Tom Lynch Waterfalls Workshop

I have finally finished my paintings from the Tom Lynch Waterfalls workshop last weekend at Art of the Carolinas in Raleigh.

Colorful Waterfall, by Jeanne Turner McBrayer, 2016

Rocky Waterfall, by Jeanne Turner McBrayer, 2016

Tom painted this scene with us, and also had many other paintings of the same scene from his previous workshops for our reference.  

I like all the color change and splashy water.  I came out of that workshop with paint spots all over my face and eyeglasses!

I drove to our mountain home yesterday for the Thanksgiving holiday.  When I came in view of the ridge lines of the Blue Ridge mountains, I scanned for signs of smoke or wildfires.  I did not see any on the way up, but have been hearing about a new fire in Ashe County.  There has been no rain in the western part of North Carolina for a long time, and the dry conditions plus gusty winds have sent wildfires soaring over thousands of acres throughout North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia.

When we went to town today, we could see the smoke from the Ashe County fire as we approached West Jefferson.  I took a photo from the parking lot at Ingle's grocery store.

This is about twenty miles from our cabin, but we know people whose homes are nearby.  I am thankful for all the firefighters who are away from home, putting their lives at risk to save land and property from fire damage.

Coming This Weekend: Art of the Carolinas!

Only two more days...until my first workshop of Art of the Carolinas 2016!

Held at the North Raleigh Hilton, it is a fabulous trade show with dozens of vendors selling art supplies at big discounts.  But the best part is that art instructors from all over the country will be here offering either three-hour or all-day workshops.

Here is my line-up of classes.

Thursday:  I am taking an all-day class with Bob Burridge on painting figures.  I am a big fan of Bob's videos (Weekly Bob-Blasts) on his website, and have tried many of his techniques.  This one should be fun!  He uses acrylic paints, but I have applied many of his lessons to watercolor painting.

Bob Burridge Painting Contemporary Figures workshop photo, AOC 2016

On Friday I may visit the trade show to stock up on supplies.

On Saturday, I will take two watercolor classes.

In the morning, I will take Big Brush Watercolor Landscapes with Sterling Edwards.  He is a world-renowned artist and teacher.  I will probably end up purchasing some of his "big" paintbrushes.

Sterling Edwards Big Brush Landscapes workshop photo, AOC 2016

In the afternoon, one more workshop with Tom Lynch, this time on painting waterfalls.  I have taken many previous workshops with Tom.  He has been a big influence on me, particularly in the use of bold color. I own lots of his books and DVD's.

Tom Lynch Painting Waterfalls workshop photo, AOC 2016

Hopefully I will have lots of new work to show you after the weekend!

Dramatic Skies Class with Tom Lynch

Last weekend was Art of the Carolinas...a Raleigh trade show and artist instruction conference sponsored by Jerry's Artarama.  I have attended quite a few lessons over the past few years.  In fact, that is how I got started on watercolors.

This year we were away for all but the last day.  I signed up for a Sunday afternoon class with one of my favorite art instructors, Tom Lynch.  The title of the workshop was Dramatic Skies, Clouds, and Sunsets. Here is the photo used for the class information page.

Tom Lynch artwork

I probably was too worn out from the trip to Florida for hubby's surgery, but I did learn some neat tricks.  I think I need to do them again when I am not so wiped out.

We were not aiming for finished paintings in this class, but rather practice of new techniques.

Here is a colorful sky created by letting three different colors of wash blend together.

Here is a big fluffy cloud.  I need to add some more color to this one, I think.

 This one is a fail.  The top one got too dry before the colors could blend.  The bottom one got too wet and got a big water blossom.

The sunlit mountains are a technique I will probably use again.  We did the dark strokes first, then added a wash of orange/gold on top.  The dramatic dark sky also got a little too wet but I like the contrast.

Tom is a good instructor, and I would love to take a more intense class with him.  Perhaps when we are finished getting my husband's cancer treated, I can take a week long class.  Maybe in Tuscany some day?

Country Road in Autumn Watercolor Painting

I have decided that this painting is done. 

Country Road in Autumn, by Jeanne Turner McBrayer, 2015

 I started it back in November after attending a workshop with Tom Lynch.  It is on a half sheet of Strathmore Gemini watercolor paper (15" x 30".)  We did a similar painting in a smaller size.  I wanted to practice the lesson and maybe improve my skills a bit.  Here is the earlier version on a quarter sheet of Gemini watercolor paper (11" x 22").

I also have been working my way through several of Tom's books.  Here is a quick painting copied from his Watercolor Tips and Techniques book.

Thanks for looking!  I hope you are working on something colorful and fun!

Early Snow Watercolor Painting

Here is the painting I just finished...almost, but not quite in time for my husband's birthday!

Early Snow, by Jeanne Turner McBrayer, 2015

I actually started this one last year, before we had even moved in to the cabin.  After painting from a photo reference, I got stuck.  Everything looked kind of boring.  All that white!  But...I fell back on some of the lessons I have learned from Tom Lynch via his workshop last fall and his books.  I added a variety of color to the tree line, planted some imaginary rhododendron on the hill in front of the cabin, and cropped out the lower part of the scene.  It included the pond, a dock, and a chair.  With help of some friends, I made the decision to crop them off and let the eye be led right to the cabin, the only real warm tones in the painting.  Much better!

Country Road Watercolor Painting

Here is my project from today's class with Tom Lynch at Art of the Carolinas in Raleigh, NC.

A Country Road, copyright Jeanne T. McBrayer

I like the back-lit trees, high color and contrast.  I think I might paint this one again and try to improve the shapes a little.  But this one was a good class with a great teacher.  He was very generous with his time and helped each one of us with his critiques while we were painting.

I bought Tom's book 150 Charts.  It is not sold in stores.  It was pricey, but has lots of helpful techniques, color studies, and how to paint particular items such as trees, water, rays of sunshine/shadow, and waterfall.  I know I will learn a lot from studying this book.  He had a gorgeous mountain creek and waterfall from another class at AOC this weekend.  I wish I had gotten into that class, but it was full.

Creek and Waterfall Painting from Art of Carolinas 2014, Tom Lynch

I have tried two watercolors featuring the waterfall over the dam at our mountain cabin.  I am going to try again one of these days, using some of Tom's hints on contrast and bright color.

Peak Creek Dam at Dogwood Time, copyright Jeanne T. McBrayer

Peak Creek Dam, Creekside View, copyright Jeanne T. McBrayer

Watercolor Weekend, Day 3: Tom Lynch

Today wrapped up my scheduled workshops at Art of the Carolinas in Raleigh.  All three were watercolor classes.  Today's instructor was Tom Lynch, a very charismatic teacher whose mission was to teach us the fundamentals of a good painting while having fun.  We did!

This time our classroom at the North Raleigh Hilton had the same mirrored teacher station, but I was not bothered by the directionality problem.  There was no specific drawing or direction to worry about.

He gifted us with a small plein air palette filled with paint, two brushes, and also four quarter-sheets of Gemini 140-lb. paper.  Very organized- everything came in a plastic bag ready to go!

We each made two juicy background washes, one in a warm tone and one in a cool.

We put leaves over the underpainting and painted over them with dark values.

We learned to find a focal point and soften the colors in other areas of the painting.  We added some positive shapes and some veins in the leaves.

Here is mine with a mat over part of the painting.

I ended up with a semi-abstract, colorful painting with a glowing focal point.  I like it, but think I will try it again.  These leaves were kind of torn up, and did not make as crisp an image as I would like.  Compare mine to these of Tom's.

I purchased two Tom Lynch instructional DVDs, and then went to the trade show.  Very overwhelming!  I limited myself to a few supplies that the instructors had recommended:  spray bottles for spraying paint, and some of the 300-lb. Bright White Arches paper that Tom Jones recommended on Thursday.

Oh, yes, and I had to get just one new book from Suzanne McNeill's booth.

Altered Surfaces, by Chris Cozen

Using Acrylic Paints With Gels, Mediums, Grounds & Pastes

I think I have enough projects to get me through the winter!