Upcoming Watermedia Landscape Workshop by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Marsh Light #3", fluid acrylic on watercolor paper, double matted with archival mats
$475 framed

This was my second demo in using fluid acrylics as watercolours at my spring watermedia landscape workshop. I am about to hold another watermedia landscape workshop through Chinook Learning Services from Sept 20-22, 10 to 3pm each day (Thurs-Sat). We will be covering watercolour, gouache and acrylic in the class, using your choice of photo reference. Focus will be on puddling of colour for vibrant effects as well as edge control, composition and simplifying reference material to make sure your viewers will see what you intended them to see in the work.

"Pienza Laundry", fluid acrylic on illustration board, double matted with archival mats
on auction at DPW ON SATURDAY beginning at $100, click here to bid

This another demonstration of fluid acrylics as watercolours, except that the acrylic in this case is used transparently (building), translucently (sky and backgroud trees) and opaquely (laundry and roses). These different levels of opacity really make it feel like the sun is shinning on the subject and adds surface interest to the painting.  Some advantages of fluid acrylics over watercolours are: you can layer and glaze without making mud, the colour remains vibrant even when dry, you can use opaque and translucent passages to make the surface dynamic, and you can frame them like an oil painting without glass. The only disadvantage that I can think of is that you can't lift them when they are dry, but heck, you can always go in with opaque media!

This is some of my wonderful class at my spring workshop. Everyone said they had a wonderful time and learned a lot -I think I may have converted some of them to the dark side!!


 I am about to hold another watermedia landscape workshop through Chinook Learning Services from Sept 20-22, 10 to 3pm each day (Thurs-Sat) for the low, low price of only $295!!. You will make more than that back using what you will learn in the workshop in your own work!! We will be covering watercolour, gouache and acrylic in the class, using your choice of photo reference. Focus will be on puddling of colour for vibrant effects as well as edge control, composition and simplifying reference material to make sure your viewers will see what you intended them to see in the work. If you would like to join us, please click here for more information and to register.

PLEASE NOTE: MY WORKSHOP SCHEDULE HAS CHANGED DUE TO A TECHNICAL ERROR IN DATES!!! PLEASE SEE THE UPDATED SCHEDULE ON THE SIDE OF MY BLOG OR ON MY WEBSITE. SORRY FOR THE CONFUSION : )

Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, commission your own painting or contact me to do a workshop in your area, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)

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Upcoming Watermedia Landscape Workshop by Sharon Lynn Williams

 "Elbow River Spring", 7 x 7", watercolour double matted in archival mats
$260 framed

I am about to hold another watermedia landscape workshop through Chinook Learning Services from Sept 20-22, 10 to 3pm each day (Thurs-Sat). These paintings are my demonstration paintings from the workshop I held in the spring, and never had a chance to post. We will be covering watercolour, gouache and acrylic in the class, using your choice of photo reference. Focus will be on puddling of colour for vibrant effects as well as edge control, composition and simplifying reference material to make sure your viewers will see what you intended them to see in the work.

 "Falling Creek", 10.25 x 14.25", fluid acrylic double matted in archival mats
$490 framed

This was a demonstration in fluid acrylics and how they are actually superior to watercolours IMHO! Some advantages are: you can layer and glaze without making mud, the colour remains vibrant even when dry, you can use opaque and translucent passages to make the surface dynamic, and you can frame them like an oil painting without glass. The only disadvantage that I can think of is that you can't lift them when they are dry, but heck, you can always go in with opaque media!
So if you are interested in learning how to paint glorious paintings in watermedia, you can find out more information and register online here. Please note the low price of $295!!!


Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, commission your own painting or contact me to do a workshop in your area, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)

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A Few More From Colorado -plein air paintings by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Caught In The Act", 8x10" plein air oil on board
on auction at DPW, beginning at $80. click here to bid

It was late in the afternoon the day after the competition paintings were handed in, so I went out with new friend Anne Rogers to see what I could do with the pressure off. I was set up to paint this lovely stream when low and behold, a fly fisherman stepped into the scene. Now if you have ever tried to paint a fly fisherman plein air, then you know they don't stay still and they don't stay in one place more that 10 minutes! I decided to give him a whirl and quickly go in his gesture -one try, that's it. After I was reasonably satisfied with him, I painted in the rest of the scene loosely, so as not to upstage him.

"Morraine Valley", 9x12" plein air oil on board
SOLD

It was fun to try to capture the atmosphere between the lovely ponderosa pine and the mountain valley behind it. Amazingly enough, it took me way longer to paint the mountain than the tree, even though the tree looks like it would take longer. It is difficult to paint something with close values and colours and still have it read as a 3D object.

"View From Fern Tree Cottage", 9x12" plein air oil on board

This was a quick sketch of the view outside our lovely little cottage nestled along the Big Thompson River. Ken and June were our hosts at Bradshaw Cottages, just a hop, skip and a jump from downtown Estes Park. If you are ever in the area looking for a quiet retreat in a beautiful setting, check them out!

That's it for the Colorado paintings! It was a real blast -thanks for tagging along with me.By the way, photographer par excellence, Jim Rogers, photographed all of the painters at the event, made a movie of it and posted it on YouTube here -if you want to take a look see who my competition was!

Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, or commission your own painting, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)

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Plein Air Rockies 2012 -final day and Quick Draw

"River Light", 12 x 9" plein air oil on board
SOLD
The finale of the painting part of the competition is the Quick Draw, in which the artists have 90 minutes to paint and frame a painting, and then the paintings are auctioned off in a live auction which follows immediately. It is a hectic time and very stressful for the artists! I chose to do the river which was just catching the morning light, casting it in a glowing golden light. I liked the idea of the coolness of the trees and rocks in the shadows contrasting with the sunbathed creek.

Here I am posing with the painting for the new owner. Hopefully she was able to get it back to her home without smearing the wet paint!! (please excuse the 'hat hair"!)

Later that evening the awards were announced and $12,000 in prizes given out. None to me, but I was just happy to have been invited to participate. The caliber of artists present was incredible, including many famous American artists (Jeff Legg , David Harms, Scott Freeman and Doug Braithwaite to name a few). It was truly humbling to be in such company, and they were all super nice people. I was fortunate to be able to snag a wonderful painting by watercolourist Gene Youngman, and I found out later that it was in the running for Best of Show. Lucky me : )

I was interviewed for the local newspaper and got a 2 page spread, which you can read here if you like. So ends another wonderful painting trip into the Rocky Mountain National Park. I wonder if I will be invited back again next year???

Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, or commission your own painting, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)

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Plein Air Rockies competition -day 4 & 5

 "Lumpies Gossips ii", 4 x 6" plein air oil on board
SOLD
SourceTek provided mini panels and frames for us to do a tiny painting on, as another part of the competition. I did a cool rock formation in the Lumpies Range, the same place I painted from last year. I loved how the rocks looked like two people deep in conversation -with a third turning their backs, hence the title.

"Long's From The Stanley Hotel", 9 x 12" plein air oil on board

I began this painting on day 2 just 1 hour before sunset, so needless to say I had to go back a couple of times to get it finished. This is the famous Long's Peak, one of Colorado's 14ers (peaks over 14,000 feet), and it is an icon in the area. (Incidentally my hubby climbed it a few days later, getting up at 3am in order to be off the peak mid-afternoon when the lightning often happens -that was the day after the painting was done for the competition, so I just slept and recuperated!)

Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, or commission your own painting, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)

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Plein Air Rockies 2012 competition -day 3

 "Big Thompson Canyon", 9x12" plein air oil on board
SOLD

Monday it was very cloudy and cool, and the haze from the nearby forest fires was putting a damper on the views around town, so I knew I had to find a more intimate view. We drove back down the canyon and I found this place with the overhanging rocks that I thought would make an interesting painting. I wish it had of been sunny, because then I think the painting would have really had some punch. As it was, the values were very close and the colours were quite neutralized -not my natural inclination at all. I loved the dead pine tree in the back as it added a nice spark of colour, but I know that the locals are really grieving the pine beetle infestation that has been killing off a lot of their beautiful trees. This is the only painting that I did that did not make it into the show.

"Waiting Place", 10 x 8" plein air oil on board

On Monday evening we held the 'Nocturne Paint Out". This was only my second attempt at painting at night, and it was quite fun. I had a headlamp on so I could see what colour was on my brush, but the painting itself was getting some light from a nearby streetlamp. I did this in Riverside Park, the location of Saturday's quick paint. The exposure on this photo is not correct, the painting actually looks much better in reality. That's what happens when you are forced to shoot wet oils in less than perfect conditions!!!

Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, or commission your own painting, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)

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Plein Air Rockies 2012 competition -day 2

 "Mrs. Walsh's Colours", 11x14" plein air oil on board

The second morning I went to a wonderful little garden right on the edge of downtown, created in honour of -you guessed it -Mrs Walsh! The space that was originally slated for more t-shirt shops and condos was rescued by Mrs Walsh and turned into a public garden. There wasn't much blooming while we were there, but when I saw the turquoise of the sage-family plants lit up by the sun I was hooked. Each participant in the competition could enter one piece painted in the garden as part of the show, and it had its own ribbon and award. The photo above is not very good, as the painting was very wet and shiny when I took the photo, but I think you get the idea. I didn't win the prize, but the judge from the quick draw did chose my painting as her personal favorite of the show, so I was very pleased!

"Fall River Calm", 11x14" plein air oil on board

I began this piece that same afternoon. By this time the wind had begun to blow and I nearly froze painting under the shade of a huge, old ponderosa pine, while my hubby was getting sunburned sitting 5 feet beside me reading a book and waiting for me to finish. I only got half of the painting done that day and had to return to finish it another day.

You might be wondering how I fared with my foot in a cast! Well, it definitely cramped my style as I could only paint within a few feet of the car, but the biggest effect I felt was that I just didn't have the stamina to paint that I have had in the past. I guess I hadn't taken into account the effect of being handicapped for the previous 7 weeks, and what that had done to degrade my physical conditioning. I was very thankful that my dear hubby went to all my painting spots with me, carting my gear for me, and then he entertained himself by hiking up whatever was nearby or by riding his bike for miles on the very steep park roads. He got tired physically and I was wiped emotionally and mentally at the end of the day.

All in all I am glad that I went, but I only produced 7 paintings compared to the 14 that I did the previous year, and I went back more than once for most of them -something I don't usually do. I did discover that it is a good thing to do if you can catch similar weather and light, because on the return I tended to simplify things which ended up in stronger paintings I think.

NEWS FLASH!!! I have just posted my workshop schedule for September and October on the right hand side of this blog, and on the 'Classes' section of my website. Perhaps you will be able to join me for an art adventure?

Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, or commission your own painting, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)

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Plein Air Rockies 2012 competition -day 1

"Cascade -Big Thompson", 9x12" plein air oil on board
SOLD

This is the first painting I did during the Plein Air Rockies 2012 painting competition. We arrived on Saturday morning and I painted this from beside the long twisting road up to Estes Park -almost 20 miles of canyon with the Big Thompson River swooshing down, pretty amazing!

"Nature's Sculpture", 11x14" plein air oil on board

I began this painting after supper on the first day. I chose a panel that I had prepared with Gamblin's Oil Ground, which was way more slick on my board than I am used to (love it on canvas, but without any tooth, it became like glass). The paint just seemed to slide around, so I took advantage of this fact, and did some glazing and wiping away to develop the layers, as well as taking a rubber scrapper to add texture in some areas. I came back to this spot twice more before I finished this painting, which I entered into the competition, along with the one at the top of this post. I figured that it may not have been my very best work, but I doubted it would be ignored!! There is a neat mix of transparent vs opaque passages in the painting which makes it very compelling.

These paintings are in the show at the Cultural Arts Centre in Estes Park until the end of September if you are in the area and would like to see the show -it is amazing, and I am proud to be in such fine company -but more about that in the days to come : )

Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, or commission your own painting, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)


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"Making A Way", plein air oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Making A Way", plein air oil on board, 12 x 9"
$250 unframed, click here to purchase

This is the last post from my Plein Air Retreat at Diamond Willow Artisan Retreat in June. I did this painting outside when the rain finally stopped at 2pm on the last day of the workshop (which was to end at 4pm!). Talk about cutting it close! All that rain had made the little creek channels swell into mini rivers.

This is Rodney and Karima working from the kitchen windows. Rodney was very happy to produce his first painting ever!

And here is a group shot of everyone that took part in our wonderful, if not wet, adventure. Thanks guys, it was great fun!!

Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, commission your own painting, or contact me about a workshop, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)

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"Diamond Willow In Flood", plein air acrylic by Sharon Lynn Williams

 "Diamond Willow In Flood", 9x12" plein air acrylic on board
$250 unframed, click here to purchase

It has been quite a while since I have posted and a lot has been going on in my life. The trip to the family reunion in St Louis was wonderful -you should have seen us at the airport -Dave had to deal with his Dad in a wheelchair, me in a wheelchair (too far to hobble on crutches) and all our luggage!! The Air Canada staff was extremely helpful once we got our boarding passes, got to really give them credit.

Then we were off to the cottage for 2 weeks. It was quite a challenge dealing with the rocky terrain on crutches, but I did manage to have a great time. My dear hubby had bought me a XeroSoc, which is a heavy latex sock that went over my cast to above my knee, and it has a bulb that you use to suck the air out of the sock. The result was that I could actually go swimming, which was great in the strong heat.

We got back and then I turned around and went on a 3 day plein air painting trip with my friend Patti -more to follow on that! I am home packing today as we leave tomorrow for 10 days, going to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. I will be once again participating in the Plein Air Rockies painting competition in Estes Park (kind of like Banff here). So I will have a LOT to post about when I get back. PLUS I have firmed up the plans for TUSCANY 2013 painting trip -STAY TUNED!!!!

 I thought I would get caught up showing you my work from this summer (before its over!). I taught a weekend painting retreat at Diamond Willow Artisan Retreat in June. Unfortunately it rained from when I left home until about 3 hours before the end of the workshop on Sunday! Good thing that Diamond Willow has lots of large windows and covered balconies, so we did our plein air from the comfort of inside (still counts as we were painting from life...) Above I am doing the demo for the painting shown at the start of this post.

 Holly and Ken working in watercolours on the covered porch.

 Sheila and Sharon working in oils, keeping mostly dry.

 Our hostess Pat doing a great job of multitasking, while keeping our bellies full with all sorts of wonderful food. I will post more on the retreat tomorrow.

Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, or commission your own painting, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)

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