Joseph Zbukvic Workshop

I just completed a 5-day watercolor workshop in Fallbrook, California, taught by Joseph Zbukvic, a modern master of watercolor.  Joseph completed over 10 demonstration paintings, all the while drumming into us students the basics of how he sees things, and how he paints.  He was completely free and generous with his insights and information, and spent a lot of time with students individually, helping us each to master the areas where we just "didn't get it".  What a great teacher!  I recommend his workshop to all watercolorists, particularly those who are intrigued by the landscape, and want to paint directly, without endless thin washes, to capture a scene quickly with the sparkle and immediacy of watercolor.  Here's our class; Joseph is in the middle with the "Z+U" shirt:

I've posted Joseph's demos and my own workshop paintings on my Facebook art page.  Enjoy!

If you'd like to sign up for my fine arts newsletter, you can do so Here.

Design for Painters Seminar

The Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs has scheduled my 1-day Design for Painters Seminar on Tuesday, October 25, from 9 to 4 at the Center.  In this lecture & discussion seminar, I explain the elements and principles of design, and how they can be applied to make all types of paintings more successful. I also cover the basics of perspective, shadows, and reflections, which must be executed well to make any representational painting believable.  More information is available at my Workshops page.  Contact Donna Dunnahoe at 501-624-0489 or via email at donna@hsfac.org for more information about this workshop.

Lake House - Original Watercolor Painting

It's a beautiful day to be out in a boat, and have the lake all to yourself.  This was practice for a demo at my recent Watercolor Workshop, but I never got around to painting it there.  Maybe next time.

If you'd like to purchase this 15" x 22" original watercolor painting for $300 including shipping within the United States, you can do it with one click on my website www.jimoberst.com.  There are additional paintings for sale there, and there is a smaller version on my other website www.weeklywatercolor.com.

Watercolor Workshop in June

I'll be teaching a 3-day watercolor workshop Mon-Wed, June 13-15, in Hot Springs Village,  Arkansas,  emphasizing the landscape.  It's sponsored by the Brush Strokes art club, and the non-member price is $140.  There are just a few spaces left.  The photo is of students during my last workshop.

You'll find more info at http://jimoberst.com/workshops.html.   For questions, contact me at jim@jimoberst.com or 501-984-3178.  If you'd like to sign up, contact coordinator Teresa Widdifield at 501-922-9292 or angelstarart@suddenlink.net.  Hope I see you there!

Workshop with Alvaro Castagnet

During October I attended a 5-day watercolor workshop with Alvaro Castagnet in Sedona, Arizona, sponsored by the Sedona Arts Center.  There were 14 students, and we painted outdoors most of the time.  Most of the students were not from Arizona.  Alvaro did many of very good demos, and spent time describing what he thinks about when he paints.  He also provided very useful critiques of the students' paintings.  I was challenged during the workshop, and now after it, to put a lot of Alvaro's tips into action... which hasn't been easy!  But I intend to keep at it.  I would like to be able to capture in my paintings some of the mystery and looseness that Alvaro injects into all of his paintings.

Workshop with Tony Van Hasselt

During the last week of August I attended a plein air workshop given by Tony Van Hasselt.  It was held on the Maine coast, in Rockland.  I signed up for this because I had heard that Tony is an excellent teacher, and because I wanted to learn how to successfully approach plein air painting - my previous attempts yielded lackluster results.  It also dovetailed into a longer New England vacation that we had planned.

The workshop was great.  Tony is a plein air expert, has great advice about how to paint realistic landscapes, and has a wonderful approach to critiques.  I did several plein air paintings; the best of the lot is posted here, along with my painting setup.  I also took hundreds of photos of the Maine coast, so my cup runneth over with references for future paintings.

3-Day Watercolor Workshop

I taught a 3-day Watercolor Workshop on July 12 - 14 in Hot Springs Village, AR, under the auspices of Brush Strokes Art Club. Twelve students were subjected to my approach to watercolor painting, including talks on design, perspective, symbols, landscape guidelines, what makes a good shape, color, etc. Somehow they all seemed to not only survive, but to prosper. Intrinsic to the workshop was a half-sheet, 2-hour demo each morning. I've posted here photos of the class and of the three demo paintings I completed. For more information on my watercolor workshops, including how to schedule one for your group, please visit my website workshops page.

Timothy J. Clark Watercolor Workshop

I'm just back from a 3-day watercolor workshop taught by Timothy J. Clark in Van Buren, Arkansas. It was somewhat unusual compared to most watercolor workshops, which often concentrate on technique and simplified color and design theory. Tim teaches at the Art Student League in New York, and his class was more aimed at developing artists than "making paintings". He focused more on drawing, creating themes and rhythm, and lessons from "classical" artists. His demos were very interesting. His last-day critique focused more on where each student most needed to develop his talent, than on the particular paintings he completed in class, though these of course provided some input.

In all, a valuable and very useful workshop. All of the folks at the Center for Art and Education in Van Buren, where the workshop was held, were great. It was a talented class, with many experienced oil painters trying their hand at watercolor quite successfully. The attached image is of a painting I did on the first day, a basket of lemons that Tim set up.

Watercolor Workshop Scheduled

I'm scheduled to teach a 3-day watercolor workshop under the auspices of Brush Strokes in Hot Springs Village on July 14th to 16th. The signup sheet filled (12 people) the day we announced it. That is both encouraging and intimidating. I'm really looking forward to doing this - I've enjoyed the days I've taught previously, but never did an entire workshop myself. To learn more about the workshop, click here. We do have a waiting list, and if the demand "holds up", I'll probably teach a second session.

The image is of a quarter-sheet painting of the fountain in front of the Ponce deLeon center in hot springs village. This painting is hanging in the Woodlands lobby as part of Brush Strokes' HSV 40th Anniversary exhibit. There is a "Meet the Artists" reception there at 2 pm on August 24th.

Watercolor Class with Demo

Last Wednesday, Richard Stephens gave me the opportunity to teach one session of his annual Garland County Library watercolor beginners class, as he was unavailable that day. I decided to do a 1-hour demo (although it's difficult for me to paint that fast, and also to paint vertically) and then to have the students try their hand at the same painting. I did the accompanying painting Early Snow in the class. The students had plenty of questions, and seemed to enjoy the demo and the painting exercise. I enjoyed it, too.

Frank Francese Workshop

This past week, I participated in a three-day Frank Francese watercolor workshop. Frank is a teriffic teacher... he teaches an approach to painting that helps one loosen up, and is a really fine, down-to-earth human being. I've posted one of the six paintings I finished at the workshop... this one in about an hour, with no pencil drawing at all on the watercolor paper! Frank finished up his week with a fantastic program for Brush Strokes, including two full-sheet painting demos. He then judged our Woodlands painting exhibit. I would recommend Frank's workshop to every watercolor organization without reservation.

John Salminen Abstract Workshop

Last week I attended a 4-day workshop sponsored by Mid-Southern Watercolorists given by John Salminen, built around creating a full-sheet abstract watercolor.  I'd never tried to paint my own abstract, so I thought this might be a worthwhile new experience.  In addition, the workshop got very high marks by others who had taken it.  Using some of John's methods, we designed an interesting white space, and then enhanced the overall design with brushed watercolor, watercolor sprayed from a mouth atomizer, collage, and acrylic.  John and his wife Cathy helped us continually apply design principles as we developed our paintings.  The step-by-step approach resulted in striking paintings by everyone in the class.  I've posted an image of mine here.

Richard Stephens Workshop

I recently attended a 3-day workshop given by Richard Stephens and sponsored by Brush Strokes.  It was great, as usual.  Richard's demos were varied... a barn, an urban scene, and a portrait.  I followed his pattern, and produced three reasonable paintings (all shown here).  His portrait demo particularly captured my imagination, and motivated me to try a few additional portraits after the workshop.  But it's been a struggle... so, what's new?  Richard is a great teacher and painting coach, and I've learned an awful lot from him.

Alvaro Castagnet Workshop

From Sunday Nov 9 through Thursday Nov 13 I attended a watercolor workshop in Columbus, Ohio by Alvaro Castagnet.  He is a fantastic artist, and quite a character.  Alvaro believes the primary goal of an artist is to interpret the world around him.  He paints with subdued, or grayed, hues, with some bright color as accents.  He uses squirrel mops almost exclusively.  He enjoys painting plein air, but the Columbus weather did not cooperate, so we painted inside all five days.  He basically did paint-alongs, where he repainted a painting he had done previously, and we followed along in two or three steps.  I don't normally like paint-alongs, but because of his unique style and approach, it was a very valuable exercise.  Using the mop brushes, and concentrating on soft and dry brush strokes and deep darks, I finally painted loose paintings, and paintings of city scenes - both of which I have been working to accomplish.  I was exhausted by the end of the week.  It will be exciting to work to incorporate Alvaro's approaches into my own paintings during the coming months.  I've included images of alvaro and of two of the eight paintings I completed during the workshop.

Ratindra Das Workshop and Brush Strokes Exhibit

Last week I attended a 3-day watercolor workshop in Hot Springs Village taught by Ratindra Das and sponsored by Brush Strokes.  I learned some important things about managing paint on wet paper, and I painted four paintings wet on wet on a vertical easel.  However,  I don't favor Ratindra's "flat shapes" painting style, and was unsuccessful replicating it in my paintings.  I've attached a painting of sailboats in a harbor on Maui that I did in the workshop, but it looks a lot like my usual style.

Ratindra also judged the annual Brush Strokes exhibit hanging in the Woodlands auditorium lobby in Hot Springs Village, and I was awarded second place for my painting Mountain View Arkansas Barn.  This is a rather old painting.  I had planned to exhibit a different painting, but it sold from my This Fair Land exhibit at the Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs in March.

Ken Hosmer Workshop

I just returned from a workshop in Corpus Christi, Texas with Ken Hosmer. Ken is known as a "colorist", and he taught a great deal about how to approach color logically, but his workshop covered many more topics than that. I found his "pathways" approach to value design particularly interesting, and his technique of painting from dark to light, opposite the "normal" watercolor process, was well worth trying. Ken dealt a lot with how light affects both value and color, and how to capture these effects in our paintings. Overall, the workshop was very interesting and valuable for me. I've included an image of Ken doing one of his demo paintings.

Sterling Edwards Watercolor Workshop

Last week I traveled to Fort Worth, Texas to attend a 3-day watercolor workshop given by Sterling Edwards under the auspices of the Society of Watercolor Artists (SWA). It was an excellent workshop with about 20 mostly local artists. Sterling is one of the best teachers I have experienced.

In addition to a birch forest scene demo at the SWA meeting the evening before, Sterling did many demonstrations at the workshop: a barn scene, a monochromatic value study, tree demos, flowers, a waterfall, examples of three different dramatic skies, a European street scene, several demos of negative painting, and an abstract. He was willing to demonstrate anything people asked about. Sterling teaches a “4-step process” that describes the sequence that he works in. He also demonstrated a unique method of using bristle brushes for watercolor paintings, and an interesting physical palette design that I’ll be trying out. He provided individual help, a critique on the final day, and lots of philosophy and jokes along the way. I painted two half-sheets and two quarter-sheets during the “free time”. I’m holding one of these with Sterling in the accompanying image.

Sterling also paints in acrylics and oils, and is a founding member and teacher of Art Academy Live. He would be an excellent teacher for one of our arts organizations to host in central Arkansas.