Sunflower Painting Retreat

Sunflower Painting Retreat

Sunflower Painting Retreat with Donna F. McGee                                               July 13, 14, & 15, 2018

Linden Plantation, Glen Allan, MS

Look for more information about Donna's upcoming en plein air workshop at Linden Plantation!

Following in the tradition of Van Gogh, immerse yourself in the subject of sunflowers.  Sunflower Painting Retreat participants will paint en plein air (outdoors) in the mornings and directly from still life (indoors) in the afternoons.  Although photos may be used in some of the exercises, the focus is on painting from life, not from photographs.  Through both acrylic and oil demonstrations and exercises, Donna will share her approach to the tradition of en plein air. She’ll share her personal palette set-up, her unique color-mixing system, and her approach to composition for both landscape and still life. 

Topics include mixing nature’s colors, painting shapes and values, and understanding color temperature and value relationships.   Participants may work with either oil or acrylic.  Some painting experience is preferred.  For Donna’s materials’ lists, email her at dmcgee09@comcast.net.  Be sure to include information about the medium you will be using.

Painting on a cloudy Thursday at Linden

When planning for a workshop I like to arrive early and get in touch with the place.  Like everyone else I am overwhelmed by "something to paint" everywhere I look.  One of those spring southern storms moved through on Wednesday night. It was great hearing the rain on the roof of my cabin.  The next morning I went out to do some 30 minute warm-up paintings.  These little 5 X 7's can pack a lot into a small space. Although it was cloudy, there were good color contrasts and soft lights. The value range is tighter, but still good little paintings.  Sometimes colors look brighter against a darker blue-violet-grey sky.  Even the shady areas contain soft reflected light. 

Cloudy Thursday, Grain Bin, Oil on Canvas Panel, 5 X 7 Inches

Cloudy Thursday, Fallow Field, Oil on Canvas Panel, 5 X 7 Inches

Paintings from the Linden Workshop

Below are some of the paintings from the Linden Plein Air Retreat. Everyone got more comfortable as the 2nd day progressed, getting a new perspective on color and light. Also, they bravely tried my color mixing system rather than relying on tube colors. My photos are a little dark but you can see the different approaches..

 Linda's Painting done 2nd Day of workshop

 MJ's  Painting from the 2nd Day

Peggy's Painting from the 2nd Day

More of Linden Plantation

 Mary Jane 

 Noula

Peggy

We had perfect weather for my Plein Air Workshop.  Our Hosts really treated us "Delta Style" with delicious food and entertaining conversation.  Only a few reasons to return to the Delta for another workshop.

Painting en Plein Air at Linden Plantation

 My Demo Using 3 values to create a drawing, then Painting 

Color Values. Linden is a beautiful, peaceful spot. Watch for more workshop there in the near future.

Linda Snider Ward and her Painting of the Ginkgo Arch at Linden