What a great time we had with Dan!
We had a pretty accomplished bunch of artists, but I don't think there was one person that did not learn something new. Dan is a great painter and a knowledgeable instructor who conveys his thoughts and insights clearly and with an easy tone. If you ever have an opportunity to take one of his workshops – don’t think about it; just do it! We were all impressed, challenged and at the same time encouraged by his positive one-on-one input. The words "value," "darkest dark," "edges," "warm and cool," keep going through my head. I don't think I can look at a landscape or face and just appreciate it for its beauty anymore – I “squint” at everything I see - I'm ruined!
This might be the wettest summer on record for Alberta so the outdoor sessions were a bit challenging but we made it work. The first day we focused on the portrait. Mya was a great model and was able to stand in for one of the models who got sick. In the morning Dan did a demo and in the afternoon we each tried our hand while he went around giving individual input. This is where we learned about starting a painting with the darkest dark and moving to the next lightest color and value while keeping all the values within the same value family. The workshop was to paint THE FIGURE IN THE LANDSCAPE. Thankfully the second day came with a little better weather and we could actually go outside. Marsha was our model for the day. In the morning Dan did a step by step demo so that each participant could make the applications in stages. There’s nothing quite like watching a demo and having the opportunity to ask questions. In the afternoon we set up in a different location. Dan did not demo so we started implementing what we had learned right off the bat.
On Saturday morning we were indoors again. Dan did a demo from a photograph. Since many artists paint from photos most of the time I thought the exercise would be very valuable. I was surprised how quickly Dan produced a piece from a photo. The challenge with painting from photographs is to keep from getting stuck on detail while retaining a representational image. Dan is so good at this. If you haven't done so, please visit Dan's web site and blog.
Because of the weather, the afternoon was spent painting indoors with directional light. The objective of a workshop is to learn, it is not to take home a pretty picture. Though most paintings were not finished, some good work began to show up. It was clear that participants were assimilating what Dan was teaching.
Because my job was to host, I struggled to get focused during the sessions. I wanted to make sure everything was going OK for everybody. But my time came when it was all done. The highlight for me was to spend time with Dan after the workshop at different locations.
After church on Sunday afternoon we went off to Elbow Falls but ended up painting beautiful scene of the river downstream. There is nothing quite like personal instruction.
By the time we had seen the galleries and got a lunch to go there was 1 ½ hours to find and paint something. Speed painting for sure. We settled on a panoramic scene with the town too low in the valley for us to see any houses and a mountain high enough to have its top in the clouds as a background. Dan of course finished and did a sterling job. We were an hour from home, I had to pick up our daughter from school and get Dan to the airport so we packed up and dashed off.
On Monday Liz Wiltzen took us to Lake Moraine and for the 3 hours we painted it was cloudy but it did not rain. We couldn't be so close to Lake Louise and us not take Dan even if it was just to look. Maybe next visit we'll have more time and better weather to paint there.
On Tuesday we went back to Canmore to visit Liz’s studio. She was kind enough to take us to Sarah Kidner’s studio where I saw my first Scott Burdick and Kim English originals. All said this was one of the best painting weeks I’ve had. My hope is that Dan will be back soon and with his family.
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