Summer Workshop in the Sierra Buttes

I've been teaching up at the Sierra Nevada Field Campus in the Lakes Basin for the past  7 summers, and feel very fortunate to be able to do so. We sleep in a forest on the headwaters of the north fork of the Yuba river, and have easy access to the vast Sierra Valley, as well as numerous lakes, waterfalls, and meadows. Plenty to observe, paint, and ponder. Though we re-visit many of the same locations, each year is slightly different, due to weather, water levels, and every artist's temperament.

Here's a few of the demos I did during the week, with some notes and observations.

We painted in the Sierra Valley twice during the week. The location is about a 20 minute drive from the field campus, on the east side of Yuba pass.  It is a great location to study atmospheric color shifts, as well as a range of foreground and mid-ground elements... barns, trees, fences, etc. Here is a demo I did on the second trip down there. The owner of the property we were painting on had graciously given us permission to work in the relative shade among a cluster of trees, which made it more comfortable for everyone.

Not surprisingly, we study water. The north fork of the Yuba river runs right through the campus, in the form of a boulder choked creek, alternately tumbling and winding its way down the grade.

Setting up to paint at Love's Falls, a few miles downstream from camp. The river is much bigger here.

One evening we painted up on Packer Saddle, which is a ridge on the northwest shoulder of the Sierra Buttes. This is a spot where we hauled our telescopes to every night to observe when I was taking an astronomy class up here about 10 years ago. The Pacific Crest Trail also runs along this ridge. The trees  here are more exposed, which is reflected in the amount of snags and deadfall. The silvery trunks of those trees in shadow beautifully reflect the the range of color in the sky. The study below was  painted later in the evening, as the light was getting warmer.

Another spot we re-visited was a meadow at the top of Yuba Pass, enjoying the range of greens, wildflowers, small, crooked aspen, and the textures of grasses.

  

                                      

         

One source of fascination in the meadow was the color of the white Yarrow flowers in shadow and light, and how close in value the color of the flower in shadow was to the sunlit grasses, as shown below.

As always we close out the class by pinning up the week's work on the wall of the dining hall, and talk about it. In fact, we had several show and tells throughout the week, as participants are apt to learn as much from, and be inspired by each other's work, as they can from the instructor alone.

Thanks to all those who joined me this summer. You were a great group, and I hope to see you next year, when we can renew our investigations into light and color in the mountains.

And for those that are interested in an upcoming weekend workshop in Pt. Reyes, check out the workshops link on the right. I still have room for a few more students.

Sierra Buttes Workshop Report

I just finished teaching a 5 day workshop in the Sierra Buttes at the Sierra Nevada Field Campus. Great location, and a wonderful group of folks to work with, roughly a quarter of them from last summer's workshop. Most of us got together on Sunday evening for some wine and cheese before dinner in the dining hall, then headed out to a nearby lake to paint at sunset. Class officially began the next morning after breakfast. I did my first demo in camp, then followed up with a lecture on aspects of natural light that I consider important, and we were off.


I should qualify what I consider to be a demo. I'm not very capable of standing in front of an easel delivering a stream of conscious monologue on my process, while simultaneously executing an image worth looking at. Most of the sounds I generally make when I work are grunts of dismay and muttered curses. Occasionally a useful comment of some sort may emerge from my mouth, but I freely admit that I'm not a textbook of rational processes when I'm going at it. I can be struggling just as much as anyone else! So it is best for me just to paint away, while anyone is welcome to watch, asking the occasional question, as well as do their own work, based on my compositional choices, or one of their own choosing. One group fairly consistently set up near me while I painted, while others found their own spots to work. In this way, I had a reasonable opportunity to paint something at a location, and still have time to make the rounds of everyone to offer advice on their work.



This was a lively, hardworking group, which really makes teaching rewarding and fun. At one student's suggestion we began holding evening crits on the deck of the dining hall of the day's efforts. Some of the teachers and students of the other two classes (spiders, and watershed analysis) would hang around for these. Jerry Davis, the watershed instructor, started describing the water images in analytical terms which was both instructive and entertaining. Anyone who thinks science and art are mutually exclusive hasn't been to a field campus. Jerry also was the one who suggested we check out Love's Falls, which turned out to be one of the best painting locations of the week.


As the headwaters of the north fork of the Yuba River run right through the camp, I gave a lecture and demo on water the first afternoon. Water turned out to be a consistent subject matter all week.


I had the pleasure of meeting Andie Thrams, an artist whose work beguiles me. A writer, sketcher, painter, maker of books, and teacher, she agreed to give a presentation of her work after dinner one night. Afterwards we sat outside and painted in the dusk. Not quite a nocturne.... duskturne?


This was from a meadow down the road from the camp that looked west towards the Buttes. As it was morning, the view was pretty flat in lighting terms, and also lacked the atmosphere that I was figuring on, as we were painting with the sun behind us.There was a visible shift of contrast and value between foreground and background, but it was pretty mild. Still some fun textures, edges, and colors to play with.


From the meadow, we drove to Love's Falls just a few miles away. There was a short walk down a section of the Pacific Crest Trail, from which the sound of the falls began to make itself evident. There was a bridge spanning the river right over the falls, which really are a series of steps continuing above and below the bridge, though the largest drop in view was directly below the bridge.
This was a view looking downstream. Though it is the kind of subject I go looking for, this one is full of issues that need to be resolved in terms of focal point, local contrast and some shape editing. That strange ufo-like boulder in the lower right, for example... Like a lot of my work outside, it can benefit from some studio contemplation and touch up. But here it is in the 'raw', so to speak.


Much later in the day, after a lot of climbing and descending to get around to everyone, I was able to try another piece. The falls are visible beyond the trees, as is some cursory indication of the arched bridge above them. It was a challenge to see the colors in so much white water. The foreground shadowed rocks were a helpful comparative context in that regard.


We spent one morning painting towards the sun in the Sierra Valley (there's your blue atmosphere..), followed by a composition lecture in camp, then headed out to paint and swim at Salmon Lake in the afternoon. I was pretty run down after the waterfall outing the day before. Did I like any of my work that day? Nope!



On this day, the plan was to try Lower Sardine Lake in the morning, and then go back to the falls. However, once at the parking lot of the lake, we collectively decided to hike to the upper lake. It turned out to be a good choice as the water was amazingly still and clear, so both reflection and depth were visible in almost a textbook example in the absence of wind and waves. Half the class stayed there all day.


My first choice, going after the color gradient provided by changing water depth. This image was entirely reflecting sky, so my shadows in the water were blue in character. The foreground boulders took more time than I figured on, and I had to edit them to improve the composition, though it is still not a great strength in this image. It is simply less static than it would have been had I not done anything.


Much later in the afternoon after making the rounds, and a very refreshing swim. This is another 'raw' image that needs some work to bring it in better balance with background color harmony and contrast.... primarily toning down some hues and values to give them a better sense of atmospheric depth. The wind had kicked up quite a bit by then.


Our final show and tell/ crit on Friday. Everyone pinned up what they wanted to for the week, and talked about it. It is really fun to see the world through different eyes, what people choose, how they solve problems (or don't, me included!) Art is a lifelong evolution, and progress is gained through work, as well as the trial and error along the way.


That afternoon, a small group of us headed back to the waterfall to paint. This was fairly late in the day, when the entire scene was in shadow. What was bedeviling was the foreground rocks on the right as they seemed to be the same value and temperature of the adjacent water. My solution was to render more current and reflections on the left, as well as make sure the dark on the edge of the rock was sharp.

Thanks so much to the staff at the camp, and all the wonderful people who signed up for the workshop. It was a really rewarding week in so many ways.

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.

Summer Pastel Workshop in the Sierra Buttes

I'm going to be giving a 4 day pastel workshop at the Sierra Nevada Field Campus mid-summer, from July 26-30. Class size is limited to 12. The field campus is run by San Francisco State, and is located in the Sierra Buttes, along the north fork of the Yuba River. I took an astronomy class up there about 4 years ago, and have wanted to teach a workshop there ever since. There are numerous small lakes in glacially carved granite basins that are very accessible by car, or an easy hike. The region is like a mini-Sierra buffet of beautiful scenery. 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 cost of the workshop itself is $400, the accommodations are extra, and vary according to the options you can choose, involving a meal plan, as well as whether you bring your own tent, or decide to stay elsewhere, but dine on campus, etc.

There will be some lectures, daily plein air work and demos, as well as one-on-one time. This is an opportunity for some immersion in the challenges and rewards of painting on site, capturing light at different times of the day. Painting in the Sierra is a wonderful sensory experience... the character of light at higher altitudes , the glacial basins of granite, the range of color of in the creeks and lakes. I am always inspired by working in the mountains and I hope you'll come away with impressions of your own that will endure.

Here's the link to the website for the classes offered this summer. Just click on the courses link to find a class description.
All signups have to be done through the website, so they can keep track of the number, but I'll be happy to answer any questions you have.

Sierra Nevada Field Campus