Acadia Workshop Center
Please check back often as we add more artists to the schedule...
Workshops run 5 days, M-F, unless noted otherwise.
Jeanean Songco Martin
Plein Air Painting in Acadia / All mediums welcome
Jeanean's enthusiastic love of working on location "en plein air" is evident in her work and is contagious! This class is applicable to the beginner and the more experienced painter. Each day we will work on site with a morning painting then an afternoon painting. We will break up into groups based on your skill levels and needs. Demonstrations will be given in oil but the formal principles of composition, value and color relationships can be applied to all mediums. Demos, critiques and discussions of materials and techniques will be offered. Also included, a presentation “Landscape painting From Nature”. Jeanean is a very committed instructor who is interested in sharing not only the craft of painting but helping you to understand what it is you want to say in your own work.
Jeanean will be doing a different Demo each day including:
1. OILS Oil Technique:
Fundamentals of Oils - Color mixing & application
2. CREATING A GRISAILLE UNDERPAINTING
Oils or Acrylic Value Study, underpainting using Colors: titanium white, yellow ochre, raw umber, and black.
3. DEMO: HARD AND SOFT PASTELS
Technique of “building the form” beginning with hard pastel and layering with softer pastels.
4. CONTE CRAYONS - “TROIS CRAYONS”
Techniques with Conte crayons. "three colors" red, black, white conte
5. PENCIL/CHARCOAL
Techniques using pencil/charcoal on white paper and toned paper.
DESCRIPTION: Beginner demonstrations: Beginners will be offered assistance each morning with exercises and information about painting from nature. Learning to simplify complex shapes and forming a solid composition. Capturing a specific time of day and using the light and dark patterns to create form is stressed. Typically beginner students will begin with a few rigorous exercises that will help to facilitate seeing “the big picture”. The use of several thumbnail sketches to work out a pleasing composition is adviced. Once the format and general design has been worked out , Jeanean will demonstrate how to begin the painting concentrating on gesture first, then value, then locking in the large two dimensional positive and negative shapes with respect to implying the “retinal image” .
Intermediate and Advanced Students: May choose to work entirely on their own with guidance as needed. Jeanean will offer methods developing larger formal paintings in the studio from plein air studies. The other aspect of landscape painting involves the emotional impact on the artist. How does the visual sensation from what is perceived and felt through your senses working outside translate and impact your painting? A power point presentation entitled “Landscape Painting From Nature” , a brief history of the development of landscape painting from the 16th c. to present day will be shown on the first day.
SHORT BIO: A graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. Jeanean has been painting full time for thirty years and has conducted plein air workshops in Maryland Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Georgia, South Carolina and abroad in Ireland, England, France and Germany. She exhibits widely and has had several solo exhibits at major universities and colleges. Jeanean is a member of the Oil Painters of America, Portrait Society of America, Maryland Federation of Art and most recently is an invited guest to the prestigious Plein Air Competition at Sagamore Hill Historic Preserve in Oyster Bay, NY. Her work may be seen at the Circle Gallery in Annapolis, MD
MORE ABOUT JEANEAN:
A painter and musician for thirty years, Jeanean’s paintings are testament to her grasp of structure, composition and rhythm. Her pieces are built from gestural impressions and layered energetic surfaces. Her plein-air style reflects a direct reaction to nature. Her bravura brushstrokes capture fleeting moments of billowing clouds, distant mountains and waterways and open fields bursting with color. Her style incorporates both subtle, smokey, scumbling and an aggressively loaded brush. Jeanean's direct bravura painting style is influenced by early 19th c. European Barbizon School, Russian Munich School and American Impressionist and realist work. Her palette reflects the immediate feeling of light and air. Jeanean's figurative work is equally energetic and yet sensitive, combining subtle glazes and strong direct painting. Jeanean loves the Maryland countryside as well as traveling to distant locations. She is currently working on a series in New Mexico. Her lifelong interest in painting was nurtured by such mentors as Abbey Sangiamo, Phillip Koch, Raoul Middleman and Peter Collier. Jeanean has a B.F.A. from the Maryland Institute College of Art, teaches locally and travels to paint on location.
Max # of students: 15
Student fee: $595
Artist website: www.jeaneansongcomartin.com
OPTIONAL SUPPLY LIST / DESCRIPTION OF DEMO.
You may work in any medium you wish and may use whatever materials you have on hand. However, if you want to try one of the mediums used in my demos here is the materials list for each.
5 DEMOS AT THE ACADIA WORKSHOP CENTER
Each morning I will give a demo in a different technique. You may simply observe or if you would like to try, materials may be purchased directly from me or you may bring your own. Please let me know if you wish to purchase from me so that I can bring enough supplies.
Plein Air Painting Fundamentals – Will apply to All Mediums Working from Master paintings, photographs and later outside, we will learn how to “see the big picture quickly” thru gesture and the process of elimination and selection. Reinforcing the ideas of the formal construction of a landscape painting with composition, measurement and placement. Use of aerial and linear perspective .
1. OILS Oil Technique: Fundamentals of Oils - Color mixing & application
OIL PAINT: I like Winsor Newton: Basic restricted palette –
5 colors - Cad Red (Deep), Cadmium Yellow ( Medium), Ultramarine Blue, Titanium White (Gamblin, Grumbacher, or other) Burnt Umber
Odorless Mineral Spirits or Turpenoid
Brushes:About 3-5 bristle brushes in sizes 4-10. filberts, flats or a mixture of the two. One sable (synthetic is fine) detail brush - Any brand My preference is Silver Brush Grand Prix
1 metal palette knife for mixing paint
Palette (wooden preferred, but paper is fine)
SUPPORTS: Canvases :Bring canvas panel or stretched canvas. Depending on your level of experience and how fast you paint, bring 8x10, 9x12, or 12x16 panels No larger than 16x20. Visit www.windriverarts.com or www.raymarart.com for high quality panels. For the demo, obviously you would only need two supports to try out oils.
2. CREATING A GRISAILLE UNDERPAINTING - Oils or Acrylic Value Study, underpainting using Colors: titanium white, yellow ochre, raw umber, and black. Learn how to see in terms of value and structure an underpainting using five tones:
1. Darkest dark 2. Medium dark, 3. Medium (middle tone) 4. Light 5. Lightest light
3. DEMO: HARD AND SOFT PASTELS - Technique of “building the form” beginning with hard pastel and layering with softer pastels.
Hard pastels: Any hard pastel will do, but I like Prismacolor NuPastels
Supplies: Hard Pastels Nupastels set of 12 = $9.38 from Dick Blick just for demo
Prismacolor NuPastels (48- or 96-piece set) if you are going to work exclusively all week in pastel. You will want more colors.
Soft pastels: Any soft pastel will do, but I prefer either Rembrandt, Sennelier or Schmincke, which both have half-stick sets (40- or 80-piece set. Soft pastels are rather expensive so for this exercise you will only need a few colors. An inexpensive “starter” set from Dick Blick - soft pastels Set of 15 for $23.99
4. CONTE CRAYONS – “TROIS CRAYONS” Techniques with Conte crayons. "trois crayons" red, black, white conte
Conte crayons; Reddish Saguine Color- 2450, Brown – 2454, White – 2456 Black
“Matchbox set” of conte crayons of 4 assorted colors sold by Dick Blick for $2.49
Pastel Paper: Color medium gray. I like Canson Mi-tiente color sky blue. 354/sky blue (19x25) You can divide this in half and use one piece for exercise and the other for plein air painting
5. PENCIL/CHARCOAL Techniques using pencil/charcoal on white paper and toned paper.
Pencil: on White Drawing paper: Any kind of smooth Strathmore, bristol or Arches paper. Anywhere between 11"x14" to 18"x24". One hb pencil , one 6 B pencil
Charcoal: Two Methods: Additive method – using crosshatching and blending on toned paper. Medium toned color I like medium gray. Canson Mi-tiente color sky blue. 354/sky blue (19x25) . Strathmore also makes a nice charcoal paper.
Charcoal Technique: Subtractive method – toning the paper with charcoal on white paper first and “pulling out lights” One piece of Rives BFK paper. You can divide this in half and use one piece for the exercise and the other for plein air painting.
