Watercolor Workshop at snowy Flaming Gorge

Flaming Gorge Reservoir at Sunset near the town of Dutch John Utah

The beautiful desert covered in snow

A great group of experienced artists at the Flaming Gorge Resort

We're enjoying two days of watercolor painting at Flaming Gorge Resort. A great group of experienced artists are hard at work in my watercolor workshop exploring the finer points of landscape painting. Tomorrow we work on snow paintings which will fit right in with the snow storm we are expecting the next two days. This is our first time to visit this part of our beautiful state and we are impressed. The drive across the mountains and desert to get here treated us to some amazing views of mesas and rocks layered with a foot of snow. What a fairy-tale site!

Warm Up Your Brushes with Two Winter Watercolor Workshops

"Snow and Barn" watercolor workshop demonstration painting

Ready for a winter vacation? I will offer two watercolor master classes during February. The first, "Winning Ways with Watercolor" will be held at the Flaming Gorge Resort near Vernal, Utah. Take a mini winter vacation and join us for this exciting two-day workshop February 7 - 8, which will include several of my most popular techniques: Seeing the light in nature; Unravelling the secrets of negative painting; Keys to believable lakes and rivers; Snow scenes that sing; and Converting bad photos into great paintings. The resort is offering special $59 nightly rates for our workshop, so let's get away for a couple of days and paint away the winter blues.

Or, warm up your brushes at A Passion for Painting studio in St. George February 14-15 as we explore "The Landscape in Winter." This is one of my favorite classes and is perfect for all levels. Each workshop will consist of artist demonstrations, powerpoint step-by-step examples, and plenty of student painting time.

"Winning Ways with Watercolor"
February 7-8, 2013
Flaming Gorge Resort
$175
9am to 4pm each day
To register contact:
Lori Burchinal
435-828-3688

"The Landscape in Winter"
February 14 - 15, 2013
A Passion for Painting, St. George UT
$175
9am to 4pm each day
To register contact:
Becky Whitney
435-628-5890

Painting the Southern Utah Red Cliffs with Water

The January workshop centered around painting the red cliffs of southern Utah. One of my favorite subjects, I always enjoy tackling this landscape theme. We explored several techniques  for portraying both the angularity of the cliffs and the surface forms and fissures. I did three class demonstrations during the two-day workshop. 

The Sentinel is a familiar cliff at Zion National Park. Here we concentrated on the techniques for making a form turn in nature.

I chose a softer color scheme with lots of pinks and purples for this scene near Kayenta, Utah. We studied the effects of aerial perspective on the distant cliffs.

The second day we added the element of water. I used a much warmer color scheme so I could contrast the oranges against the blue of the water in this scene of Ivins Reservoir.

Painting stone buildings and fences in watercolor

In my December workshop on painting English Cottages I demonstrated an easy method to paint stones in buildings and walls. I am using some reference photos I shot on one of my trips to England. As always I start with a rough pencil value study or "thumbnail sketch" to help me decide what to put in and what to leave out.

The first step in depicting stone is to lay in a loose wash of a variety of colors, allowing the pigment to mingle freely on the paper. This helps to establish the lighter values of the stone and create some variety. After that wash is dry I like to use the side of a loaded brush to "scumble" across the rough surface of the paper. This adds to the texture and provides a few marks which we can turn into edges of the stone and shadows on the surface. Lastly I will identify a few stone shapes in random locations, usually along the edges and once again using a variety of color.

The object is to create a feeling of textured stone without outlining each and every stone or brick.

Notice in the finished painting I have changed many things from the original photograph. The painting becomes "my creation" rather than a copy of a photograph.

Gallery Open House Tonight - Free Art Cards

If you are in the area, stop by my Art Studio and Gallery tonight during the "Art on Main" gallery stroll. You'll see my latest paintings, plus some plein air paintings from the Zion Thomas Moran Show. And...you'll get a FREE box of my Christmas Art Cards just for stopping by. The Studio is located just a half block south of the St. George Art Museum in the First East Plaza at 165 North 100 East #2. Yep, you have to come by in person. See you tonight!

Get a free box of Christmas Cards just for stopping by during my open house tonight. This is in conjunction with the downtown "Art on Main" gallery stroll between 6 -9pm.

My studio is in the First East Plaza office building located just a half block south of the St. George Art Museum at 165 North 100 East #2, St. George UT 84770

Many new paintings and limited edition prints are on display in my new gallery rooms.

Painting English Cottages in Watercolor

The photo reference of a stone house in the Yorkshire Dales 

A thumbnail sketch helps us plan the value relationships and decide what to leave in and what to take out.

It is difficult to see, but I use a very light 4H pencil to sketch out my design on 140lb Arches watercolor paper.

As the painting begins I use loose wet-into-wet washes to form the basic shapes. It is important to let pigments mingle on the paper rather than do all the mixing on the palette.

The finished painting completed in class

The focus of our recent workshop was a popular one: Painting English Cottages and Gardens in watercolor. We used reference photos and sketches that I made on several trips to Great Britain along with photos from recent trips from the other artists as well. Starting with a lesson on what to put in and what to leave out, we discussed ways to work from a photo without being tied to it. Most photos don't provide the information we need, so as artists we should be free to change whatever is necessary to add drama and clarity to our compositions. I was able to complete two demonstration paintings during the class, both of which were purchased by Connie Madsen. Future workshops for Spring 2013 are listed on my website.

Both demonstration paintings were purchased by Connie Madsen

Plein Air (Outdoor) Painting in Zion

I remembered to stop and shoot a photo or two of some of the paintings in progress, but neglected to shoot most of the finished pieces before they were framed and whisked off to the sale.

Storm Above the Beehives painting in progress

A few photos of some of Roland Lee's on-location paintings in progress during the "In the Footsteps of Thomas Moran" Invitational at Zion National Park.

Small falls along Sand Bench Trail

White cliffs in East Zion

Mt. Majestic in the early morning

Sketchbook drawing of jagged peaks

Painting river reflections at Big Bend

Painting and Sketching Outdoors in Zion National Park

For me, nothing is more fun than spending the day painting outdoors. The Thomas Moran plein air event gave me that opportunity for one solid week. I used my Anderson Easel for the most part, but also just sat down and painted without an easel when I felt like it. Either way I brought along a comfortable folding chair which helped me stay comfortable. I completed about 15 paintings during the week, although several were quite small.

Sketching outdoors on a cold Zion morning

A comfortable set-up for painting outdoors. All the comforts of home!

Another gorgeous day painting along the Virgin River. Notice my chair on the far right bank. It doesn't get any better than this. 

Painting the autumn trees on the opposite bank of the river. 

Plein Air Painting at "Footsteps of Thomas Moran" Invitational in Zion National Park

Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Uhlinger from Monterey California returned to Zion this year and purchased my "Quick Draw" painting at the Auction.They also purchased a second painting from the Fixed-price show.

We just concluded a week-long painting event in Zion National Park. I was one of 25 artists invited from throughout America to participate in this plein air invitational. We painted every day as well as presented demonstrations and interacted with the crowds of visitors who came to watch the excitement. I was pleased to produce and sell 10 paintings on-location during the week and also won the "People's Choice Award" with a $200 cash prize. The weather was both wonderful and frightful, starting out with temperatures in the 70's and ending up with a snow storm and temperatures in the 30's. The autumn leaves were perfect with brilliant yellows and reds  to contrast with the dark cliffs. It was all perfectly wonderful. Painting outdoors is great no matter the weather!

Roland Lee wins "people's Choice Award" at Thomas Moran Quick Draw in Zion National Park

My chosen subject before the storm. But things changed in a hurry.

We had to keep laughing just to stay warm. My faithful gallery of watchers cheered me on. Photos by John Mangels.

The painting continues, along with the snowstorm and bitter cold

The Uhlingers purchased my finished Quick Draw painting

25 artists braved a blustery and bitterly cold day to compete in the Thomas Moran "Quick Draw" painting competition at Zion National Park. Waking up to temperatures in the 30's I was wishing I had brought along a pair of gloves in addition to long-johns for this day. As plein air painters we were semi-prepared to paint outdoors in any weather conditions, but some were more prepared than others. The sun ducked in and out of the clouds promising some fantastic views, but as luck would have it, turned into pelting sleet as soon as the competition began. I pulled my hoody over my head to keep the ice pellets from going down my shirt, but my poor fingers had to endure the storm un-covered. Of course as soon as the quick draw was over the sun came out. Each artist had a half hour to frame their painting and submit for the live auction. Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Uhlinger purchase my painting which they had watched me produce. And I was fortunate to receive the "Peoples Choice" award for the event.