Idyllwild Workshop

A few weeks ago, I taught a 3 day workshop, hosted by the Idyllwild Arts Academy, which is in the mountains west of Palm Springs. I had a great group of folks to work with, and we had decent weather as well. We met up Friday morning in a meadow on the campus, where I promptly stepped on a red anthill while talking to one of the participants. I can say from experience now that red ants are the "gift that keeps on giving."

My first demo piece from the meadow, mainly trying to get a sense of looking towards the sun, with a hint of atmosphere, backlighting color saturation, and some minor indication of detail in the shadows.

In order to get a bit more atmospheric depth and color we met up at another meadow in town the next morning that afforded a view of Lily Rock, a prominent local icon.


Tom and Rich in the meadow on Sunday morning. That's Julia, lurking under the umbrella on the right.


Phyllis and Jacquie find views in opposing directions.


Leanne and Jerry.

A quick study of backlit trees and some textured foliage. I would move pretty quickly on these, then pull the plug and start doing walkarounds.


Rose and Judy.

There were boulders all over the campus, completely surrounding the studio we were in, so I did a demo of one that caught my eye. This piece I managed to spend a bit more time on.

We also painted one afternoon at Lake Fulmore to get a chance to observe water, but I did no demo that day, just walk arounds.
We finished up on Sunday afternoon with a group show and tell/critique, then went our separate ways.
It was a busy 3 days, but a lot of fun and hard work. My thanks to everyone who took the class.

Upcoming Summer Pastel Workshops

Morning demo at the Sierra Nevada Field Campus, 2010. Photo by Ann Malmlund.



I'll be giving two pastel workshops this summer, both during the month of July, one in Northern California at the Sierra Nevada Field Campus where I taught last summer, and one down at the Idyllwild Arts Center, also in a mountain environment. The dates
and duration of both workshops can be found on their respective websites listed below. I really enjoyed doing this last summer, and look forward to seeing some familiar folks up in the mountains, as well as meeting some new ones. I've been teaching a class about light and color at Pixar for about ten years, and that is the genesis of the workshop, combined with what I've learned from painting outdoors for over 14 years.

The region around the Sierra Nevada Field Campus is like a mini-Sierra buffet of beautiful scenery. There are numerous small lakes in glacially carved granite basins that are very accessible by car, or an easy hike. Accommodations are available at the campus. The campus itself is composed of large tents on platforms spread along a sloping river drainage, with a large dining hall/classroom building. Hot showers and bathrooms are provided. It is rustic but quite comfortable. The class sizes are limited to 12, to allow for plenty of one-on-one instruction.

Sierra Nevada Field Campus

Regarding the Idyllwild campus, I've yet to visit it, but I was invited to teach there several months ago and researched it a fair amount before committing. The arts program has been running for 60 years, Ansel Adams has taught there, and some very talented contemporary artists, such as Ray Roberts and Peggy Kroll, among many others, will be teaching summer classes. The campus is located in a town at 5,200' elevation in the San Jacinto Mountains near Palm Springs. I'm going to head down there in a few months to scout some painting spots. Here's a link to some virtual tours of the campus environs. Rest assured, there will be plenty to paint!

Idyllwild Summer Workshops

There's plenty of useful information on both websites, but feel free to email me if you have any other questions. My contact info is listed on my profile page.