared while I painted the grapefruit and tangelo from life. Later both fruits were part of lunch!


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February 19 - Finding Solutions to Problems--Sunset Painting

I was out among 'em today, about sunset, and saw a wonderfully colorful sunset unfold as I headed up the hill to the UPS store to drop off a painting going to a new collector. The sunset presented the solution to a problem I'd been trying to solve for quite a while, and I had one of those "AHA!" moments as I was driving (fortunately traffic wasn't heavy!). I made a discovery about lighting in such wonderful skies, and had to come back and duplicate the solution so I would have it in my repertoire of skills whenever I wanted it. Doing it, after mentally solving the problem, was just as exciting as the "AHA!" moment back there on the road! So now I have this little 6 x 8 oil to remind me of the obvious knowledge that had been obscure before. This view is from the hillsides above Riverside. $200 from the web site.

The question for you is, Do you know what the "Aha" moment was all about? Hint: you ought to have been in a workshop or have a copy of the Colorful Oil Painting DVDs to get it right. And think values, too! Artists usually love to solve puzzles, so now you have one! Another hint: it is definitely in the sky.

And in other news, I have a three-day workshop featuring color, acrylics and plein air in Shakertown Kentucky, June 3-6. I made my flight reservations today, and will hope to meet some of you there! Here is more information:
HERE
Fantastic opportunity to work with acrylics and do on-location painting, too!