Stephen Quiller is a Colorado boy, full time painter, and he has views to paint outside his studio window in Creede that Texans spend their vacation dollars just to visit. Today was the first day of a 5 day workshop in Irving, Texas sponsored by The Southwestern Watercolor Society. The workshop is being held in a great facility at the Jaycee Park Center for the Arts. To see the books Stephen has written, go to Amazon and search his name. His latest, WaterMedia Painting with Stephen Quiller was released in September and it has so much information it's nearly scary - watermedia, watercolor, gouache, acrylic, casein, supplies, techniques, en plein air, composition and he is a color guru. One thing I really like about the book is he gives the color pigment numbers so if you don't have the exact brand, it is easy to check to see if you might have it under another name or company. I learned about pigment numbers when I took a Hilary Page workshop several years ago in Lubbock. Yes, that's his palette above. I couldn't resist taking a photo.
He gave us ideas on color mixing and handling paint that we can take and use in our own studios. I've felt some of his information was so technical in the books but after I heard his talk about it today with demos and explanations of intensity and value and how to set up your palette, I found it very enlightening. Today he was preparing a foundation for the rest of the week with short demos. He prefers to paint on 300 pound rough paper.
The two paintings above are Stephen's that he used today to show us how to use complements and the colors in these were red orange and phthalo blue. He didn't draw anything on the paper but began with a flat brush, water and the 2 colors. Amazing, isn't it.
Now below, what is even more amazing is my painting trying to do what Stephen did and I didn't even use carbon paper and trace. This was a huge step for me with just a 1 1/2" flat brush. However, this is the only study I did and most of the class did 2 or 3 while I was still figuring out filling my Quiller travel palette.
Our class is full with a waiting list and it is a testament to Stephen's reputation as a fine contemporary painter. The first 3 days will be devoted to watercolor and the last 2 days for acrylics. He says this about acrylics, "Acrylic is the most versatile medium we have today." He feels it's exciting to explore it as watermedia and try out experimental techniques. Sounds great to me.
Painting by Nancy, approximately 11"x15", watercolor landscape
