Conquer Your Acrylic Demons- Now Available!

You may have noticed a link button to the right of my blog for my new instructional art video Conquer Your Acrylic Demons which is now available at Folio Academy.com. Though it has been up online for a week or two, this post marks the official launch. The video contains three hours filled with me creating an entire painting in acrylic and explaining every step along the way.  I am really excited to share it with you and hope you will all take the time to check out the sample clips here. Folio Academy was recently launched by my fellow artist friends Will Terry and Wayne Andreason and it is geared to fill the gap between traditional art instruction and the dubious quality of most free art videos you may find online on sites like YouTube. All Folio Academy videos offer instruction from professional artists and illustrators who make their living creating art full time. I am proud to join this group of inspiring and accomplished artists. The online site is set up a bit like itunes in that once you purchase a video, it is yours to access and watch whenever you want, as often as you want. You can also "gift' videos to that budding artist in your life. There are instructional courses for all ages and ability levels. Please take a minute to check out Folio Academy's courses. I think you will be impressed with and interested in what you see.

Let me know what you think!

Landscape Workshop Last Hurrah

Heber Valley Vista- 6" x 8" Oil by Greg Newbold

As I mentioned in my previous landscape workshop post, I left the workshop just a bit early to try to find one last location that interested me. I could have stayed and had another go at Deer Creek and the surrounding vistas, but I was itching for something with more trees. I drove home through Midway, Utah and stopped at this spot overlooking the Heber Valley.

I had just over an hour to bang out this little 6" x 8" study. Of all the pieces I painted at the workshop, this one may be my favorite. It seemed to come together quickly (I didn't exactly have a choice since I had a commitment at home that I need to attend), but Things seemed to fall in place and the paint was flowing. I think it has the feel of a larger painting, so I think this one may make it's way onto a bigger panel someday.

Jekyll Or Hyde?

Jekyll and Hyde- 11" x 14", mixed media by Greg Newbold

I did a series of theater posters a while back for Pioneer Theater Company and one of the shows was a production of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I wanted to give a sense of mystery without resorting to the tired "half in half" sort of depiction of this character. I decided that instead of having Jekyll in his "Hyde" disguise, or vice versa, I would simply add a sort of  mad glow to his right eye. I got a lot of mileage out of this one including getting it accepted into the Society of Illustrators Annual.

Also see Cyrano De Bergerac from this same series here
Check out my new painting video here

Painting with Bill Perkins Redux

High Water- Oil, 8" x  10" by Greg Newbold

I unfortunately had to miss the second day of Bill Perkins plein air workshop but had a good time on day three. We traveled about 20 minutes up Provo Canyon to Deer Creek State Park and found places to paint along the edge of the water. I wanted to try something different and chose a composition where the water came right to the bottom of my picture. I was literally right on the water's edge. Whenever a boat went by the lapping waves would splash on me a little bit.

My view at the edge of the water

This one turned out better than I originally feared but not as well as I had hoped going in. I guess that's the nature of outdoor painting. Sometimes all the elements converge and you get something great and other times things sort of fall apart before your eyes. One thing I am learning (the hard way at times) is to not "chase the light". That means not constantly changing shapes and shadow patterns as the light shifts. I spent so long on this one, that the light on the trees shifted from near shadow to side light, but I tried to refrain from adjusting things. The texture of the trees was also a challenge I don't think I lived up to. I just need to get faster at putting down my impressions I guess. Anyway, After this one, I had one more shot before I had to call it a day. I'll post that one next time.

More Painting with Bill Perkins

Three Bales- 8" x 8", Oil by Greg Newbold

Later in the afternoon, following a delicious lunch at Station 22 in downtown Provo, we got back to painting. I have long been attracted to farm scenes and couldn't resits trying my hand at the large hay bales we found dotting a nearby field.

We found these bales just to the east of where I painted in the morning session

I decided on a small 8" x 8" panel for this painting. It was a challenge to capture the solidity of the bales and also inject interesting color into the shadows.

In progress, in the shade. The color shift in direct light is always interesting.

I like the overall design but I am not sure if I quite captured the color I wanted. I only had about an hour and a half to paint this one, so I was concentrated on big shapes and trying to get color notes down. I will have to reevaluate it in studio and see if I can "pull it out of the weeds" so to speak. I definitely see things I will want to adjust. 

Painting with Bill Perkins

Toward Provo Canyon- 8" x 10", Oil

Last week I took a couple of days to attend an outdoor painting workshop with Bill Perkins. It was a good chance for me to continue developing my outdoor painting skills. The more I paint outside, the more I realize the only way to learn to paint outside, is (stunning revelation) to paint outside. I feel like I get more comfortable and confident with every painting. I feel the paintings are consequently getting better as well.

The actual scene in west Provo looking northeast toward Provo Canyon

This is my first effort of the workshop and I like certain things (the composition, overall color and values) and other things I'd like to have captured better (the texture of the trees and the mountains). I thought the two main trees were too similar in size, so I adjusted the shape and size. Looking back, I think I pushed the color a little too much in certain areas and I'll probably tickle it a little in studio before I let it go.

In progress on the easel

I tend to want to have something that I can call finished. Bill kept stressing that for him, these outdoor studies are just a way to "capture a moment in time". He concentrates on getting maybe a dozen spots of color and value down in an accurate way and then using the study to create authentic interpretations of the scene in studio. I admire that approach but still bring myself to not want a more finished painting from the experience.

Bill Perkins Color Boot camp
Bill Perkins site

New Painting Video Sneak Peek!

I just got  the news that my new painting video "Conquer Your Acrylic Demons is nearing launch. Here's a sneak peek of the YouTube trailer. The piece featured in the video can be seen in this previous post. I'll clue everyone in on where to buy it as soon as it launches.