"Last in Line" 24 x 30

"Last in Line", 24" x 30" oil on canvas, 2008
Private Collection

This is the larger version of "Last in Line" 14 x 18, that I posted in November. I have had this finished for a while but I had not posted it.
I will not be able to post many new paintings this week. Most of my energy will be going into teaching my plein air workshop here in San Miguel. I went out painting yesterday and the weather was great. I'll post what I came up with at a later date. We should have sunny skies in the high 80's all week. Great painting weather.



Detail "Last in Line"

"Atotonilco Evening"

"Atotonilco Evening", 14" x 11" Oil on Linen, 2008
Private Collection

I was out in Atotonilco Sunday and realized that they are going to be giving this church a face lift. There are scaffolds along the front and up at the dome that I edited out.
I like it just the way it is now, old, but nobody asked me.
I am going to have to get some more reference shots while I can and maybe I'll get a chance to paint on location one or two more times before it is all plastered up and looks like a cake. They have been doing this to all the churches around town in a bid to get World Heritage status or something. I think they had more charm before, but I guess in another 20 or 30 years they will be back to the old look that I like.
This is painted on a neutral gray panel that was a wipe out from a painting that was not cooperating. It was a perfect tone for this one because there was so much gray in the shadow. I really wanted the golden evening light to pop, and the gray helps to make that work.

Xotolar (Shotolar)

I didn't get any painting done today, I went riding with a friend. So, I thought that I would share some photos of where we went. Things are pretty dry at this time of year. The Mesquite and Huizache trees will be blooming soon and in the summer all of this will be green.


We started out pretty high up. San Miguel is across the lake at the top left.



Then we dropped down into this canyon. It is real steep and pretty rocky.



Once we made it down there was some room to ride a little faster. That is Felix, they are his horses. This one is a little blurry because we were galloping.



We came out on the bottom side of the canyon.



Had to stop and get a cerveza in this little town before the ride back up on another path. I really love all of these rock walls that are all over in this part of Mexico.



After the ride, Canguro needed a little dust bath I guess.
I'll try and get some painting done tomorrow.

Plein Air Landscape Workshop in San Miguel de Allende, March 10th through 14th

I am have confirmed the dates for the March '08 plein air landscape workshop in San Miguel de Allende. The class will be from Monday, March 10th through Friday, March 14th.
The cost of the workshop will be $480. This includes daily transportation to and from the painting sites, some lunches, painting instruction and any fees needed for entrance to locations. These are full meals not bag lunches. People compliment the food as much as they do my teaching or the painting locations.




Mixing color with a limited palette, premixing colors on your palette, and choosing the best design for your composition are a few of the things that we will focus on in this workshop. An emphasis will be on getting a strong start to your painting so you don't need to waste time reworking the design later. Accurate color mixing is key to capturing the mood of a location.
I will do several demos, but the majority of the time will be for painting and individual guidance. There will be some quick painting exercises as well as time for longer painting sessions. Each morning we will be transported to that days painting spot. On at least three of the days we will be treated to a delicious meal prepared just for us by the owners of the beautiful properties where we will be painting. On the other days there will be a small restaurant available for lunch.


This workshop focuses on landscape painting. However there are lots of painting opportunities in town as well, and you might want to consider spending a few extra days in San Miguel to explore.
San Miguel has many lodging possibilities. There are many fine hotels, B&B's, apartments or houses to rent. Everyone will be responsible for their own lodging and transportation to and from San Miguel de Allende. The closest airport is in Leon, (airport code BJX), about and hour and a half ride from town. I can recommend a transportation service to shuttle you to and from the airport. Mexico City is about four hours from San Miguel by bus.

This workshop is for oil painters only. All levels are welcome, but you should have some experience painting on location. If you are interested, email me at frank@frankgardner.com for more details and the materials list.
The class size is limited to 9 or 10 participants.
For info on San Miguel and lodging visit portalsanmiguel.com
If you would like other lodging options or have any questions, email me at frank@frankgardner.com.
Please do not finalize any travel plans or lodging until you have confirmed with me that there is space available in the class.

American Artist Workshop Article

The Winter issue of American Artist Workshop magazine, on sale Dec. 11th, will feature an article by Molly Siple about a recent plein air workshop of mine here in Mexico. The article, titled "Frank Gardner: Using a Premixed Palette", will focus on a three day class that I taught in February of 2007.
I teach the benefits of using a limited palette of colors to keep color mixing simple. One of the methods that I use is to have the students start a small 6" x 8" painting by premixing on their palette 7 to 9 colors that will represent the main masses of light and shadow in the painting.
I will be posting more about the article as well as some additional workshop information on my blog soon.

Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

Today is El Dia de los Muertos in Mexico. I thought I would ad a few images of this celebration of death, for those of you who have never been to Mexico. We went down to one of the local cemeteries to visit some friends. A friend of mine really did a nice job of decorating the grave of his brother.



This is a close up of some of the offerings at the same grave.



This is an altar to Cri CRi. He was the most famous singer/ author of children's music in Mexico.



One last photo of an older cemetery in town. Many of the graves here are hundred's of years old.

"Side Street"

"Side Street", 14"x18", oil on linen, 2007
Private Collection

This is a painting of Atotonilco. This is a small town about ten minutes from San Miguel where I first lived when I moved to Mexico. I painted a vertical composition of this scene on location. This is a studio painting that I did soon after. I'll often do several paintings of a scene to experiment with different compositions.