Plein Air landscape Workshop, San Miguel de Allende. March 8-12, 2010

Dates are set for my 2010 plein air landscape painting workshop in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
March 8-12 from 9:30-5:00 PM
The cost of the 5 day class is $550.USD and includes Painting Instruction, full gourmet lunches each day and transportation to and from the painting locations. A deposit of $200.USD is needed to hold your spot. Email me to see if there are available spots and I'll give you the mailing address to send the deposit.

In the workshop my emphasis is on helping everyone advance to their next level.







This year we will be spending our painting time at Rancho del Sol Dorado, a beautiful horse ranch 15 minutes from San Miguel. Holly and Mario Ortiz are great hosts and each day they will treat us to delicious meals in a friendly and relaxing atmosphere.










Some of the topics we will concentrate on are:

Values: A strong and simple value pattern is key to a successful painting, we will work on getting values correct from the start and keeping them clear throughout the painting process.

Color: We will work on seeing color and value then mixing color using 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.

Strong Starts/ Block In: 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 feel that a strong start is the key a successful plein air painting and we will focus a lot on "starts" as well as how to bring a good start to the desired finish.

Finish: I will have you chose your strongest block in and use that as a start for a larger, more finished painting done on location.

Demos: 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.





The painting day generally works out like this:
Meet for pick up around 9:30 A.M. for transportation to Rancho del Sol Dorado.
There is either a quick demonstration or talk about the days goals and then everyone gets painting while I give one on one attention.
Break for lunch is usually around 1:30 or 2:00 P.M. depending on our painting progress.
The break for lunch lasts about 1 hour.
Then everyone gets back to painting for the rest of the afternoon until around 5:00 P.M. when we will be transported back to town.



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 what the town has to offer.
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 with any questions or to receive the materials list.

For info on San Miguel and lodging visit portalsanmiguel.com
Or TripAdvisor.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.
The deposit is fully refundable up to one month before the start of the workshop.

New Paintings and painting with friends.

It's been quite a while since I last posted something. Sorry about that.
Last month I had 14 friends down visiting and painting in San Miguel. We had a blast, and I can't even begin to write about how much fun I had with them here. I took them all horseback riding one day and I think they all really enjoyed themselves. Here is a lineup of 13 of us about to race across a dry lake bed.



left to right: Felix (his ranch), Ignat Ignatov, Ernesto Nemesio, Peter Kalill, Scott Burdick, Frank Gardner, Logan Hagege, Jerome Greene, Jeremy Lipking, Kevin McNamara, Paul Schulenburg, Jeff Bonasia, Marc Hanson, Colin Page, and a few more guys from the ranch.
Not in this photo are Dan Corey and Alexey Steele.

Below are three of the pieces that I painted around town with my buddies. They will be part of the group shows that we are doing in Jan and Feb, 2010.
I'll post a few more paintings and some info about our upcoming shows. There will also be an article in American Art Collector. I'll let you know when that comes out.



"Looking Over San Miguel", 14x11" Oil, Frank Gardner © 2009
$1,050. Framed, Available at Addison Art Gallery




"San Miguel Morning", 14x11" Oil, Frank Gardner © 2009
$1,050. Framed, Available at Addison Art Gallery




"Resting by the Church", 11x14" Oil, Frank Gardner © 2009
$1,050. Framed, Available at Addison Art Gallery

"Afternoon Light on San Miguel"

There are several new paintings that I want to post, but I have not had much time to get them together for the blog.
Here is a new one that I am pretty happy with. This is a late afternoon view of San Miguel. I really like this vantage point of town. There is a small hill and then a dip. The mid distance trees in light are hiding part of San Miguel and then the part that you see here rises up. The setting sun was casting a nice orange glow to everything and the foreground was in shadow. I like the green, purple, orange color scheme of this piece.



"Afternoon Light on San Miguel", 18" x 24" oil on linen
Frank Gardner © 2008
Private Collection


I'll work on getting a few other posts up soon. Thanks for checking in.

Recent Work

Here are two recent paintings from here in Mexico lest anyone think that I have moved to Maine or anything.
Both of these were done on location this month.
The color in the landscape is starting to turn, but there are still pockets of flowers hanging on here and there.



"Tree and Flowers", 11" x 14" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$950. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner



"October Morning", 11" x 14" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
Private Collection


A friend of mine, Jack Riddle, is in town and we have gone painting together a few times. Some of you know Jack from his blog and may have been wondering if he actually made it down. Here is a picture of him painting the other day at a friend's ranch.


Jack Riddle Painting

Plein Air oil Painting Workshop in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

I am now ready to register participants in my March '09 Workshop.
March 9th through 13th, will be the dates for the five day plein air landscape painting workshop in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.


Photo Frank Gardner © 2008


There will probably be one other 5 day workshop scheduled for Feb or March, but I am not ready to set dates for that just yet.
I want to go ahead and start registering participants for this first class, since I know that a lot of you like to plan a trip of this sort well in advance, and there are already some people that are ready to sign up. I will announce dates for a possible second week toward the beginning of October.


Photo Frank Gardner © 2008


In the workshop my emphasis is on trying to help everyone advance to their next level.

A strong and simple value pattern is key to a successful painting, we will work on getting values correct from the start and keeping them clear throughout the painting process.
We will work on seeing color and value then mixing color using 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.
I feel that a strong start is the key a successful plein air painting and we will focus a lot on "starts" as well as how to bring a good start to the desired finish.


Photo Frank Gardner © 2008


The cost of the 2009 workshop will be $530.USD.
Included in cost:
PAINTING INSTRUCTION.
DAILY TRANSPORTATION to and from the painting sites.
LUNCHES for ALL FIVE DAYS.
Any FEES needed for entrance to locations.

Each day we will be treated to a delicious meal prepared just for us by the owners of the beautiful properties where we will be painting. Past participants have always been very satisfied with what our hosts prepare for us.
The painting locations are on private property and there are always bathroom facilities available.

The painting day generally works out like this:
Pick up is around 9:30 A.M. for transportation to that days painting location.
There is either a quick demonstration or talk about the days goals and then everyone gets painting while I give one on one attention.
Break for lunch is usually around 1:30 or 2:00 P.M. depending on our painting progress.
The break for lunch lasts about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Then everyone gets back to painting for the rest of the afternoon until around 5:00 P.M. when we will be transported back to town.


Photo Frank Gardner © 2008


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 what the town has to offer.
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 with any questions or to receive the materials list.
The class size is limited to 9 or 10 participants for lots of personal attention.
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.
A $200. USD deposit is required to hold your spot in the class. I will give you information on how to send a check to me once availability for your participation is confirmed. The deposit is fully refundable up to one month before the start of the workshop.



Photo Frank Gardner © 2008

"San Miguel from Above"

Things have been real busy around here. We are trying to wrap up a lot of projects and take care of business before we leave on our summer vacation on Thursday. Things on the blog will slow down for about three weeks. I'll try and post a few times, but it is family vacation, and we are going to try and just spend some time together and leave work behind as much as we can.

Here is my latest painting. It is a street scene looking down over San Miguel, one of my favorite views of town. It's painted from a photo I took in March, so there are a few of the purple jacarandas in there.



"San Miguel from Above", 14" x 11" oil on board, Frank Gardner © 2008
Private Collection


This time our travels will take us to Lake Winnepesaukee in New Hampshire to spend time with my family. We've planned a few surprises for Erin too. I'll talk about later ;o)

It has been raining SO much here this past month. Summer is our rainy season and things are really green and overgrown.
I need a little sun.
I'm not complaining mind you, we can use all of the water that we can get around here.

Ancha de San Antonio

This scene may seem familiar to you. It is based on a photo from the Day in the Life of Me post from a few weeks ago, a view heading into the center part of town.


"Ancha de San Antonio", 11" x 14" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$950. Framed, Available at Windrush Gallery, Sedona, AZ

I'll be flying north tomorrow for a two week painting trip. I'll spend a big part of it on Cape Cod painting with some good friends Peter Kalill, Jerome Greene and Paul Schulenburg.

I can't remember the last time I painted up there in the spring. I usually go up in late summer or fall. It should be a good challenge to catch the distinct color and light of spring in New England.

The Hudson River Valley will probably pop up in a few paintings as well, you never know.
I'll be bringing "My Paint Box" with me, and hope to get at least a few posts up while I am gone. So please keep checking in.

Jacarandas - My Slow Purple Death By Allergy

There were never any purple trees where I grew up.

April in San Miguel means the blooming of hundreds, maybe thousands of jacaranda trees. Town turns into a fantasy land of purple. To me, purple trees are like a Dr. Seuss world come to life. It is a beautiful surreal sight.


Thing is, the past few weeks have been an allergy hell for me. Moving to this dry semi desert area of Mexico 18 years ago meant leaving all of my nasty allergies behind. However, for the last few years I seem to be developing an allergy to the jacarandas.
I walk to my gallery almost every day. It is about two miles each way. I pass under many of these purple beauties and walk across purple carpets of their fallen flowers. It is such a sensory rush. I wish that it did not affect me so much. I really want to love them more.
I felt like I was dying there for a while. My head felt like it would pop. I could not breath. My eyes were red and itchy.
I'm sure that you will be happy to know that this week has been much better.
So, now, I can happily post these two views of town for you to enjoy.
Maybe you don't have jacarandas where you live.
Enjoy!

"Things don't always go smoothly" Or, "An attempt at a save"

Sometimes unexpected things happen when you are out painting. I had a string of curve balls thrown at me during the workshop. On the first day I broke my palette knife while mixing. Never had that happen before. It was my favorite knife that I had had for more than 25 years :(
I had another as back up in my paint box in case I lost one, but I never thought that I could BREAK one.
I also broke a brush handle while painting. I had never done that either.
On Wednesday I gave a jump start to someone with my car and when we went to go home mine would not start. I was able to find someone to jump us at least.
And so on.
The big bummer was when my open box m blew over while I had stepped away from a painting in progress to check on the students.

AND IT LANDED BUTTER SIDE DOWN! :(

I was disappointed about the painting, but hey, you just have to roll with the punches.
I realized a few days later that the pochade box had split. Fixed that with some wood glue.

I had a pretty good start in the fifteen minutes or so of painting that I did get in, so it was worth trying to save this one in the studio.

A few of you asked to see a picture of a pre mixed palette along with a painting. Thanks for the request, I love hearing what you want to see.
I was thinking more of my class than the blog last week so I don't have many shots of the pre mixed palette to show you. Here is one, and I have one other that I will work into another post.
I will go out painting next week and I'll be sure to get a few photos of the pre mixed palette for you.


I sketched the main lines and masses of my design on the linen board and then began mixing up the main colors.


This is the palette with most of the block in colors mixed.


What the painting looked like after I wiped the dirt off. I wiped the upper third while wet because there was just too much dirt to leave much of the paint. Then I rubbed the rest of the dirt off after the paint had dried. It is usually best to wait until the painting has dried before trying to get off any dirt that has blown onto a wet painting.


"Trees and Fields", 6" x 8" oil on linen, 2008
Private Collection

This was finished in the studio yesterday. I would have preferred to finish it on site, but after if blew over, I could not continue painting on it. I had roughed in a horse that I decided to paint out. I'll have to save that idea for another painting. It was drawing too much attention, and I felt locked into that lower left corner. I was more interested with the fields and trees leading into the distance.

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.

Top Ten Books on Oil Painting- March Workshop

This is a list of Ten Books on Oil Painting that I recommend to students in my workshops.
I am only going to be offering one five day workshop in plein air landscape for oil painters this winter.
There are a few more arrangements to make before I list the dates and enrolment info, but it will be the first or second week of March '08. Monday through Friday. Five full days of painting landscapes around San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
If any of you are interested you can email me at frank@frankgardner.com. I will be posting the dates and more information here soon. Class size is limited.

I have read each of these books many times. My copy of "The Art Spirit" has been read so many times that it has fallen apart and is now just loose pages gathered together.
Emile Gruppe is one of my all time favorite artists and his book "Gruppe on Color" is the most cherished book in my oil painting library. His books are out of print but they are worth buying used.

1. "Hawthorne on Painting" Hawthorne - Dover
2. "The Art Spirit" Robert Henri - Harper and Row
3. "Gruppe on Color" Emile A Gruppe - Watson Guptill
4. "Gruppe on Painting - Direct Techniques in Oil" Emile A. Gruppe - Watson Guptill
5. "Brushwork - A Guide to Expressive Brushwork for Oil Painting" Emile A. Gruppe - Watson Guptill
6. "Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting" John F. Carlson - Dover
7. "Composition of Outdoor Painting" Edgar Payne -Payne Studios
8. " Landscape Painting Inside and Out" Kevin Macpherson - North Light Books
9. "Fill Your Oil Paintings with Light and Color" Kevin Macpherson - North Light Books
10. "Alla Prima" Richard Shmid - West Wind

I decided to limit my list to my ten favorites. Do you have other favorite books on oil painting techniques?

More "Morning Vista" Series

I have not finished any new paintings in the last few days so I am posting these two small paintings that I did last month. ( Actually, I did three others as well.)
You may have seen my previous post on the "Morning Vista" series. I revisited the same view of San Miguel with a slightly different take on the color and composition. My goal was to try and capture the light effect looking into the sun as it came up above the hills behind town. These are on small boards which made it easier to not get caught up in the details of the scene. I just wanted to think in terms of color.


"Morning Vista, Into the Sun", 6" x8" oil on board, 2007
Private Collection


"Morning Vista, Radiant Light", 6" x 8" oil on board, 2007
Private Collection

James Gurney describes this light effect well in a post on his blog Gurney Journey.
Looking toward or into the sun is something that pops up again and again in my paintings. With enough practice I hope to be able to get better at it.
In the top painting I reversed the standard cool colors recede principal and put my warmer colors where the sunlight is starting to break into the scene and the cooler colors are in the foreground. In the second painting the sun is a little higher so the light has radiated out into the whole view.

"Morning Vista"

"Morning Vista", 48" x 60" oil on canvas, 2007 Private Collection.

This is the latest in a series of paintings that I have done based on a smaller painting of San Miguel that I did on location. This one is a studio painting. I loved the way the town was back lit, fusing the hillside and buildings into a few simple masses. This one is a commission that I will deliver next week.



"Morning Vista, San Miguel", 11" x 14" , oil on board, 2006 Private Collection

This is the first in the series, done on location.



"Morning Vista, San Miguel", 30" x 40" , oil on canvas, 2006 Private Collection

The second painting in the series. Painted in the studio. I wanted to explore this idea on a larger scale. There is more detail added to the silhouette of the town. I also adjusted the road in the foreground to give a sense of where I was standing.



"Summer Morning", 30" x 24" , oil on canvas, 2007
Private Collection

This is the thrid painting of the series. This is also a studio piece. I wanted to try this in a vertical composition to see how it would change the feel of the painting.