Starting Thursday, September 16, 6 - 8pm, is my next class at E.W. Poore Art Center in Mancheser NH. A description follows. If you are interested or have any questions, please contact me by email , comment here, or contact the art center.

PAINTING SMALL - WATERCOLOR MINIATURES
held at E.W.Poore Art Center
531 Front St.
Manchester NH 03104
603-622-3802

Painting miniatures requires a distillation of techniques to create an affecting and fascinating piece of art. Learn how to create miniature landscapes, still lifes, portraits and botanicals in watercolor, choose subject matter and composition for the best effect, use materials and tools best suited to this genre, how to mount or frame miniatures appropriately, and how to use archival materials to protect them.
Creating miniatures is a very fun way to learn all the basics of handling watercolor: color mixing, composition, value, and brushwork. Students should be able to complete and frame a small painting about every other class.
Miniatures make unique, personal and charming gifts. This is a great class to take before the holidays, enjoy yourself, relax, learn something new, and check off your shopping list as you paint.
A kit of materials specific to framing miniatures will be provided by the instructor for your first miniature masterpiece, subsequent materials will need to be purchased and will be available from the instructor or E.W. Poore, depending on how you want to display your work. Many alternatives will be demonstrated and discussed.

Students need to bring the following to class:
140# Cold Pressed watercolor paper, pencil, white plastic eraser, water container, palette, a range of artist, not student, quality, transparent watercolor paints to include but not limited to -French Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, a transparent yellow, Sap Green, and good quality synthetic brushes 0,2 and 4 rounds.

This is a 12 week class - tuition is $180

To register call E.W. Poore's at 603-622-3802 or email me at lwjamieson@myfairpoint.net

Scotland, especially the Isle of Skye, in the inner Hebrides, off the west coast, is a phenominally inspiring place to paint, regardless of your favorite medium. The weather changes every few minutes and can be extreme. It is challenging to paint plein air on the island due to this, but is worth a try. The coastline is dramatic, mostly high cliffs down to rocky beaches. There is one tidal island that is my favorite, Oronsay. It has a stone arch, sheep, cliffs meadows and spectacular views to the rest of Skye. Check the tide tables before you set off. I always carry my camera with me, a digital, with a large screen on the back, so that if my painting is interrupted I work on it back at the house. We have been renting houses on Skye for several years and our criteria for choosing is the following: fireplace or woodstove (it can be rather wet and chilly on the island), a shower, not a tub, and a view. This time we looked out on Loch Dunvegan, a sea loch, the Cuillins in the distance and MacLeod's tables. Wildlife is abundant, we had resident rabbits and sheep, a sea eagle off the cliffs in front of the house, songbirds, highland cattle down the road and much more. Due to it's high latitude, it doesn't really get totally dark in July. This gives some beautifully colored false dawn and twilights. The picture above is my interpretation of midnight.

School ended yesterday, so now I'm free to paint everyday, all day if I want. I will be going to the Isle of Skye in Scotland soon, to hillwalk and paint. The scenery there is varied and wild. I intend to use the "Painting on the Edge" technique, plein air. I find it lends itself to plein air painting because if the weather changes rapidly, which it does with regularity on Skye, an entire painting is not interrupted, only one small segment. With camera back-up, that can easily be taken care of and the remainder of the painting done after the rain squall passes. Painting fog is a subject I hope to practice rendering in watercolor, it occurs often on Skye, especially in the morning. Please check to see photos of Skye and my paintings in August. Have a great summer.

New Workshop Date

Next class at The Sharon Art Center is scheduled for June 5, 2010. The subject is Painting Nature in Watercolor. It is a workshop version of the longer class that is offered at E.W. Poore in Manchester (details in previous blog). We will be concentrating on the form, colors and textures of fruits and vegetables, using traditional watercolor techniques to render unconventional botanical subjects and compositions. A fun way to sharpen your skills and use your creativity. To register call the Sharon Arts Center, which is located near Peterborough, NH, 603-924-7256 or email them at www.sharonarts.org.

My painting of the bridge at Sligachan, Isle of Skye, Scotland, which appears at the top of the previous blog, has been chosen for the cover of the program for the Indoor Highland Games, to be held in Concord NH at the NH Technical Institute on April 10, 2010. Although in the past this has primarily been a music (bagpipes) and highland dancing event, the promoters want to bring more of the community at large into this venue, especially any related arts. I'll be there exhibiting, signing programs , and hopefully selling my art work that Saturday. The painting above is of Glencoe, in the Scottish highlands, from my last visit.

Upcoming class:

PAINTING NATURE IN WATERCOLOR
Learn to capture a myriad of wildlife, plants and natural objects in watercolor. Practical exercises and techniques will be taught for interpreting textures, colors and forms found in nature. Discover how to bring detail and definition into your watercolor paintings.
Starts April 15
10 weeks Thursdays 6pm - 8pm $150
(no class on April 29 or May 6)

To register, call E.W. Poore Art Studio, 531 Front Street, Manchesetr NH,03102
(603) 622-3802

Painting on the Edge Results

It's been awhile since the last post. We are now in the 8th week of the 10 week class I am teaching, called Painting on the Edge. This technique was used by Winslow Homer and Tony Foster. It uses very fine paper dams to separate elements of the composition along with small washes that build up to give depth and definition. A limited palette is used which ties all the elements together. For a beginning painter it is more manageable and less daunting to do a larger painting this way, working in one small area after another, no overall washes. It also works well for plein air because you can work more leisurely, since you are working in small areas and not racing to finish a wash before part of it dries out. If you are an impatient painter and tend to muddy your work by not letting washes dry before going back in again, this helps to eliminate that problem by letting you work on descrete parts of the same painting while other portions dry. This has been a challenge for my students and they have been working out of their comfort zones in regard to size and complexity. They have grown in their skills and are having fun with it. This works well with subject matter inaddition to the landscape, as you can see by the photos of some of my work above.