Fresh and Direct Landscape Painting with Aaron Schuerr
September 25 - 28, 2024
9 am - 4 pm
$760 + 6.88% NM Sales Tax
A note to our students: To ensure that the workshop will not be canceled, we kindly request that you sign up as early as possible. Please note that if the minimum number of students required is not met three (3) weeks before the first day of class, the workshop will be canceled. However, we offer a full refund in the event of a canceled workshop, so there is no monetary risk for you. Please take some time to review our cancellation policy.
About the Workshop
Skill level: All skill levels are welcome.
Materials used: Oil and pastel (plein air)
Overview:
From thumbnail sketches to finished paintings, you will be encouraged to paint with confidence and intent. You’ll learn to paint it in a way that is direct, simple, fresh, and honest. You'll engage in fun exercises designed to focus on value, color, and shape.
From that foundation, you’ll explore edges, atmospheric perspective, color and shape relationships, composition, and mood. I’ll show how pastel and oil are interrelated, and how there are valuable lessons to learn from each medium. Most importantly, you’ll learn to paint with greater intention. We will focus on plein air painting, with follow-up work in the studio as needed. Students will need to be able to carry and set up their own equipment over short distances.
Through demonstrations in pastel and oil, group discussions, composition walks, painting exercises, and plenty of individual instruction, you will learn to approach the landscape with enthusiasm and confidence. This workshop is open to pastel and oil.
We'll also take an afternoon to explore Santa Fe's world-class galleries and discuss what makes a landscape painting sing!
I'll also share a fun PowerPoint Presentation on my solo backcountry painting adventures. (I've painted my way across the Grand Canyon, over The Beartooth Mountains, and more….). This will be an optional evening activity.
Students should be prepared to carry their own gear short distances up to 1/4 of a mile on trails and uneven terrain. Students also need to be proficient at setting up their own gear.
About Aaron
My art is borne out of my struggle to absorb, comprehend, and understand the natural world. I’m overwhelmed, and yet I can’t tear myself away. And so I paint, so as to stand there for just a little longer. And then I return to the studio and paint something bigger, in order to digest what I’ve experienced while painting in the field. And then I take that frightening step: I invite the viewer to add his or her own story to it. At the sight of a beautiful sunset we instinctively turn to the person next to us, be it friend or stranger, to see if they are looking too. And if they are, we feel a kinship with them. No two people experience a sunset in the same way, and yet we can experience it together. Though painting is largely a solitary endeavor, it is never a lonely one, because I am invited to share in the ineffable mystery of beauty. And that is where the art is. Briefly, I am an artist, writer, actor, husband, and father of three wonderful boys. It all gets mixed up until the distinctions are blurred, as they should be. The heart of my work is in the outdoors, absorbing the pattern of light on the landscape. Actors speak of "being in the moment" immersing themselves so totally in story that everything else falls away. The open air is my stage, and in the best moments, I am lost in it. I have no desire to impress you with these paintings. Rather, I strive to share my experience with honesty and without fear.
What’s Included
Bluebird Studios offers an array of complimentary food and beverages during our workshops. Attendees can enjoy an ice breaker the evening before the first day, complimentary continental breakfast served every morning, complimentary unlimited beverages, and afternoon treats each day. We also offer catered lunches brought to the studio or the plein air site (optional for $20), and lastly, our complimentary signature lunch of Frito Chili Pie on the final day. We will spoil you!
Supplies
Supply list coming soon.