Layout; does it work as an abstract?  How is it laid out onto the canvas? Do not cut the canvas in half.  You control the viewers eye with line and strong composition. Where are you giving prominence to? Is it about the sky? The land? Detail draws the eye, use that as a tool. Sharp edges draw the views eye. Do not paint things with the same clarity--it is boring, and confusing for the eye. Watch out that the lines and shapes that force our eyes off the canvas. Allow objects to go past the edge, do not cram everything within the borders of the canvas, paint it like what you see looking through a window. You are painting a SLICE of what you see out there in the landscape. Avoid tangent lines to intersect at horizons or corners of architecture.  Avoid repetitious spacing , lines, color, shape, number of items, even numbers of anything--that rarely happens in nature. 

Avoid painting anomalies, the viewer won't believe it. It may be cool in nature but silly in a painting. You are in control, you can move objects, remove them, you are not doing a replica of nature, you are doing a painting,  ART!

Do not be planning how you will frame this or where you will hang it but instead be ready to scrape it off, to paint miles of canvas. They are not all "keepers". Strive for each painting to be better than the last.

Your best painting is still ahead of you. Avoid gimmicks, a strong recognizable style should not be a gimmick. Avoid the focus dead centered. Become the observer, analyze your work and others.

Some say there are no rules in art, of there are  or there wouldn't be so much bad art out there! Learn the rules before you venture out to break them.

                         C. Carrillo

What is Plein-Air

Why do it? 

In spite of bugs, sun, wind, dirt, &people.  Beauty, outdoors beats the studio

**** Paint from life

Photos deceive you unless you are very knowledgeable about life after observation.

Freshness

True color

Paint what YOU see, not what the camera saw.

You can put in how the DAY FEELS to you!

Smallest ****     cosmetic case with WC,brush,sponge,film canister or pill canister ,little brush or cut off the end of one you have,WC Postcards, you can gesso these to paint with oils or acrylics if you want, mechanical  pencil or fine tip marker,kleenex

Thumbox  by  www.GuerrillaPainter.com      WC or Oils/Acrylics.  Paints, solvent/water, little brushes, Kleenex,small canvas boards/postcards have holders for 4”x6”, 5”x7” or 6”8”

Small backpack     OPENBOX M,  light weight tripod, small tubes of paints only the primarys with a big white and black ,papertowels, brushes, solvent holder, gloves, viewfinder like an old slide mount, camera, hat, sunblock, pencil, ziplock bags, canvas board holder small canvas take only 2 or 3, 8x10 or 6x8

French Easel     can do larger canvas boards and carries wet work, carries more paint, heavy. Made for staying near the car. Use Easel Pal for palette.

Keep the canvas in the shade. Do NOT where sunglasses the values and colors will be messed up

DECISIONS to make:

Scene, WHAT is it ABOUT?   The light on a roof top, hazy in the air, brilliant color of spring poppies? Spot of color on the hood of a car?

  What do you want the viewers eye and mind  to go to,

  What will they remember about the painting?

 SEE the finished work in your head

                                  Then chose your

COMPOSITION of the painting. More important than the subject. MUST      work in abstract form first.

LAY IN OUTLINE of just SHAPES/EDGES

LAY IN DARKS**just SHAPES*and FOCAL POINT** DOES it work? IF not

       scrap it off now!!

DECIDE NOW what happens in the forground, background, etc. Do not    

       leave unanswered areas they will come back to haunt you!

Work from back to front.

Lighter/cooler in background, deeper/warmer color in foreground

Best to stop early than to over work

1 ½ hour is about it. The light/color changes too much

Even a day with a bad painting is better for your growth than not painting at all. They will NOT all be Keepers!!  Scrap it off and do another one.

So what is the secret for us to become better painters?

                                 PAINT!!!!

 Cindy Carrillo

2045 E. Manhatton Dr.

Tempe, AZ 85282

   ******************                                  Where to go, What to get*********************

Galleries

  Downtown Old Scottsdale has several wonderful galleries that feature landscape and plein-air painters. My personal favorites are on Main St. they are:

      Long Gallery, been there for years, lots of good work, friendly.

      Overland, beautiful Russian impressionist work and current painters.

      Trailside, wonderful work from the CAA group.

    In Irvine, California there is a great gallery, the Irvine Museum, that is worth making a trip to see. They have a wonderful collection of early California Impressionist. Stop there first, then on to Laguna to paint. In Laguna, the Redfern Gallery has some of the top Plein-Air painters today.

Schools

Scottsdale Artist School , 3720 N. Marshall Way, is near Marshell Way/2^nd St.  just west of Scottsdale Rd.  It is in an old elementary school building with large windows lots of light. The instruction is the best you can get. Teachers from all over the country come here to teach week long workshops, 2/3 day classes and more. There is modeling sessions during the weekends and new classes all the time. Yes, it is expensive, and worth every bit of it. I have never felt like I did not receive excellent instruction and also saw my work improve with each class. You must come with an attitude of ready to learn and flex. Good bookstore too!  My suggestions for teachers would be:

  Susan Diehl,  Gabor Svagrik, Ray Roberts, Matt Smith, and John Burton, George Strickland.

You should always be working on your drawing skills and Henry Stinson is the teacher to take.

Scottsdale Community College,  Harold Nelson teaches oil painting and is great plein-air painter. He is very good at communication and wants you to learn. Red Mountain CC/ Darlene Swaim for color/painting, excellent!!

Books/Magazines

   You can never have too many books, especially art books! Watch for less expensive ones at Bookmans in Mesa, and Tucson, and Changing Hands. Watch out for teachers that try to get you to paint like them ( no clones), or books with too many secrets. The secret is, PAINT.

 *Plein-Air Magazine (now Fine ArtConnoisseur)  good articles on current painters and historic works. Shows discussed and terrific photos of paintings. Look and learn, critiques each piece you see.

*Hawthorn On Painting    classic must have, this is at Scottsdale Artist School bookstore.

*Oil Paintings with Light & Color by Kevin McPherson   This master painter gives an excellent basic approach to your subject, very clear and helpful. At Scottsdale Artist School bookstore

                            Supplies

**raymarart.com  888-809-3314   These guys made study paint boards all sizes also the lightweight cardboard sturdy wet canvas carriers. These can be packed ahead with blank canvas then carry home freshly painted ones. Can be mailed or packed in your backpack. Very customer service, family owned, reasonable prices.

** www.judsonspleinair.com    sturdy, well made equipment that will last a lifetime. The Thumb Box is my smallest box.

** www.openboxm.com    This is a family owned business, they really care that you are happy with their products. I have the Openbox M, 10"x14" and several other items they make and have been very pleased with all of it.  Well made, good customer service. Worth the price, good quality.

** Jerrys Art O Rama,   on Hwy60/Rural, SE corner behind Dennys. Yes, it is a silly name but what great prices and the selection beats out anyone else in town. Check out the sales, they are great.

** Utrecht on Rural/University, NE corner. Their store brand paint is very good, high in pigment, good prices.

** 99Cent Stores,  these guys will have all kinds of stuff to help you with your travel paint bag set up. Cosmetic bags work great to carry watercolors and supplies. You can get sponges, papertowels, etc.

Packed Car Bag:

An old suitcase works fine for most of this stuff. A real headache to drive out on a beautiful day and forget something important. TRy to keep this in the car you use. A collapsible chair is handy to have.

**plastic bags ,paper towels, extra canvases, handwipes, Purell, bug repellent, sketch pad, large paint tubes, several white tubes, solvent, umbrella, tarp, canvas shoes/boots, hat (spray brim with bug repellent) extra brushes, always water, snack/granola bars,zip-lock bags, plastic gloves, sunblock, Benadryl tablets/crème for bee stings, bug bites, aspirin, film, bit of cash.

Backpack for walking to site:

plastic bag, only small tubes paint/primaries and white, several favorite brushes, solvent in travel jar, small palette,old slide mount for composition help,  small canvas (6”x8”, 8”x10”) take only two, you can always go back to the car for more if needed. plastic gloves, small camera, tripod, wet canvas carrier,a small water bottle (freeze it ahead of time to stay cold, snack, hat sprayed with bug repellent,tiny bottle of sunblock.Do not wear sunglasses while painting, colors and values are totally messed up!   Try to get everything into the backpack to leave your hands free, best to avoid rolling carts, you will be extremely limited in where you can go.*************

Show information

www.artistregister.com

www.artlist.com    this one has the largest list, only $10.00 a year, comes to your email monthly

**Please contact me if you have questions, need ideas of places to go, supplies you might need, problems you may have had and need help!        contact@cindycarrillo.com   www.cindycarrillo.com   

      Best kept secret?  If you want to be a painter, then paint!

Quick Starts:

    Keep these small, 6”x 8” -  8”x 10”.  You only want to lay in the composition first, using your brush, a deep blue/grey wash. Use your brush as if you were doing a pen and ink. Keeping it loose, smooth, defining only the basic SHAPES that you see. Not the details! Make this work as an ABSTRACT image. When you then go in and lay in smooth, thin layer of color that is the correct VALUE that you see. You may need to push it further one way or the other to create the depth that you want. VALUES create depth, volume, and shape. This is true in a landscape or still life, or portrait. Keep your little notebook handy at all times to draw little images. You can never do enough of these.

   Gouache: Black, white, paper.  Do small starts using gouache in a range of greys. It will force you to see the values not the color. Watch ads in magazines and the black/white photos in the newspaper. Pay attention to the greys used to create shape.

Value: Light and darks

Color: temperature- each color has a warm one and a cool one (even red)

Composition:  Good composition creates a good abstract start. If you get it right at this stage, the painting will be strong.

Panels~ from Raymar at 888-809-3314 and www.raymarart.com these are nice panels , use canvas panels (cheaper) for awhile.

Edgar Payne ~book on Composition      Contact the Scottsdale Artists School at 800-333-5707 ask if you can get it from them.

Carlson’s Guide to Landscape Painting by John f. Carlson

 You  can usually find this book in used bookstores rather than buying new. It is a classic with very helpful composition advice. The oil painting mixes are old, you can ignore a lot of that.

Let me know how it goes and what issues come up.

Cindy Carrillo

480-820-8111 

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