New Landscape Workshops

Let's take advantage of this amazing fall weather!  Emilie Lee and Anthony Baus are teaching three different workshops that will get you outside and painting.

Tuesdays, 1-5 PM with Emilie Lee: Plein Air to Studio Process

starting in October

Sunset from Red Hook, oil on board, by Emilie Lee

A successful landscape painting relies on the mastery of nature's vocabulary and this fluency is best achieved through direct observation from life. However, working only from life can be limiting due to the interference of weather, fleeting light effects, and the constraints of time. This class will introduce a technique that will strengthen your ability to work from memory, liberate your imagination, and instill effective observation habits. No photography! 

We will spend the first half of each class session making plein air studies and taking notes on location in the outdoors. With our memories fresh, we will go immediately back to the studio and learn how to use our outdoor studies and our creative vision to create finished paintings that are inspired by nature. We will also study examples of how this method has been employed by artists from the past and present. We will be working on the waterfront of the East River in Long Island City, just three blocks away from the new GCA studios.

Halloween Workshops with Emilie Lee and Anthony Baus 

Oct. 10-12 Green-Wood Cemetery (Fri-Sun) , Oct 17-19 Woodlawn Cemetery (Fri-Sun)

Maine Monument by Anthony Baus, ink wash on paper

 Relieve yourself from the darkness of the classroom! In the spirit of Halloween, Emilie Lee and Anthony Baus will be using the backdrop of Green-Wood and Woodlawn cemeteries for the setting of two 3-day landscape workshops. Explore the decorative gravestones, richly ornate mausoleums, and guardian angels that haunt these New York City landmarks. Perhaps we will even commune with the spirits of the deceased!
In plien air fashion artists will be encouraged to complete 2-3 oil paintings and/or ink drawings at each location. Anthony's

Pelion Summer, by Emilie Lee, oil on panel

instruction will focus on the shortcuts of perspective to accurately depict built structures and properly scale objects from foreground to background. Emilie will introduce an efficient approach to plein air painting, addressing concerns of time management, shifting light conditions, atmospheric perspective, and color in nature.
Good drawing is the foundation of every great painting, and in this workshop, we will spend the first day focused only on drawing, establishing accurate perspective and strong composition. On the second and third days, we will show you how to use your initial drawing as a foundation for your final painting.
Individual critiques will be tailored to suit your personal goals for each weekend. The benefit of two instructors is a rare and special opportunity not to be missed!

NYC Perspective Drawing: Ink Wash w/ Anthony Baus

Ongoing, Sundays 10am-4pm

$40, priced per session

Drop-ins welcome. 

Grant's Tomb, by Anthony Baus, ink wash on paper

This workshop has been meeting every Sunday all summer and become a popular weekend ritual, we are looking forward to sketching in the crisp fall weather and enjoying the fall foliage! Drawing New York City's turn of the century architecture and sculpture has been an enriching experience reminding us of our city's history and forgotten treasures. We will take advantage of the weather and continue this class through the end of October. Shortcuts of perspective will be discussed as well as ink wash techniques inspired by Guardi, Paranesi and Canaletto. 

9/21 - Riverside Park: Soldier's and Sailor's Monument

9/28 - Central Park

10/5 - Bryant Park: NYPL

10/12 - no session

10/19 - no session

10/26 - Roosevelt Island: Ruins

Workshop Report: Foreground Studies with Emilie Lee

A few days ago we wrapped up a five day landscape painting workshop that I taught at Inwood Hill Park. We had perfect weather and the surprisingly wild nature of Inwood provided a serene retreat from city life. The park is 196 acres of varied terrain including Manhattan Island’s last untouched forest. Inwood’s northern border is the shoreline of Spuyten Duyvil Creek and on the west a steep forested ridge blocks noise from the west side highway. On top of the ridge, one can enjoy spectacular views up and down the Hudson River and of the Palisades on the opposite shore. In the forest, cliffs and large boulders form caves once inhabited by Native Americans. In this beautiful spot we were able to find a wide variety of subject matter. 

In this workshop I wanted to share some of the things I've learned as a student at the GCA and how that has applied to landscape painting in the context of the Hudson River Fellowship experience.  With this in mind, I planned the majority of our time to focus on drawing and foreground studies.  According to Asher B. Durand in his 1855 Letters on Landscape Painting, this is the best place to start when you are first beginning to work outside: 

“Form is the first subject to engage your attention. Take pencil and paper, not the palette and brushes, and draw with scrupulous fidelity the outline or contour of such objects as you shall select…”

When we set ourselves up to paint a landscape, most of us are tempted to choose a wide scene that includes a huge variety of challenges.  We are forced to abbreviate everything if we want to finish the painting in a day’s work.  While this approach is also valuable in certain circumstances, the importance of solid drawing cannot be expressed enough.  The practice of slowing down and choosing smaller, less complex subjects is a great way to gain a deeper understanding of nature and sharpen your observational skills.

As you can see from the photos, Inwwod Park is a wonderful location for a landscape painting workshop and we are excited to plan some more for next year!  Our last workshop, taught by Thomas Kegler was also a huge success and you can read more about that in these two blog posts, where you'll also find my rave reviews of the Indian Road Cafe - a conveniently located source of food, coffee, and cookies.

NHPR story on White Mountain Paintings

 Last night New Hampshire Public Radio aired a story about the"West of Washington" exhibit.  You can listed to the story online.  I'm really happy that they gave me an opportunity to talk about my experiences discovering landscape painting through the GCA and the Hudson River Fellowship.  I copied the text from my portion of the interview below.  Here are some photos taken by Sean Hurley, the reporter who wrote this story.

photo: Sean Hurley/NHPR

Photo: Sean Hurley/NHPR

 
 Excerpt from Sean Hurley's radio story:

Emilie Lee, a 1999 graduate of Holderness School, who assisted with the exhibition opening, is just such an artist:
Emilie: What most people don’t realize is that the education that these artists had is no longer taught in art schools today.  So I’ve had to search long and hard to find teachers who could teach me the kind of skills that I could paint like this.
Learning the traditional methods and painting in a bygone style might seem like a form of nostalgia, but really it’s just a way forward for artists like Emilie:
Emilie:  I was searching for a way to really give the viewer the experience of being in the place.  I can’t think of anything more powerful to make art about.
It’s this desire to convey the living landscape that connects Emilie to 19th Century artists like John Kensett and Benjamin Champney.
Emilie:  You know, sitting still for 4 or 5 hours in one spot studying a tree…is…I never thought it could be such an exciting experience.  And when I’m sitting there, I realize how alive the forest is around me and I think that one little painting that takes 4 or 5 hours of complete focus is filled with life because you’re sitting there experiencing the living forest around you.
And that’s what’s on display on the walls of the Edwards Art Gallery.  The living forests and mountains and lakes and rivers and fields of New Hampshire.  Our own backyard from 150 years ago, still alive today.

White Mountain School Exhibit in NH

Last weekend I traveled up to New Hampshire for a show opening at my alma mater,  Holderness School.  The exhibit was really remarkable, an outstanding selection of 19th century White Mountain School paintings, including some work by Gifford, Bierstadt, Kensett, Bricher, and lesser known but equally amazing artists.  Unfortunately I don't have a way of sharing quality images of the entire show, so you'll have to take my word for it or go see for yourself!  As an alum and a member of the Hudson River Fellowship, I was asked to write an essay for the show catalog, which I have published on my personal blog if you're interested in reading it.  If you live in New Hampshire, tune in to NHPR tomorrow night between 5:30 & 6:00 PM to hear a story on this exhibit.  I was blown away by the amount of enthusiasm in the area for this kind of artwork, and my excitement for this summer's Hudson River Fellowship in the White Mountains is now through the roof.  Four more weeks of class at GCA, and then it's time for landscape painting season!

           While I was at the school, I met with an advanced drawing class to talk about how they can do small master copies of these landscape paintings.  I was also thrilled to learn that art teacher Kathryn Field has introduced her students to Bargue drawing and cast drawing!  This is rare to find in a high school art classroom.  It was inspiring to reconnect with the school and see what great work everyone is doing there. Lucky students!   

just a few of the paintings in this exhibit

"Outing on the Lake" by Alfred Thompson Bricher

One of the largest paintings in the exhibit was this one: "Winnipiseogee Lake" by Ferdinand Richardt, 1858

“West of Washington” will be on exhibit at Holderness School’s Edwards Art Gallery from April 20 to May 27. There will be an opening reception on Friday, April 20, from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. The public is invited to attend.

The Holderness School is on Route 175 in Holderness. The Edwards and Heide Galleries are open from 9:00-5:00 Monday-Friday; from 9:00-1:00 on Saturday; and by appointment.

For more information call Franz Nicolay at 779-5387. Franz is also available via email at fnicolay@holderness.org.

workshop report: Landscape Painting with Thomas Kegler

 Thomas Kegler's landscape painting workshop last week was a huge success!  We spent four days up at Inwood Hill Park, which proved to be an ideal location for our purposes.  This was the first time the GCA has held a workshop in the city, so we were thrilled with how smoothly it went.  Inwood Hill Park is 196 acres of mostly forest and a real treasure to have in New York City.  Easily accessible by the 1 and A trains, the park is home to the last untouched forest and salt marshes on Manhattan Island.  We found the park to be quiet and friendly, and we even felt comfortable leaving our easels and other equipment set up while taking turns to run into the nearby Indian Road Cafe to get warm and eat meals.  While the scenery at Inwood is perfectly inspiring, the food and hospitality at Indian Road is equally worthy of praise here.  Sourcing all their ingredients from local farms just up the Hudson, Indian Road starts serving breakfast at 7 AM.  In addition to a full menu of healthy hearty meals, they offer irresistible baked goods, superb coffee, an excellent beer list, and live music at night!  The prices are reasonable, and there is plenty of room for a large group to eat together.  With the cold weather conditions, it was just the respite we needed to keep our energy levels high for full days of painting.
         I'm looking forward to my workshop in the end of May, and after this experience, I feel quite confident that we will have an excellent time!  With the warmer weather, I plan to stay for dinner at the cafe a few of those nights and hold some optional sunset painting sessions afterwards.  With the view west across the Hudson, it's a perfect spot!

This map shows the varied topography of the park

The park is easily accessible by the A and 1 trains

the view from the water looking west under the Henry Hudson Bridge.  From on top of the hill, one can see more of the Hudson River behind the strip of trees in this photo.

the salt marsh provided some interesting foreground material

this forest interior would be another great spot to paint!

Thomas Kegler started each morning with a demo (after a delicious breakfast at Indian Road Cafe!)

following his demo, Tom worked with students on an individual basis throughout the rest of the day.

  

at the end of the day we would regroup to talk about the day's work and what to expect for tomorrow.

On Friday night, some of us had a very insightful trip to the New American Wing at the Met where we were inspired by the masters!  It was great to hear what Tom had to say about these paintings.

Future landscape painting workshops with the GCA: 

Foreground Studies with Emilie Lee May 30 - June 3 at Inwood Hill Park

Painting in the Tradition of the Hudson River School with Erik Koeppel and Lauren Sansaricq July 16-26, Jackson, NH

Traditional Landscape Painting with Thomas Kegler July 31 - August 3 in Jackson, NH

Upcoming NYC Park Landscape Workshops!

For you city-folk interested in learning the pre-impressionist methods and ideas explored by the Hudson River Fellowship, GCA has scheduled two local workshops in late spring and early-summer. The workshops will be held in NYC's rugged Inwood Park at the northern tip of Manhattan. Instructors are Senior Fellows of the Hudson River Fellowship.

Traditional Landscape, April 11 - 14, taught by Thomas Kegler

Foreground Studies, May 30 - June 3, taught by Emilie Lee

For workshop details, click here!

To Register now, email Joy at gcaclasses@gmail.com

NYC's Inwood Park

 

Scroll down to see images of work by instructors!

Autumn Afternoon by Tom Kegler

Summer 2011 Kegler Workshop in the Catskills.

Tom Kegler at work

Kegler tools

Buttercups & Raspberries by Tom Kegler

North Lake by Tom Kegler

By Emilie Lee

By Emilie Lee

Watch out students, Emilie works rain or shine!

By Emilie Lee

Rock, Lichen Study by Emilie Lee

Forest Path Study By Emilie Lee

HRF 2010 (left to right) Travis Schlaht, Ted Minoff, Emilie Lee

In the Studio with Edward Minoff

   GCA students and alumni visiting Edward Minoff's studio in late September 2011

Edward Minoff talking about a painting in progress.  You can see the small plein air study he is using for the studio painting on the easel behind his shoulder

Edward (aka Ted) Minoff's studio is crammed with beautiful landscapes, portraits, figure, and still life studies.

Here he is showing us a small plein air sunset sketch he did on a trip to Italy.  In this photo you can see the larger canvas with a loose sketch of the scene he plans to paint using the plein air sketch for color reference. 

an important part of Ted's working process are the written notes and sketches he does on the beach while observing waves.  You can read more about this in detail on his website

Edward Minoff's painting in progress as of October 27, 2011

The most important part of the process - being inspired by nature and getting the information down in a study painted from life! 

GCA takes a field trip to CT

Today the entire GCA core program took the day off from our normal schedule to go landscape painting in western Connecticut.  We had perfect weather and we were joined by several alumni and faculty, it was a great way to catch up and paint together.  We don't have photos of any paintings yet, but we will try to post some as soon as they become available.  For now, here are a few pics of the day:

The Grand Central Academy of Art!  

Abigail Tulis

Gregory Mortenson

Andrea Clinton

Katie Whipple

Brendan Johnston, with Edward Minoff, Connor DeJong, and Katie Whipple in the background

Rodrigo Mateo

Liz Beard with Jacob Collins

Lauren Sansaricq and Jacob Collins

Rebecca C. Gray

Sarah Bird

Emilie Lee

Joshua LaRock and Brandon Beckstrom

lost in the woods, 2011