Everyone is so quiet you can almost hear brush strokes. Inside Linda Blondheim’s small studio, eight artists are squeezed in somehow, easels turned every which way. If we step back to give our mind a rest, we bump into another artist.
Our task at the moment – paint the trunk of a palm tree. This is a one-day palm tree workshop. Linda is a plein air painter and a pathfinder. She helps artists find their path.
As we work, we get quizzed.
“Why do you do what you do?” Linda asks, and goes around the room. Meaning, why are we artists? Answering, “I don’t know” is not an option. If you do try that, and I did, she will gently keep prodding, asking the question in different ways, making you think, stretch, articulate. It is not just about the brush, it is about attitude, and that colors your palette.
Elaine Trice holds her brush in mid-air and said: “I paint because I am driven every day to do something artistic.”
Driven. That’s a good word. We all nod. We understand. Also compelled. Called. Drawn. We’re here, aren’t we? We want to be better, don’t we?
It is pouring rain outside. Inside, on each easel is a line drawing of a palm tree trunk (there’s lots of pieces poking at different angles).
Our job is to fill it in. We have to figure out where the light is coming from, left, right, above, below? What colors to use, and how to mix them, how to establish light and shadow? So many problems in search of a solution. It isn’t easy.
Our palette is limited. French Ultramarine Blue, Payne’s Grey, Titanium White, Cad Red Light, Cad Yellow Lemon. Fancy names for the three primary colors plus an almost black and a white.
Some work in pastels, others use oils, or acrylics or watercolors. I was thinking of combining watercolor and pastel, but it is all I can do to keep up the pace with just watercolor. There is a piece of a palm tree trunk on a table. A still life. We could use that for reference (this is not a day to be outside). But everyone opts to go their own way. One trunk is green and red, another red and black, another shades of blues. Mine has a lot of browns and some yellows. Who knew trunks could be so diverse?
“Do you all know about colors or should I give a little lecture?” Linda asks. We all say, sure, we know about color. A little while later, she asks each one of us if we are a colorist and a tonalist. It gets mighty quiet. I, for one, haven’t a clue. But people speak up anyway. We know better than to say, “I don’t know”. I put myself down as a colorist. Turns out, I’m wrong.
“And you all said you know all about color” Linda chides us gently, and then she explains. A tonalist uses white and black to establish values. A colorist uses colors to lighten and darken.
Ah, I’m a tonalist. Until today, I didn’t know that.
While we’re working on another exercise – paint a palm tree using only highlights and shadows, no middle tones, Linda prints out “Ten Simple Steps for Plein Air Painting”. We all get them. I look at the list and think these are pretty good steps for life, not just plein air painting.
Here are seven out of the ten:
1.Keep your composition as simple as possible.
2.Omit fussy details.
3.Squint your eyes frequently to establish values.
4.Block in values early.
5.Create depth – Try not to put major elements on the same plane.
6.Work all over the painting.
7. Step back frequently and give your mind a rest.
After the morning session, Linda and her family feed us lunch at her home next to the small concrete block studio outside of Gainesville, Florida. We’re all in a swoon. The plates look paintable, quite attractive. We tucker in.
Morning was warm up exercises. Afternoon is the real deal. We find a photo that speaks to us and go to town, well, not literally. I start in watercolors but it doesn’t look like much. She suggests casein, a medium that has been around for oh, thousands of years. It is made from milk and is water based. Feels and acts like oil. I called it the “poor man’s oils”.
It was like being hit with a cattle prod. Casein changed everything. I liked it a lot. Later, Linda would say, “You didn’t know you’d come here today and find a new direction.”
That’s how it is with learning new things. Engaging. Life-changing. Painting palm trees is good excuse to be outdoors. That’s the meaning of Plein Air. Works for me. I love being outdoors.
I know I’m looking at palm trees a whole lot closer now. And I’m squinting my eyes frequently to establish values, not just for palm trees.
Lucy Tobias is a former newspaper columnist and a freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected]
© 2005 Lucy Tobias
References:
www.lindablondheim.com
www.pleinairmagazine.com
Column updates:
Please join me in congratulating Cindy Bell of Ocala, Florida, who received an award for most raised funds by an individual in the Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi named Laureate Delta Sigma. Cindy raise $1280 for Relay for Life held at Trinity High School in April 2005. Her husband, a cancer survivor, was one of the people interviewed in a column called “Here for the Long Haul” posted on April 29, 2005.
Laureate Delta Sigma members raised $2800. The total amount raised for the 24-hour Relay for Life at Trinity was $62,000. It all goes for cancer research. Two thumbs up to Cindy and Chapter Laureate Delta Sigma.
Remember James? He’s the shelter dog profiled in a column called “These are Good Dogs” posted on March 4, 2005. I am pleased to report that James has been adopted and his new owners have agreed to keep up his training and attend classes. James is one lucky, and happy, dog.