Final Call for Bill Perkins Workshops

Plein Air studies by Bill Perkins

This is your last chance to sign up for Bill Perkin's upcoming workshops. The "Color Boot Camp" workshop in the studio will be August 15th through 17th.  The Plein Air Painting workshop will be the 18th through 20th. (See some of Bill's plein air work here) The cost is $300 per  workshop but if you want to do both the combined discount is $450. This price is comparable to or even less than many other similar workshops out there and I think it will be well worth your time and effort to attend. I am looking forward to attending the Plein Air Painting workshop this time around.

To sign up, contact Dave McClellan here

Those of you who follow the blog might recall the "Color Boot Camp" workshop I attended in March with former Disney artist Bill Perkins. We did 16-18 color studies from live models in the three days of this workshop in March and I found it to be a highly informative and valuable experience. I think I learned or solidified  more knowledge of color in those three days than in any other such workshop I have ever attended.

Upcoming Bill Perkins Workshops

Plein Air studies by Bill Perkins

Those of you who follow the blog might recall the "Color Boot Camp" workshop I attended in March with former Disney artist Bill Perkins. We did 16-18 color studies from live models in the three days of this workshop in March and I found it to be a highly informative and valuable experience. I think I learned or solidified  more knowledge of color in those three days than in any other such workshop I have ever attended.


Bill will be returning to Utah in August to instruct two more workshops in the Salt Lake/Provo area (sites yet TBD). The "Color Boot Camp" workshop in the studio will be August 15th through 17th.  The Plein Air Painting workshop will be the 18th through 20th. (See some of Bill's plein air work here) The cost is $300 per workshop but if you want to do both there will be a discount. This price is comparable to or even less than many other similar workshops out there and I think it will be well worth your time and effort to attend. I am looking forward to attending the Plein Air Painting workshop this time around.

There is no online sign up at the moment, but if you are interested, please send me an email message and I will put you in touch with those organizing the workshop.

  

Notes From Bill Perkins Workshop

Our workshop group on the final day. I am next to Bill (center back with my arm against the wall)

If you have been reading this blog lately, you have noticed a few entries regarding the Bill Perkins Color workshop that I attended a few weeks back So much was covered that it is impossible to give a full recap here without multiple posts. I will continue to break down the most interesting concepts from the workshop in future posts, but today, I wanted to run down a few tips from Bill that I scribbled down in my sketchbook.

ALWAYS squint to see value, but NEVER squint to see color

The value [of a color] cannot be quantified on a color wheel rather it is based on perception.

Large masses reflect more light than small masses, therefore they appear lighter than small masses, because they indeed are. Consequently, small masses (such as the nose on a face)are darker.

Highlights are the color of the light source

Light areas are the local color plus the color of the light source

When lit, objects of mid value create potential for greater range of contrast than objects of either light or dark value. Mid value has the highest value range.

Some of these concepts I had heard before, and they all rang true, but having them all put together in the context of a workshop was a really valuable experience for me. I hope these tips will help you as well.

 I apologize for not posting as frequently of late, I am in the middle of a really big project which I can't spill about. Someday after it becomes public, I'll share. Thanks for being patient. I will post as much as I can in the interim.

Tip of the Day: Paint Mixing

Bill Perkins Demonstrating at the workshop

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I learned a lot of things during the three days I spent painting with Bill Perkins. One very simple tip that Bill shared with us had to do with mixing just the right tint or shade of paint. Have you ever been mixing up a nice batch of the perfect color? Perfect except it needs just a touch of Thalo green or some other color to make it just right? What happens next always frustrates me. You get just a touch of Thalo on the end of your brush and mix it into your lovingly mixed color pile and WHAM, the whole thing becomes this pea green mess instead of that cool shadow flesh color you intended. You scrape your palette and begin again. Frustration. Well, never again, and I will tell you the solution that Bill gave us. DON'T mix the Thalo (or whatever) right into your batch of paint! First take a little of the tinting color and mix it with your white in a separate pile until it reaches the same value as your desired color and then mix a bit of this new color into your paint. The values are the same, so you won't risk absolutely killing the color you worked to get right in the first place. When Bill said this, I went DUH! It's amazing how you can work for so many years and still learn new techniques and concepts. The more I know, the more realize that I don't know about painting. Keep on learning!

Maintaining Tonal Zones

Among concepts that were learned or solidified at the Bill Perkins workshop I attended over the weekend was the principle of maintaining value relationships and patterns. In his explanation, Bill focused on identifying major values and then translating them into separate value ranges. Using my painting for this first exercise as an example, I will try to break it down simply.

First Bill had us analyze the values on the model and then define within our study those specific ranges. Each tonal block was kept separate from the next, but also allowing for variations of tone within it's own block . As the diagram  I created above shows, all other values that did not fall into one of the value ranges or tonal blocks were eliminated.

This process allows each value range to stand as a separate and distinct shape that cannot be confused by competing values from another tonal block. The result was a painting that held together strongly  because it made a clear value statement.

I had heard variations of this theory explained before but never with such clarity. I then focused my efforts for the rest of the workshop on translating this tonal zone concept into the color studies that we did.  Most of the 16 studies we painted were done in 40 minutes or less and since we were focusing on capturing a color statement, likeness and drawing accuracy took a back seat. It was frustrating to not have time to "draw", but overall a very valuable three days. More about Bill's color theory explanations in another post.