Painting Landscapes from Life
PD-Class | Available
Learn to paint landscapes from life instead of photos. The first session will be held at Crealdé. For remaining sessions, the class will meet by prearrangement in nearby parks in Winter Park. Students will learn what to look for in a landscape, different ways to start your painting, choosing the important over the trivial, and using composition, value and color as tools. Personal assistance and advice from the instructor will be provided as you paint. Oil, acrylic, or gouache may be used.
Prereqs: PD157, PD149 or similar exp.
- Prereqs: PD157, PD149 or similar exp.
Brushes: Bring half-inch-wide to one-inch-wide Flat, Filbert, or Round brushes. The bristles should be soft, flexible, and medium to long in length. No short stiff brushes, please!
Paints: We will paint with a limited palette of 7 colors. Our main colors will be: Titanium White, a cool red (such as Alizarin), Ultramarine Blue, and Cadmium Yellow Light; our secondary colors will be Cadmium Red, Cerulean Blue, and Yellow Ochre. Avoid paints with the word “hue” on the tube; their strength is diluted, and you will end up using twice as much of the paint to get good colors.
Thinners (relevant only for oil painters): If you use thinners with your oil paint, please bring only ODORLESS artist’s grade turpentine or thinner. You can find it at Sam Flax and Art Systems art supply stores. Do not bring hardware store-bought turpentine or Turpenoid Natural. You will also need to bring a small container for your thinner.
Easel:
Bring a field easel (also called a “French easel”) if you have one. Otherwise, a simple folding chair or various supports in the studio can be used for painting outdoors.
Palette: Most field easels are sold with a palette, so you may already have one. You will need a smooth flat surface with enough room for 7 piles of paint and for mixing colors. A good size is around 12 x 18 inches, more or less. It could be a sheet of plexiglas, masonite or even thin plywood if you don't have a palette already.
Palette Knife: You will be mixing colors on your palette with a knife most of the time, so it is important to have a metal palette knife (sometimes called a painting knife) that is longish, pointed and flexible and has a handle similar to a trowel.
Painting surfaces: Bring stretched canvases and/or canvas-covered panels. At least for the first two sessions, bring surfaces that are not too big to fill up in 2-3 hours – typically surfaces not smaller than 9 inches and not larger than 16 inches on any side. In each class session we will start a new painting and bring it to a resolution of some kind. We will not continue a painting started in a previous session.
Bring a small sketchbook, several drawing pencils or charcoals, and a block or soft eraser. A roll of absorbent paper towels. A bag (such as a plastic grocery sack) to store discarded towels.
Robert Ross
A member of Crealde's Painting & Drawing faculty, Robert Ross's paintings have been exhibited in a growing number of venues throughout Central Florida, including Anita Wooten Gallery at Valencia State College, Winter Park City Hall, Orlando City Hall, Maitland City Hall, Orange County Chambers, Gallery at Avalon Island, and Casselberry Art House. He has been in the Winter Park Paint Out sponsored by the Albin Polasek Museum, and he has won several awards for his paintings in the Winter Park Autumn Art Festival. He received his art education at Oakland University, Crealde School of Art and in master workshops taught by Stuart Shils. He is represented by Art on Douglas Gallery in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.