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During the afternoon of the second day we moved all of our gear to the pier at the end of Tayor St. in downtown Port Townsend. It was hard to find parking and it was hot. We finally all arrived there and watched Ken do a demo. By the time I got my gear all set up again I was, quite frankly, ready to be done. There wasn't much time left but I wanted to get whatever I could get from the workshop. In this painting I learned that if you don't get your darks in right away in oil painting it is very hard to establish them later. Therefore I don't have as much value contrast in this study as I would like. Now I know better. On the third day of the workshop we watched Ken show us how he uses his plein air study and some photo references to create a larger more finished work. In the afternoon he critiqued paintings. Those who oil paint a lot and live in Port Townsend (most of them) brought lots of paintings. Watching the critique was also a good learning. The Ray for the Day is "Taylor Street".
On the morning of the second day of the workshop we met at Port Hudson. Ken did a demo using the Commodore's House B&B as his subject. I liked the subject and felt I could learn a lot by following Ken's lead. Also there was a picnic table to put my stuff on and it was in the shade of a wonderful large tree. Finding comfort while plein aire oil painting seems to be a theme here, eh?So this is not an original composition. I enjoyed making the painting and had plenty of decisions to make on my own. By this time I am getting a bit more comfortable with the way the paint and the brushes behave. The shadow on the doorway moved fast, and I worked hard to capture it when it was at a pleasing angle. The Ray for the Day is "The Commodore's Doorway".
Still day one of the oil painting workshop with Ken Spencer. Our assignment was to make at least two oil studies during the day. It was hot and the thought of packing up all my equipment and moving to a new location seemed onerous to me. Since I am new to this medium my equipment is not yet streamlined. What I have is heavy and awkward. If I stick with this I will be getting more manageable gear. I love buying new art supplies. All of that being said, I decided to stay right where I was a do a different take on the same subject. BTW besides learning things about oil painting itself I also learned a great deal about gear and supplies. And so the Ray for Day is "Ajax Again".
