Feb 3, 2012 - Silk Road Covered Bridge Bennington, Vermont

Silk Road Covered Bridge,  Bennington, VT.   Like most winter days in VT, it was “cloudy with breaks of sun” as the forecasters like to say.  When I sat down to paint, there was sun light hitting the left – south – side of the bridge and some of it was passing through the lattice structure and landing on the white door casing on the interior right. By the time the drawing was done, the sun was pretty much gone.  I left the sun & shadow pattern on the inside of the doorway never-the-less.   The finished sketch is about “9 x 12″ and done in a D’Arches 140lb CP watercolor paint book.

Winter colors dominate this sketch, just like they do in the previous two – Feb 1 & Feb 2, 2012.   It is a challenge to create enough variety in the grays and other low intensity earth colors to keep shapes from merging with one another too much.    The grays in this sketch are mixed from either ultramarine or cobalt blue with burnt sienna, raw sienna or Quinacridone burnt scarlet.  Using these five pigments in varying combinations creates a nice variety of color and value which gives the sketch the look of winter without being too somber.

This can’t really be described as a “wet-into-wet” watercolor painting, and yet the technique is used in a number of places – especially in creating the look of distant forest without much fuss.   Beyond the distant trees in the background, it is also used on the foreground right roadway, the sky and in laying in the initial rusty, violety (if there is such a word) red on the covered bridge itself.

If there truly are trends that take hold, become popular and then eventually give way in watercolor, I would have to say that ultra, macro realism is the current look and technique for watercolor painting.  All the big national and regional watercolor exhibits seem to have more every year.  Sometime that doesn’t leave much room for those of us still painting in “older”, less trendy styles and techniques.  I tend not be a follower, so will continue working in the style and with the techniques that produce what I like to describe as “representational impressionism” seen in most of my work.

In the classes that I teach, I have noticed my students having two very different reactions to the wet-into-wet watercolor technique.  They love the look it produces, but seem to feel nothing but frustration when trying it themselves.    By popular request and in response to both of these reactions,  I have put together a new class called Wet-in-Wet Watercolor and will be offering it for the first time in just a couple of weeks.  The class will teach the basics of the technique along with several skills needed to handle wet-into-wet watercolor without, or at least with less, frustration.  Not only will the class teach the skills but is guaranteed to loosen up the work of anyone using them.   More info on the Wet-in-Wet Watercolor class can be found by clicking here.

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With the cloud cover, it was impossible to find a nice light effect, but some orange glow in the sky at sunset made for a nice quick “skyscape” sketch.  When I say quick, I mean it.  The sky wash was laid in with blue gray for the clouds and mixture of cad orange and cad red dropped in at the horizon.  As the sky dried, I went in quickly with a thick was of mostly cobalt blue for the more distant mountainside.  The nearer mountain is a mixture of cobalt blue, Daniel Smith’s Quinacridone Burnt Scarlet and some raw sienna added quickly and thickly over the wet sky wash.  Although there is virtually no snow on the ground in reality, I created a very simple forground with a dark stream running through a partially snow covered landscape.

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Feb 1, 2012 - Near Sunderland VT

I always encourage students in my classes to liberally buy and use sketchbooks to develop their skills.  Yet since, last fall when both art and non-art related things started taking up my time, I’ve been ignoring my own sketchbooks.
Beginning yesterday, Feb 1, I have a new commitment to liberally buy and use sketchbooks – actually, I won’t need to buy any since I already have a drawer full of them – and to post at least one new sketch every day.   I’ll ask that you hold me to it by asking me when you don’t see a sketch posted on a particular day.

The first effort is this one, sketched in watercolor in a Kilimanjaro Originial Bright White Paint Book,  was done just off Sunderland Hill Road in Sunderland Vermont.   It’s been an unusually mild winter in Vermont so far. In the valleys and lower altitudes, there is hardly any snow on the ground.  This view looks northwest through an old forest.  Although it isn’t seen from this vantage point, there is a stream just on the other side of the large foreground trees.  Rather than snow showers, we were having rain showers, which left the puddles in the road.  The sky alternately cleared and clouded over as I painted so this is a designed composite of the rapidly changing look.

Contact me if you have an interest in this or any other paintings on the site. Email me at tc@tonyconner.com or by phone at 802-375-5548.

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"Red Shed"

By popular demand!  Open for a second time tomorrow, Dec. 10th from 1 to 5pm.

Thanks to all who dropped by this past Saturday.  Jeanne and I enjoyed visiting with those who were able to make it.  For those of you who weren’t – and because we’ve had lots of requests, – you have another chance tomorrow from 1 to 5pm.   There’ll be more holiday punch and goodies, provided by Jeanne.

Like last week, please do drop in for a visit and to browse around.  I’ll have at least 38 framed paintings  on display, all being offered to friends, neighbors and collectors at special prices for this Holiday Open Studio.
Because I just took down the paintings from another exhibit, I now have 47  framed paintings on exhibit, along with unframed originals, prints, and my new offering of holiday and greeting cards.

House portraits make a very popular gift and there is still time to have one done in time for Christmas. I also offer Gift Certificates that can be used to purchase original paintings, prints, cards, classes and house portraits.

For “cyber-shoppers” my online Print Gallery and Portfolio are both open for browsing and the purchase of prints or original watercolor paintings.

My studio is located behind my house – 206 Crescent Blvd, Bennington, Vermont.  Click here for a Google map of the address.

Look forward to seeing you on the December 3rd!

Contact me if you have an interest in this or any other paintings on the site. Email me at tc@tonyconner.com or by phone at 802-375-5548.

I enjoy welcoming visitors to my Studio Gallery. It is open by appointment – please contact me to arrange a visit.

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Plein air artists Tony Conner & Elissa Gore painting in rainy conditions during the North Bennington Plein Air Competition, Sept. 8, 2011

The 2nd Annual North Bennington Plein Air Competition kicked off yesterday in the midst of heavy downpours of rain.    Managed to complete “North Bennington Train Yard” despite the rain.

The painting depicts a portion of one corner of the historic train station and the small yard that serves a local farm store and feed mill.

The event continues through the weekend with a number of public events scheduled.   See the event website for details – http://pleinair-northbennington.com/2011-schedule-of-events/

Weather on the first day of painting was a challenge. Very heavy rain most of the day had the artists doing their best to stay under some sort of cover and protect their paintings.

One painting done – “Satoh Tractors” – three to go.

The weather is great for plein air painting – sunny & warm with a light breeze.  Should be this way for the whole weekend.

Twenty artists are painting in and around Geneva, NY at the northern end of Seneca Lake today and tomorrow.  The paintings will be on exhibit tomorrow evening at the Opening Reception and again on Sunday afternoon.

Opening on Thursday, July 28th, is a two-person exhibit of new work from myself and ceramic artist Jessica Phillips.  The exhibit titled “Sacred Vessels & Vantages” features twelve new paintings created just for this exhibit.

With the theme words “sacred” & “vantages” I decided to create work in a format that would evoke the idea of vantages while focusing on the “sacred” moments of the rural landscape.  All twelve of these new paintings paintings were composed in this challenging format with the goal of creating works with balance, movement and visual focus.  These new works also bring focus to one aspect or another of a typical rural landscape in summer.

'Clouds& Sun II"

"Open Late"

The exhibit runs from July 28, 2011 through August 22, 2011 at the NAACO Gallery, 33 Main Street, North Adams, MA.

The public is invited to the Opening Reception on July 28th from 6 to 9pm.

Contact me if you have any questions, need directions or any other info.  Email me at tc@tonyconner.com or by phone at 802-375-5548.

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Watercolor Simplified! – Saturday & Sunday, August 6 & 7, 2011, 10am – 4pm.   NEW and UPDATED Class Material!

Although perceived to be a difficult medium, watercolors’ unique working characteristics and working process are easily learned.   Whether you are a beginning watercolor painter, or have worked with the medium for some time but still find the medium difficult, this class is for you. The weekend long class will teach the techniques required for successful watercolor painting.

In the course of teaching many classes and many students, it is apparent that much of the frustration in painting with watercolor comes down to getting a handle on a few fundamental skills. Over the course of this two day class, we’ll focus on those skills and create several paintings in the process.

During the class you’ll learn :

- how to create glowing, transparent washes and how to know they’ll be right every time

-  the color nature of common tube colors and how to mix them to get the color you want

-  tonal value and the color/value relationship

- how to plan your painting using a value sketch

- the basic principles of watercolor composition

With a good understanding of both the how and why of these five skills, you’ll be free from the frustration that results often early in a painting, and able to develop stronger work with more professional looking results.

We’ll begin with the three basic washes, how to create them and how they are best used in a painting. We move on to color and color mixing. You’ll learn about the fundamental color nature of six common watercolors and, by mixing, turn them into six more colors and three beautiful neutrals. The understanding of tonal value and value composition is crucial to creating successful watercolor paintings.  We’ll learn about these two elements, and how to plan your paintings around a value composition and value sketch.  At the end of the two days, we’ll have covered all of the basic information needed to successfully create beautiful, professional-looking watercolor paintings.

Participants should bring whatever materials they already have.  If you are just starting or need a list of materials to compare to your current stock, download my list of Suggested Materials.   Optionally, I can provide a set of basic watercolor materials – paint, palette, brushes and paper – for $85.

The class meets at the Taraden Bed & Breakfast Media Barn, 183 Park Street, North Bennington, VT.  Fee – $165 for the weekend long class .

Accomodations for the weekend may be available at the Taraden Bed & Breakfast for an additional charge.  Please contact Bob or Nan Lowary, owners and hosts of the Taraden for rates and availability – online at www.taraden.com, by email at info@taraden.com or by phone at (802) 447-3434.

For more information contact me : email – classes@tonyconner.com  or phone – Phone : 802 375 5548

Download Class Information Sheet and Registration Form here.

SAVE TIME by registering online through Paypal by clicking here.

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For this exhibit, I’m creating a series of works which are literally vistas in the form of wide panoramas – all of the paintings have  lengths measuring more than three times that of their height.  “Mid-Summer’s Day”, shown above has dimensions of 8″ x 29″.

Creating work for this exhibit has been a dual challenge.  There are a couple of technical challenges: first is composing in the panoramic format while maintaining focus, movement and balance in the works; second, for me anyway, is the art of creating the variety of greens that are evocative of the summer landscape.  Most of my landscape paintings depict either fall or winter.  Since I tend to mix my own secondary colors – orange, violet and green, it has been a challenge and a pleasure, working with the yellows and blues on my palette in various mixtures.

The second challenge is that of theme.  The word “sacred” will evoke meaning which is personal to everyone.  For me, living, observing and painting in a rural area, I cannot help but see something of the sacred in the beautiful scenery that is all around in this area.  It is the idea that it is possible to see beyond the ordinary, and perhaps even to the sacred, when taking the time to actually stop and look at what is all around.

All of the paintings in the series depict Vermont landscapes and include both studio and plein air works.

"Clouds & Sun"

The exhibit “Sacred Vessels & Vantages” opens with a public reception on Thursday, July 28, 2011  from 6 – 9 pm.  The exhibit is on view through August 22, 1011.

Contact me if you have an interest in this or any other paintings on the site. Email me at tc@tonyconner.com or by phone at 802-375-5548.

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Successful landscape painting really turns on a few fundamental skills. This class will teach those skills and the techniques needed to add drama and  focus to your landscape paintings. Each day will begin with a short instructor demo focusing on selecting a good subject using the essential “art” of observation.  Composing the painting with a liberal dose of simplification will be discussed next followed by ideas on color selection, mixing and application.

The class will spend the remainder of the day creating their own compositions and paintings with help and guidance from the instructor.

We’ll be painting “en plein air” both days, in and around the quintessential Vermont community of North Bennington. The class will gather on the grounds of the Taraden Bed & Breakfast, 183 Park Street, North Bennington, VT. From there, we’ll decide on subject matter, select painting locations and set off for a full day of painting.

Class fee – $165 for the weekend long class.

Download my 2011 workshop schedule and registration form here

Download suggested plein air painting equipment and supplies here

Download a list of plein air painting tips here

Contact me with questions or for more information. Email me at tc@tonyconner.com or by phone at 802-375-5548.

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