Ranier and Amber W.I.P. - Chicago area workshop June 9-11

Here's the latest stage of the painting that I'm working on for the workshop I'm teaching in Oak Park, IL on June 9-11. It probably has another full day to go... the background will be a cool violet gray, I think, because I got sloppy and there's too many waterspots to leave it white! Yes, this subject is a bit advanced... but I believe in pushing the students to reach and stretch. I'm not one for comforable and complacent. Plus, workshops are not to produce a pretty picture for people to put on their walls. They are to learn about different  painting techniques, learn how watercolor reacts with water... learn to "see" shape, form, and value, learn how to interperet subjects to create an interesting composition. I like to paint beauty and don't apologize for that. I used to need to inject tons of expression and wild color into my work, but the older I get, the more I appreciate the subtleties of what's already there, and match my expression with that same subtlety... and let the natural hues speak for themselves.