Tony Conner paintings in watercolor » watercolor

Watercolor Beginners Weekend Class

TC — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:53:36 +0000

"Desert Hills"

Although perceived to be a difficult medium, watercolors’ unique working characteristics and unique 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. Over the course of the two days, the mysteries will be unlocked as we cover the five fundamental elements of successful watercolor painting :

- the “secret” to create glowing, transparent washes

- effective color mixing

- tonal value and the color/value relationships

- how to plan your painting

- basic composition

These skills can be learned and, with practice, mastered.

Class begins with the basic washes, how to create them and how they are best used in a painting. We move on to color and color mixing starting with six common colors. From there we mix six more along with several beautiful neutral grays. We’ll work on building tonal values and planning the value structure of your painting with basic composition. At the end of the two days, everyone will have the knowledge needed to create beautiful watercolor paintings.

For beginners and for those who are trying to get a handle on this beautiful medium, I recommend a basic set of watercolor painting for this class. A list of suggested materials follows this class description. Use it as a guide in purchasing materials for class or for yourself. As an option, I can provided a set of Basic Watercolor materials which includes everything you need to get started in painting watercolor – paint, palette, brushes and paper. The total cost of the Basic Watercolor Materials set is $85.

The class meets at the Taraden Bed & Breakfast Media Barn, 183 Park Street, North Bennington, VT. Fee – $150 for the weekend long class . Accommodations not included in the cost of the class. Contact Bob or Nan at the Taraden Bed & Breakfast for room availability and rates – email : reservations@taraden.com or by phone : 802 447-3434.

Fee – $150 for the weekend long class. Download an upcoming class schedule, a registration form, and the suggested materials list from the links below.

Contact me if you have any questions about this or any other class. Email me at mail@tonyconner.com or by phone – 802 375 5548

Watercolor Simplified – Beginners Weekend Class Info

2010 Class Schedule

2010 Class Registration Form

Suggested Materials

I enjoy welcoming visitors to my Studio Gallery. It is open by appointment – please contact me to arrange a visit – email:mail@tonyconner.com or phone:802 375 5548

“River Valley” – New watercolor landscape painting

TC — Mon, 17 May 2010 20:54:07 +0000

"River Valley"

4″ x 11″

Private Collection

With out going into a lot of detail about why, part of my painting process often leaves me with odd shaped leftover pieces of paper. Many of them are in this “panoramic” format where one dimension is more than twice as long as the other. The shape is well suited for a panoramic view of a landscape scene. The scene depicted in “River Valley” is not any where in particular, but rather it is a made up location designed mostly to allow the depiction of deep, lush wooded hillsides and a sparkling, reflective river flowing through.

The summer landscape can be difficult to paint since there is an overwhelming amount of green. In this case, I decided to focus on the look of deep, cool shade and shadow areas on the hillsides by pushing the color toward blue. The sense of summer green is there but is subordinate to the blues. Surrounded by so much dark and low intensity color, the ribbon of sparkling river stands out as a visual pathway through the painting and into the distance.

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.

New painting – “Glass On Glass”

TC — Thu, 06 May 2010 14:01:43 +0000

"Glass On Glass"

What, then, to do when the usual subjects are not inspiring me at the moment? The solution generally is to do something different. In this case placing a group of wine bottles in front of my studio’s picture window with the intention of painting some compositions. This work “Glass on Glass” is the first painting completed. Glass is difficult due to its combination of transparency and reflectivity. In the case of this painting, I focused more on the transparency and worked on capturing the various value and color shapes created by the overlapping of the transparent bottles and the areas where the opaque labels blocked the transparency. Shapes colors and values were all simplified and some realism was sacrificed in favor of pattern and rhythm .

Another choice made in order to mix things up and get the creative and inspirational juices flowing was to work on a different surface. In this case, I painted on Arches 140lb hot press paper. I generally use this paper for architectural illustration work as it has the advantage of being relatively correctable. It’s press surface prevents the pigment from settling down into the paper fibers. The effect is to enhance transparency – a perfect attribute for a subject such as glass.

This work will be framed and on display in my studio for Open Studio Weekend, May 29 & 30, 2010.

Below is a quick prep sketch done in a watercolor sketchbook and from a different point of view.

The bottle arrangement is still set up and another painting is underway – more to come.

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.

Open Studio Weekend 2010 – May 29 & 30, 2010

TC — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 00:08:32 +0000

"Uphill Farm"

Most Vermont craftspeople work in studios located in or close to their residences. These are places of production and inspiration located in downtowns as well as at the ends of dirt roads. Wherever their locations, they are exciting places to visit because they reflect the dynamic yet organized process that is used to produce the finished work of art.

For the fifth year, I’ll be participating in the Vermont Craft Councils’ Open Studio Weekend. My studio as well as 235 studios will be open from 10am – 5pm both Saturday and Sunday, May 29 & 30. It’s an pleasure to welcome folks into the studio to talk about my work, material, process or any thing else that might come up.

Open Studio Weekend is a statewide celebration of the visual arts and the creative process. Bennington County, Vermont is home to many fine artists and artisans including the other members of The Artisans of Southern Vermont. The other twenty-nine members of the group will also have their studios open this weekend. The fine work represented by this group includes other paintings, jewelery, pottery, furniture, sculpture, and more.

The studio itself is enormously informative because you can see at a glance how the artist works. You see the swatches that have not been chosen for the quilt or the work that is experimental or not serious enough for the gallery. Buying or ordering work during an Open Studio sale is a unique experience because you have the opportunity to speak to the artist directly.

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.

Upcoming Watercolor Class – “Creating Watercolor Paintings from Your Photos”

TC — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 12:15:11 +0000

Creating Watercolor Paintings From Photos. Tuesdays, May 4 – May 25, 6:00 – 8:30pm.

"Golden Afternoon"

Digital cameras make it easy to catch interesting scenes, fleeting light effects and snapshots of paintable scenes that you don’t have the time to paint. Simple design principles will help in turning reference photos into terrific watercolor paintings In this class, learn how to crop the scene, move the elements and make color choices that turn photos into great watercolor compositions.

Class participants will work from their own photos, with guidance and instruction from the instructor.

Offered through the Southwest Vermont Career Development Center on Park Street in Bennington, Vermont.

CDC Winter/Spring Class Registration Form
CDC Winter/Spring Class Schedule

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.

Upcoming Watecolor Painting Class

TC — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:50:27 +0000

"Golden Afternoon"

Creating Watercolor Paintings From Photos. Tuesdays, May 4 – May 25, 6:00 – 8:30pm.

Class participants will work from their own photos, with guidance and instruction from the instructor.

Offered through the Southwest Vermont Career Development Center on Park Street in Bennington, Vermont.

For more information call the CDC office at 802-447-0220; Download a class catalog at http://www.svcdc.org/adult-education/adult-ed-printable-catalog.pdf ; Download a class registration form at http://www.svcdc.org/adult-education/adult-ed-registration-form-evening.pdf -Class fee $85

Shade into Light

TC — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 14:05:20 +0000

On Tuesday, I posted a new painting, “Side Street”, which began as demonstration painting. The post is long and covers the composition and color choices made while painting the demo. What was left out of that post was any discussion on another question that came up during the demo and which I have been thinking about since. One of the ladies watching the demo asked why I placed such a large shade area at the bottom of the painting, where one visually “enters” the painting. At the time I offered the answer that the large dark and the smaller patches of shadow further up or, visually speaking, back in the pictoral space act as compositional stepping stones leading the eye to the main focal point. The answer is true as far as it goes. The question stuck with me after the demo was over, as it occurred to me that many of my paintings feature the same sort of composition. In looking over images since having heard the question, I have found a number of recent works and older works with the same sort of compositional treatment. “Equinox Road” , shown below is a recent work that has been a successful showpiece.

"Equinox Road"

This painting was posted shortly after it was completed in April 2008. In that post, I talk about this work being metaphorical and composed just to communicate the way I sense the change of season between winter and spring – more about this painting can be found here. A large cool shadow area covers most of the bottom third of the painting. Below are some other newer and older works that feature similar compositions.

"Deep Autumn"

"Winter Light"

"Cape Time"

"October Blues"

So, how come? Why does this compositional convention show up so often in my landscape paintings. The answer I gave during the demo is true – it works well as a compositional tool. Beyond that, I have an affinity for the play of light in nature. In a painting, the only way to convey light is to contrast it with shadow or shade – meaning that there must be some variety of darker values near the lights. As I alluded in the earlier post, and as I try hard to convey to students in my classes, the composition of value shapes is what provides structural strength (or weakness) to a painting. Personally, I like a solid visual step at the bottom edge of a painting, which is the reason that I so often include it in my work. What would Sigmund Freud think? Something deep, dark and troubling no doubt! I prefer to think it’s just my best efforts at good composition. That said, perhaps I’ll mix things up in work to come – stay tuned!

"Park-McCullough View"

"Breaking Light"

"Afternoon Farm"

"Golden Afternoon"

"Rural Route"

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

Watercolor Sketch – Covered Bridge

TC — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:21:55 +0000

"Bridge In Morning Light"

4″ x 9″

Private Collection

Since it has been non-stop snow here lately it has been hard to get outside for new material. In the case of this small watercolor painting, I went back to my sketch books. Covered bridges are plentiful in Vermont and are painted by many. It can be hard to take on a subject so well explored by artists over time. Most of what is to be said about the subject has been said. That said, I dove in anyway. The watercolor paper chosen for the painting is by Sennelier, a French art supply company known for its fine professional grade watercolor paint. The paper is from a small watercolor block shaped in this long horizontal (or tall vertical) format. The paper itself has a heavy coat of sizing which makes it “slick” – the pigments lie on the surface of the paper rather than becoming absorbed into the paper fibers.

The focus for this work was getting a good composition onto the unusual dimensions of the paper. A long span of covered bridge seemed to be a good fit for the page. Without any particular color scheme in mind, I chose colors that are favorites of mine – cerulean blue, Daniel Smith’s Quinacridone Deep Gold (I blogged about this color in a September post) and Dioxazine Violet. Deep Gold suggests autumn, so the painting depicts the bridge in autumn.

I am always attracted to light effects. Light as it appears early and late in the day is particularly appealing in the way the slanting warm light affects all the surfaces it touches and causes any standing object to cast long shadows. The combination of two cool colors and one very potent warm color suggested a play of light and shadow on the long side of the bridge.

The finished work seems to have captured the 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.

“Just Desserts” – Art Exhibit, North Adams Artists’ Cooperative Gallery

TC — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:21:08 +0000

"Bowls on Striped Tablecloth"

Exhibit on view from February 25 to March 22, with an Opening Reception which is open to the public on Thursday, February 25th, 5-7 pm

Just Desserts: the sweet and not-so-sweet juried art exhibition featuring fine art and fine craft created by its members and nonmember regional artists.

As the title of the exhibition suggests, a representational array of non-edible artistic delights and objects associated with serving dessert will adorn the gallery’s front hall exhibition space. Not all of the art has a literal interpretation of being something sweet, however, as “just desserts” can suggest something entirely different.

Please join us for the opening reception to be held on Thursday, February 25th, 5-7 pm that will surely be delicious!

New Watercolor Painting – Early Winter Landscape

TC — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 01:53:41 +0000

“Light Dusting”

10″ x 14″

This scene could depict either the early time of winter when light snows begin to cover the fields, or late winter when the snow cover is receding. The title gives a hint that it is early winter and in fact that time of year is the inspiration. Unlike most of my work, this painting has a very limited and muted color palette – necessary for a realistic depiction of the terrain as it looks in early winter.

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.