Acadia Workshop Center
Please check back often as we add more artists to the schedule...
Workshops run 5 days, M-F, unless noted otherwise.
Mike Rooney
Plein Air Painting:
Loose and Colorful - Oils and Acrylics
September 3 - 7, 2012
Plein Air Painting- Loose and Colorful
Mike Rooney teaches classroom and plein air
(outdoor) workshops from Maine to Key West, Florida
that are guaranteed to loosen up your style and
transform your art. Learn to paint outside with a loose, quick
and impressionistic style by learning the how to's of composition, color and value:
~ Essential equipment needed for plein air work
~ Working outdoors or from photos in the studio
~ Capturing light effects
~ Simplifying objects- stick figures welcomed
~ Working quickly- time waits for no one
~ Massing in and values- from blobs to objects
~ Color and composition theory, its not as boring as it
sounds and the importance of values over color
~ Color palette choices- your individuality expressed
in pigment
~ Approaching galleries with your work after you have
created your masterpiece and getting started online ie. blogs, online daily painters galleries, etc.
There will be lots of outdoor painting (if weather
permits) and classroom excercises guaranteed to
take the mystery out of plein air painting and take
your painting, inside or out, to the next level.
All levels welcome
Max # of students: 12
Student fee: $575
Artist website: www.mikerooneystudios.com
SUPPLY LIST:
OIL & ACRYLIC, for plein air
note from mike: I suggest painting oils outside as the acrylics really dry too fast for outdoor work.
if you will be painting acrylic you MUST bring some slow dry medium to keep from going mad!
I also suggests that you do a 6” x 8” paintings outdoors as a dry run before the workshop to see if you’re missing anything you might need. you will also get used to quickly setting up your easel. Some of these things you can live without, some you cant!
This list is what I carry but if youre an experienced plein air painter, bring what you like the best, and feel free to substitute. for instance, dont run out and buy synthetic brushes because i use them. bring whatever supplies you like to use.
OIL OR ACRYLIC PAINT (note: you dont necessarily have to have all these- you do need the ones with stars)
Magenta
Yellow Ochre
*Cadmium Yellow Light
*Cadmium Red Light
Alizarin Crimson
Turquoise
*Ultramarine Blue
Cadmium Orange Hue
Sap Green
Cadmium Violet or some version of Purple
*Large tube of Titanium White
*= must have these. the other colors are what i use and if you'd like, bring them too.
I use Lukas Oil paint available at Jerrys Artarama. it drys very fast and has excellent handling properties
PALETTE- inexpensive wood or plastic to mix the paint on
PAINTING PANELS (not canvases) at least one 6” x 8” and one 8x10 painting panel (no bigger than 12x16 - and only then if youre a very fast painter) for each day of the workshop.
Panel Holders- to carry wet panels around without smearing them or getting paint all over everything. you can get some online from Raymar or bring some pizza boxes to throw the wet paintings into.
Cheap watercolor paper pad for exercises; 8” x 10” or 9x12, 140 #(pound), or heavy sketch pad paper will work too.
(I sometimes use these) Magenta and/or Orange Oil Pastel sticks to draw on the panels with but paint or pencil will work too
Brushes- any stiff synthetic brush like Liquitex Freestyles, Princeton 6300’s or Silver Bristlon (or your own favorites) in sizes 2, 4, and 8. Also if you have a Michaels Craft Store nearby you can use the brand American Painter. Find the stiffest synthetic. Also need a synthetic Liner (also called a Rigger) brush. its thin and very long for detail work
Palette knife; metal (small to medium)
Easel or Pochade- www.jerrysartarama.com has several types. try the lightweight, portable “Feather” easel weighs less than 2 pounds and retails for under $30; (i was just featured in September 2010’s Artist magazine endorsing the “Monet Traveling Easel” also)
Medium- Liquin Original- a fast dry medium for oil paints. excellent for underpainting too. i love the stuff but you dont have to have it
A lightweight tray or portable table (if you dont have french easel or pochade box) to put your materials on makes your life much easier, particularly in the field; it’s not required but will keep you from having to bend up and down all day.
Photographs; a few, detailed, landscape photos for days when it rains or it’s too cold outside; photos with good light and shadow pattern (stark difference between what’s being struck by the light and what’s in shadow).
Odorless mineral spirits (i use cheap vegatable oil to wash my brushes out- less toxic and lower fumes)
Metal or plastic container for thinner
Paper towels or rags
Digital Camera
proper clothing and a wide-brimmed hat to keep the sun out of your eyes
Very optional; Bug spray, drinking water, painting umbrella, roll of duck tape, some clamps from Home Depot come in handy too.
put all the stuff in a large backpack (suitcase on wheels works well too)
