Tag Archives: painting from life

Exploring the Palette Knife with Robin Wellner – Raleigh, NC

Painting Nature’s Glory in Palette Knife

The Centerpiece – May 8 – May 9, 2024, 10 am – 4 pm, $325

7400 Six Forks Road, Suite 19, Raleigh, NC

https://www.thecenterpiece.com/services/workshops

Join us for a two-day workshop exploring the use of the palette knife in your artwork. explore the looseness and freedom the knife catheterizations knife can add a looseness and freedom to your paintings. The palette knife is an incredibly flexible tool and learning to use it effectively will help you gain the confidence to experiment with it in so many creative ways. From increasing texture and distinct edges and lines to infusing clean color into the mix. You can use it a small amount to add tactile interest or do your entire painting with the knife…or something in between.

Day one will include an introduction to the knife and the limited palette we’ll use. Together we’ll do color charts and paint a small still life or landscape from a photo, using both a brush and the palette knife. Day two we will start a landscape from a photo and expand upon your palette painting techniques.

I’ll be working in oils, but feel free to bring acrylics if that’s what you are familiar with. Feel free to contact me with any questions you might have. Hope to paint with you soon!!!

Exploring the Palette Knife with Robin Wellner – Catawba, SC

Exploring the Palette Knife Workshop

April 22-24, 2024 – 10am – 4pm $300, limited to 10 students

Holly’s Fine Art Studio https://www.hollyglasscock.com/events

3699 Harmony Road, Catawba, SC 29704

Call 803-389-3586 or email holly@hollyglasscock.com to sign up

Join us for a three-day workshop exploring the use of the palette knife in your paintings. The knife can add a looseness and freedom to your paintings. You can explore a whole painting with only a knife, or use the knife only for accents.

Some of the advantages of the palette knife, besides mixing paint of course:

Easy to clean
Great for texture and clean color
The edge creates great lines, trees, etc.
You can paint over wet layers without the paint mixing like a brush

Day One will include an introduction to the knife and the limited palette we will use. We’ll create a color chart of your limited palette. Together we’ll all start a landscape from a photo, using some brushwork and knife work. Day two we’ll finish up our landscape and start painting a still life. The still life adds the challenge and opportunity of painting from life. Day three we’ll finish out still life, review and critique.

This class is for advanced beginners to intermediate painters. I’ll be working in oils, but feel free to use acrylics if that’s what you’re familiar with. Bring your own supplies and a bag lunch. A supply list will be provided when you register. Feel free to contact me with any questions! Hope to paint with you soon!!

Alla Prima Portraits, using the Zorn Palette

Alla Prima Portraits using the Zorn Palette

3-day Workshop with Robin Wellner

November 1, 2, 3 2023 – $375, includes model fee

Contemporary Art Studios, 10100 Park Cedar Dr., Suite 188, Charlotte, NC 28210

https://www.robinwellner.com

Painting portraits is challenging – but incredibly rewarding! Using a limited palette that we know works makes the color choices so much easier. One look at Anders Zorn’s paintings is enough proof that this palette can produce some incredibly beautiful portraits. Using the Zorn Palette will give you freedom and versatility and allow you to concentrate on some of the other aspects of portrait work. Robin Wellner has been working with the Zorn Palette for several years and is offering a workshop to share what she has learned about this palette, as well as other hints about creating a realistic portrait and likeness.

The workshop will start each morning with a demo and instruction. After lunch, you will have the opportunity to paint a live model. There is nothing like painting from life — even if you choose to work from photos in the future. The insights you gain will transfer to your photo work. Instruction will include values, color, painting shapes rather than lines, specifics on painting features, and measuring for an accurate likeness.

As an artist, Robin Wellner specializes in portrait and figure work, as well as plein air and landscapes. Her portraits have been featured in several national shows, such as, American Women Artists, Oil Painters of American, Richeson Portrait and Figure shows.

Small Works Show

“Clouds Gathering over Grandfather”, 12×12, Oil/Panel

This scene was painted in one of my favorite places to paint in the Blowing Rock area. Up Shoals Mills Road you can pull off and get the most spectacular views of Grandfather Mountain. This particular day, we were dodging thunderstorms all day. I was lucky to get a span of time to paint!!

Hope you can join me Saturday, August 11th from 5-8 pm for “Small Works”, a group exhibition of works smaller than 14×18″ at Blowing Rock Frameworks and Gallery. The show will run from August 6 through the 20th.

Plein Air Painting on a Bike

Maiden Voyage

Today was my maiden voyage — riding my bike to plein air paint. I uplifted my bike with some big baskets so I could fit all my gear.

Painting by bike

Fun! Makes it so much easier to look for places to paint. Not trying to drive a car and scope out possibilities!! This particular tree is one that I always look at in my neighborhood. I love the twisting branches — it looks like one of those trees on the coast that’s been windswept.

This is Day 2 of the 30 day challenge. Once again if you purchase this painting, half of the price will go to a charity to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey. Make sure and let me know which charity you prefer. I mentioned 3 in my first blog post about 30 in 30.

All the best to you and yours!!!

Blue Ridge Impressions: Brush and Knife Paintings

This is one of my favorite places to paint plein air at Bass Lake in Blowing Rock, NC. The view is spectacular and there’s plenty of shade. In fact, Bass Lake has so many wonderful places to paint that I never run out of options. You’ll run into lots of other painters there — as well as runners, walkers, hikers, fishermen, horseback riders, and lots of other lovely people.

I am so grateful to have the opportunity to have a show this summer with my paintings from the Blowing Rock area. “Blue Ridge Impressions: Brush and Knife” will open July 17th and run through July 27th at Blowing Rock Frameworks and Gallery. The reception is July 22nd from 5-8 pm.

The show will include lots of views of Grandfather Mountain, Cone Manor area, Bass Lake, Trout Lake, Price Lake and other landscapes from the area. I’ve had such a great time exploring some new areas to paint while preparing for this show. The views from Grandfather are so spectacular. I even painted on top looking at the Mile High bridge. I had to paint with one hand on my easel the whole time because of the wind!

Thank you to Tim and Alex at the Gallery for being so supportive! I so appreciate the opportunity! And I am so grateful for my patient husband, Michael, who’s been my cheerleader all along and picked up the slack while I was frantically trying to get paintings done for the show!!!

Hope you can join us on the 22nd!!!

Painting Portraits with an Audience, and a Ticking Clock!

This is me at the Portrait Paint Off trying to complete a painting in an hour and 45 minutes. Clearwater Artists Studios, in Concord, host an annual portrait paint off with five selected painters. The whole event is 3 hours — with wonderful baked goods and baskets of goodies to be raffled off. For the last two hours, we paint, with an audience of about 150 people. They were wonderful supportive and didn’t ask too many questions. Which is a good thing, since I tend to switch off the talking part of my brain once I start painting. I love the opportunity to paint with other painters. Gordon James, Barbara Ellis, Isaac Payne and Mark Stephenson were the other featured painters. It’s such a delight to see how everyone handles the same model in a completely different and wonderful way!
This is an iPhone shot of the final painting. I started with my Zorn palette, but introduced some other colors because of her dress. We had another row of painters who could set up behind us, so we had a full house of painters and audience.

Grateful to Sarah Gay and Clearwater Artists Studios for the opportunity!! Painting with the clock ticking is a good practice I think!

Daily Paintings Collage

Collage of most of my daily paintings from January

I decided to post a collage of most of my daily paintings from January. I’ve sold a few and had some questions about whether or not they are for sale. So yes they are!! Most are posted on www.dailypaintworks.com and most reasonably priced at $75/each. Please go look if you’re interested!!

Thanks! All the best to you and yours!!

Painting Each Other – Todd Baxter

Painting Each Other

I am a part of a wonderful little group of artists who paint together every week from life. Today our model “no showed” so Todd – one of our amazing artists – agreed to model. This is from a 3-hour session, painted with the Zorn Palette.

The Zorn palette has become my go to palette. It’s so much easier to only have four colors out, and I feel like if Anders Zorn liked it, I’m good with it!! I’m starting to use my palette knife a bit more in places. All those daily paintings using the knife has made me so much more comfortable with it.

Looking forward to teaching another Zorn class. I’m waiting for the doctors to give us a gameplan for getting my husband well before I feel confident to put it on the calendar. Hoping to teach a beginners oil class as well — and maybe a palette knife class. I’m really enjoying teaching!

All the best!!!

Day 31!!! I Made It! Now for some tea!

Afternoon Tea

I can’t believe I’ve done it! 31 days of daily paintings. I’ve learned a lot! I’m also ready to get back to some bigger projects, but who knows I may come back to daily painting!

This teacup is a piece of Wedgewood that my Mom left me. The pewter pitcher was one of her pieces as well. Nostalgic to use these pieces in a piece of art.

Thank you to the Strada Easel folks for issuing this challenge as well as Leslie Saeta for her 30in30 challenge. I was able to combine both — doing a daily painting which satisfied Leslie’s challenge – and doing them all from life, which satisfied the Strada Easel challenge (and one extra day). I’m grateful for all the learning!!!

Day 31 complete!! All the best to you and yours!!!