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$425 (option to take three days for $350)

Join Kathleen Elsey in the bejeweled coastal town of Santa Barbara for a fun-filled painting workshop. We’ll work in the comfort of a sunlit studio with panoramic views of the beach and paint from still life, interior scape, and the ocean scape from the windows. In addition to painting the simple still life and more complex interior scenes that will be set up, you have the option of learning how to make a beach painting. Kathleen will teach you her process of working from a photo and sketches to compose a fun beach painting. Bring your favorite beach photo or make a photo when you arrive and turn it into a great painting. We’ll practice “seeing” what is before our eyes and translating those shapes and colors into paint. There will be a tour of Kathleen’s painting studio, demonstrations, discussions, handouts, individual instruction and lots of camaraderie. Come prepared to paint everything, catch a wave, explore the harbor, gallery hop, golf a championship course and enjoy a sensational sunset at Butterfly Beach.

Students supply their own painting materials. We are limited to 15 students, so register early. This workshop is for all levels of acrylic and oil painters. To enroll, please fill out the registration form and send $425 check payable to Kathleen Elsey.

$325

Have fun plein air painting while you tour the historical missions, gardens and coastline of the “American Riviera,” Santa Barbara, California. The climate is often described as Mediterranean with it’s sun-drenched beaches, Spanish architecture, palm trees and olive trees. You will study composition, light, color and value while painting this beautiful coastal town. Beginners will learn how to plan a painting, make a simple sketch, mix colors, apply paint to the canvas and finish a painting. Intermediate and advanced painters will practice creating an interesting composition, capturing light and depth, solving problems and painting bright and b7old. There will be a tour of Kathleen’s painting studio, demonstrations, individual instruction, critiques and lots of camaraderie.

Students supply their own painting materials. To enroll, please fill out the registration form and send $325 check payable to Kathleen Elsey.

$350

In this three-day plein air painting workshop, we'll work on technique, creating a colorful painting and applying the paint in a thick bold manner. We'll paint the best of Sonoma, searching the best old barns, the best mountain views, the best vineyards (and wines) and the best gardens to paint. In the historic old town of Sonoma, we'll meet in our studio each morning before heading out to paint the most beautiful season in Sonoma County. Each student should be equipped with his or her own painting materials. Bring at least 2 gessoed canvases per day. Explore the galleries and restaurants of the beautiful historic town of Sonoma, our home base. Come prepared to paint, experiment and have fun. We are limited to 12 students so register early.

Each student should be equipped with his or her own painting materials.

Come prepared to loosen up, paint bold and create paintings full of your own spirit– and if you don’t have your own spirit, we’ll find it! You’ll learn more than you want to know about composition, light, color and value. There will be plenty of time for individual instruction, demos, group critiques and camaraderie. There are art stores in all workshop locations so no worries if you forget anything on your supply list. Santa Barbara has Art Essentials (805 965-5456). Taos has Artisan (505 751-0802). The town of Sonoma has Fine Line Art Supplies (707 935-3199).

Below are the acrylic supplies I suggest:

• Portable easel: I use a Soltec easel, and like the full Julian, both available at Dick Blick (1-800-828-4548 or www.blickstudio.com).

• For each day bring one small canvas for a quick study and two larger panels, canvases or canvas boards (12 x 16, 16 x 20, 18 x 24 or bigger). I paint on Masterpiece and Winsor Newton stretched canvas or linen. While traveling, you might consider canvas boards since they pack together so efficiently. Another compact and inexpensive support is a pad of real canvas sheets. I use Art Alternatives 18 x 24 canvas pad of ten sheets of canvas. The 16 x 20 size would be a good size for our workshop especially if you are traveling. I paint on one piece of canvas, tear it off, then begin the next painting while the first canvas sheet dries. At some point, if you want to frame your work, these canvas sheets will need to be stretched or mounted on a rigid support. These are especially effective when painting with fast drying acrylic. I like to add additional gesso to my canvases with Golden gesso or NovaColor gesso. This additional good quality gesso seems to make the paint really stick. If you’ve ever had a problem with your acrylic paint feeling too slippery on the canvas, try a nice coat of good quality gesso on top of the manufacturer’s gesso.

• Palette: For fast drying acrylics, I use the largest Masterson sta-wet palette (12 1/2” x 16 1/2”). I like this palette because it seals up after a painting session, and the paint stays moist for weeks. You may also use a muffin tin, a 12 x 16 meat tray, a sheet of white plexiglass, a tupperware container or wrap waxed paper around a piece of white cardboard. I also use the Masterson Palette without the Masterson sponge and paper on humid days, when painting indoors or when I use Golden’s new open (fabulous slow drying) acrylics. I put a pad of 12 x 16 oil painters’ palette paper in the 12 x 16 Masterson tray, lay my paints out, seal it up when done painting and the paint stays wet for weeks. No kidding!

This is my Masterson Palette as I set it up to begin a new painting.

This is what the same palette looks like after 2 hours of painting

Here is the unfinished painting. Click here to see the finished painting.

• Brushes for oil or acrylic: 3 or 4 "brights" (short stiff bristles) size about 1" across, 3/4", 1/2", 1/4" depending on canvas sizes. I would use the 3 larger sizes above if I were painting an 18 x 24 canvas. If you choose bigger canvases, get the big brushes. If you chose 16 x 20 canvases or smaller, you could use the smaller 3 brushes above. Buy good brushes or you"ll regret it and so will I. My favorite brushes are Da Vinci's Top Acryl brights. Number 4, 6 and 12 would work well if painting 16 x 20. They have performed well for me and have lasted longer than any other brand of brushes I have painted with while using acrylic. Of course, I clean them fanatically and will teach you this also. My next favorite (not quite as expensive) is Artisan with the silver handle, also very good for acrylic painting. It is this kind of brush (Da Vinci and Artisan brights) that give my paintings somewhat of a palette knife effect. Brights make short, crisp strokes and place color and paint well. I have also worked with Isaby Isacryl brushes #2, 4, & 8 brights and have had success. Another brand which performs well for me is Da Vinci 5423 Chunking bristle brushes. Their brights and filberts handle the paint nicely.

• Paints: I recommend two-ounce high-viscosity tubes of Tri-Art and Golden. I like the viscosity, quality and brilliant colors of these brands since I like to paint bright and thick. Liquitex is also very fine quality and has some beautiful colors not available in other brands. If you can afford it, pass on the student grade brands of paint and buy what the professionals use.

• Titanium white
• Cad Yellow Light
• Cad Yellow Medium
• Cad Red Deep or Alizarin Crimson Hue
• Cadmium Red Medium
• Ultramarine Blue
• Cobalt or Cerulean Blue Deep
• If you can’t resist a couple more colors, add in Yellow Ochre and Cobalt Teal. And if the sky is the limit, go for Dioxazine Purple, Green Gold, Jenkins Green, and Red Oxide.

• Titanium White– large tube
• Gamlin Cadmium Yellow Light or Winsor Cadmium Lemon
• Cadmium Yellow Deep
• French Ultramarine
• Cobalt Blue or Cerulean Blue
• Alizarin Crimson
• Gamlin Cadmium Red Light
• Walnut Oil –not the cooking type. I like this medium. It is acceptable to everyone’s lungs.
• Two more of my favorites are Yellow Ochre Pale and Gamlin Radiant Turquoise. And if the sky is the limit, try Permanent Magenta, Venetian Red, Violet (Dioxazine), Viridian and Raw Umber Light.

Optional Supplies to bring:

• Golden retarder in bottle to slow down the fast drying acrylic paints especially for plein air (optional)
• If using Golden “open” (slow drying) acrylics, be sure to get a bottle of “open” thinner.
• A paint tarp to put under your easel if you are “drippy” when you paint in studio workshops.

You Will Learn To:

• Get started painting
• Have a reason for painting
• Think creatively
• See shapes, colors and value
• Be expressive
• Loosen up
• Paint thick and bold
• Make a bright painting
• Make interesting brushwork
• Create an exciting composition
• Simplify complicated compositions
• Solve problems in your paintings
• Stop trying to be perfect
• Use your eyes and not your brain
• Critique your work

Kathleen Elsey Taos, New Mexico painting workshop

“I cannot tell you how many times I have reflected on this past weekend with such warm and positive thoughts. Your inspiration and instruction was superb. I feel like I really made so much progress in just 2 days! Thank you so much for such a wonderful experience.”
– Painter from the Santa Barbara Workshop

“As for the rougher stuff, aesthetically speaking, Kathleen Elsey’s painting exerts a bold, almost post-Fauvist-meets-funk touch in her work. “Sunlit Room,” for one, flirts with burly Van Gogh effects, with a vivified palette and brusque brushwork. It’s the mightiest and most memorable piece in the room, says this unavoidably subjective observer.”
– By Josef Woodard, Santa Barbara News Press Correspondent

“Elsey’s landscapes are marked by rich colors and dramatic brush strokes that recall both Impressionist and Fauvist traditions”
– Daedalus Howell, San Francisco Chronicle Journalist

“Thanks so much for your April 21 and 22 workshop. What a wonderful experience – I learned so much, and I’m committed to painting/experimenting with color at least a little every week. Your paintings, of course, are a great inspiration, and your coaching/teaching style was so instructive and encouraging. Thanks for making my life more colorful.”
– Marsha

“I participated in a show in Sausalito and included three paintings I did in your Sonoma workshop – a shot in the arm for me. The group was terrific, and your gentle guidance helped me make a leap in a direction I doubt I would’ve tried on my own. Those remain the brightest of my paintings, and 2 of them sold at my show. Many of my paintings show evidence of your “colorist” influence and that’s a wonderful thing to take from the class. I love the flexibility I now feel to work in either acrylics or oils.”
– Elaine

“Thank you for an amazing workshop! The beauty and magic of Taos lingers on! Count me in for next year.”
– Mary

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