Burridge Workshop, Day 2 ~ Mendocino, Ca. ~ Art Blog

8"x 8" Acrylic on canvas board "M" Man Sitting"

6" x 8" Acrylic on canvas board, "Lady Sitting on a Stool"

See this post to read about the Mendocino Acrylic workshop.

Tuesday, Day 2, we had "M"., a undraped male model to pose for us from 10 – 4 (Friday will be a free day with no model) with timed sessions to draw as yesterday. One of my drawings/paintings evolved and I decided on a red haired woman instead of the male model.

1. Before we began, Bob said he’d give us the fastest course on the color wheel with the instructions to use a triad color scheme today plus black and white.

2. He says contrary to what some say, “Black is our friend”.

3. Today use big water, big brushes.

4. Get color down. Start wet and loose. Draw into the wet paint with charcoal, stick, wet paper towels and you can wipe away.

5. Don’t plan on getting it down the first time. You will need to rework and go back and put in pure colors in later stages.

6. We are using the models as a starting point and not to use as anatomically correct drawings.(This statement is significant in my case as I'm not the best drawer around and I prefer imaginative drawings!)

Today we didn’t have a group demo but he invited us up to watch him paint if we wanted to.

I placed cut off sections of pvc pipe under each table leg today to raise the table to a more comfortable height. It helps the back not to bend over and paint all day. The stress was a little less today. First day of a workshop is always hard with people finding their place and wondering if they have the correct supplies, etc. Very few sleep a sound sleep the night before. It was easier for me as I had all my art supplies and just had to lug a huge 51 pound suitcase into the room. I am back in a corner and placed the case on 2 chairs and have a window ledge and the back wall to use for props - a very comfy situation. A day spent standing up, concentrating on new processes calls for a good dinner.

We drove south about 2 miles to Little River and dinner at Little River Inn and ate in the bar area with the door open in view of the waves of the Pacific crashing on the rocks. Later we drove back to the waters of the Headlands of Mendocino to join others sitting in cars watching the sun go down. One more stop for coffee at the Headlands Coffeehouse, (with a jazz piano and a bass combo to entertain us) read the handouts for the next day and prepare mentally for the next day of intensive drawing.