Welcome to the South Delta Artists Guild - Where Creativity Flourishes

Details for "Creating Compelling, Dramatic Paintings by Charlie Easton"

CHARLIE EASTON

Wednesdays May 5, 12, 19, 26  9:30 - 12:30

Charlie has an infectious passion for landscape painting which he will share with us through four interactive Zoom sessions. We will be able to work along with him in his studio and on location bringing his plein air methods to your studio.

The workshop will involve demos, critiques, and key learnings from Charlie’s perspective on how to make compelling art. Art that moves the viewer, in the same way that we’re all moved by our incredible landscape. Some of the concepts to be covered are:

• Composing a painting to tell a compelling story.
• Colour mixing. Using colour to tell your story.
• Outdoor set up and getting something done fast.
• Critiquing your work, and then tailoring demos to address areas where assistance is needed to take the art to the next level.

Demos will mainly be done in acrylic, however at least one demo will be done in oil.

This is a workshop that will inspire you, get you going, help you improve your practice and will make you fall in love with the original form of landscape art.

Difficulty Level:  Intermediate and Advanced

** Note for watercolourists -

So much of this workshop is relevant to watercolourists, however Charlie will demo in the medium that most people want him to, and that is typically acrylic.  He will also do a plein air demo outside in oil and he will talk briefly about his gouache/acrylic set up.  Most of his technical advice will come in the demos, and so he wants to be clear with the watercolourists that this is NOT a watercolour workshop per se.  Lots to learn for artists of any medium.

Charlie Easton moved to Canada in 2006 and immediately fell in love with the same scenery that inspired many of the Group of Seven. A prolific plein air painter of landscapes and seascapes in both oils and acrylics, Charlie is represented by galleries across North America and Europe where he regularly has solo exhibitions of his work.

He is a Senior Signature Member of the Federation of Canadian Artists (SFCA) and has studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, at Emily Carr University, and at many workshops worldwide.

Charlie has a studio in Vancouver, but his first love is painting on location in BC, Alberta, California and beyond. 

Supply list

Your usual studio materials i.e.

Some paints (oil, acrylic, gouache, watercolour)

A selection of panels/canvas to paint on.

A selection of reference images

The ability to share your work with Charlie by taking a photo and uploading to a shared website in between sessions.

 Materials list for studio workshop - acrylics

This list is designed to be a guide. You don’t have to rush out and buy everything I have on this list. This is my system that works for me, and it may also work for you. This is an acrylic-focused list, you are welcome to bring oils, as many of the principles of painting are eminently transferrable, however the paint’s application and manipulation will be different to what I’ll be teaching.

Canvas/panels

I like to have a range of surfaces with me at all times, they vary in size and format from 8” to 24”. They could be stretched canvas, canvas board, painted wood panels, gator board, whatever you feel comfortable with. If in doubt, bring a range. Ideally you’d have at least two surfaces to paint on per day.

A portable easel

I use a Soltek, or a U.Go pochade box. Table based easels would be fine too in the setting.

Paints

I use a stay-wet system that only a few others seem to use. You are welcome to copy it, or to find your own version of it. Or ignore it and just take notes from my colour palette. Everyone is different, and one size doesn’t fit all.

I use a few small fishing tackle boxes/multi-organizers that I load up with paint in the studio before I head out. The paint stays wet in the box and on location, but you need to keep direct sunlight from it, and you need a laundry spray to mist the paint regularly to avoid a skin forming. The major benefit is that I am quicker to get going, so it increases my painting time. I also have plenty of paint available to me at all times so I’m not tempted to scrimp and save when I’m squeezing out the liquid bank notes from my tube of cobalt blue! The paints I use are normally Golden Heavy Body Acrylics for all colours, although this sometimes varies to another brand of artist-quality, high-pigment paint.

Here are the colours:

• Titanium White

• Hansa yellow light

• Cadmium yellow medium

• Cadmium orange

• Quinacridone magenta

• Violet oxide / Indian Red / Red Oxide

• Ultramarine blue

• Cyan blue

• Dioxazine purple

• Pthalo green (yellow shade)

I may also carry with me a couple of tubes of something fun to try – a different green, cadmium red, a mars black, a naples yellow – but the colours in the list above are my trusted friends.

Other painting equipment

• Paintbrushes of all sizes, a few at least 1”, and down to something really fine. Mix of filberts and flats. My favourite brush is the Isabey Isacryl brush line, but they’re expensive and hard to find, so often I’ll use Opus Denman brushes.

• A laundry spray

• A water pot – could be anything, but I use a collapsible dog water bowl as it saves space in my pack

• Paper towel and cotton rags

• A palette – a 12”x16” piece of plastic signboard

Cost & Status