Painting in Italy

I just returned home from teaching a workshop in Northern italy. I had a group of 12 students from various places in the US with me. We met in Milan and spent a couple of days there, then spent the rest of the week in a small town on Lake Garda.
Below is a demonstration painting I did the first day of the cloistered monastery where we stayed.

San Tomasso
Gargnano Italy
12 x 16 Watercolor
by Pat Fiorello
SOLD

Here are some other photo's from the workshop.

Watercolor demonstration- Smith Gilbert Gardens plein air workshop

Smith Gilbert Perennial Gardens
12 x 16
  Watercolor
by Pat Fiorello



We had another plein air workshop at the beautiful Smith Gilbert Gardens in Kennesaw, GA.
In this demo, I tried to capture the feeling of abundance of plants in a small section of their perennial gardens.

Here are some of my students having fun in the garden painting. It turned out to be a nice day- cooler than our last trip there in June

Watercolor painting demonstration -The Art House- Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas and purple
12 x 16
Watercolor Painting
by Pat Fiorello


On Friday, I did a watercolor painting demonstration for one of the galleries who represents my work- The Art House in  the Buckhead are of  Atlanta. Proceeds from the evening went to support Fragile Kids Foundation which is doing great work providing equipment needed for medically fragile kids

The Art House is a unique gallery, which beautifully presents artwork of all kinds- paintings, glass, pottery,  jewelry- in the comfort and warmth of a vintage 1938 home in the heart of Buckhead.

Below are some photo's of  The Art House as well as me doing the demonstration and the flower arrangement I was using for reference. ( Yes, I  guess I did color coordinate my outfit to the flowers- wasn't originally planned that way- but happened to work out- as you can tell I love the blue-purple-lavender portion of the color wheel)

Flower Study #33-Roses, limited palette

Flower Study #33
6 x 6 Oil Painting on Panel
by Pat Fiorello

This is a little study of a rose arrangement. Wanted to keep the color palette pretty limited- orange, violet & green and keep the suggestion of the roses loose. Used both brushes and palette knife.






If you are in Atlanta, tonight I'll be doing a painting demonstration at 
The Art House Gallery in Buckhead at 3193 Paces Ferry Place. It starts at 6pm. I'll be doing a watercolor of this arrangement of hydrangeas I pulled together yesterday. The event is free and open to the public so everyone is invited to attend. Gallery sales support the Fragile Kids Foundation.

Paint in Charleston

If you are ready for a fun, short painting getaway, here's an opportunity to paint in beautiful Charleston, S. C. I am teaching a workshop there in October. Details are listed below. Please feel free to share this with other artists who might be interested.

Paint Charleston! Painting Workshop with instructor Pat Fiorello 3-day workshop sponsored by the Charleston Art Guild October 10-12 9AM-4PM Workshop fee:  For Charleston Art Guild members:  $325.  For Non- Members:  $370. To register: Contact: Tina@TinaMaylandArt.com Tina can assist you with recommendations on lodging options if needed. Description Enjoy a fun 3 days painting in watercolor in beautiful Charleston S.C. with instructor Pat Fiorello. Learn how to paint beautiful landscapes including technique, composition, how to show depth in your landscape, editing while working on location and mixing colors, especially natural greens. Include demonstration, instruction, critique and individual guidance from Pat during student painting time. We will spend some time in the classroom on the first day for an overview and then (weather permitting) time out painting on location. We'll likely do at least one city scene in town and one day with a larger landscape vista (possibly at one of the plantations). Demonstrations will be in watercolor, but artists of all mediums are welcome to participate in the medium of their choice. Instructor Bio Pat Fiorello is a popular instructor who teaches in the  U. S. and Europe.  She is known for her romantic landscape, garden and floral paintings in both oil and watercolor. She is a Signature Member and Past President of the Georgia Watercolor Society. Pat’s paintings have been accepted into over 70-juried shows, featured in over a dozen one-woman shows and represented by several galleries in the Southeast.  Her work was featured in “Splash 11, The Best of Watercolor” recently published by North Light Books.  Pat has taught on location at Monet’s Garden in Giverny, France, in Tuscany and Northern Italy. Pat believes everyone can develop the skills to paint and experience the joy of art. Having learned herself as an adult, she has particular appreciation for adult learners, even total beginners, and provides a fun and supportive environment for learning. Visit www.patfiorello.com for more information.

Color Charts

In concert with the "flower challenge" described in my blog posts the past 2 days, I have committed to take on building a deeper understanding of mixing colors. I've been painting for 16 years, done numerous watercolor color studies and even teach a workshop on "Understanding Color for Watercolor" but I have never done the infamous Color Charts with my oil paints.

The paint colors are pretty much the same between watercolor and oil and even properties, like transparent vs. opaque, are consistent but in watercolor you use the white of the paper to get lighter values and in oils you add white paint ( or other light colors) which is a whole different animal.

I learned about the Color Charts several years ago from Richard Schmid's excellent book "Alla Prima" Richard first did them 40+ years ago when he was learning to paint and says they were invaluable. It  is a time honored approach for understanding color that dates back to a Flemish tradition for teaching painting.

You basically mix every color with every other color and then add white to have create 5 different values of that color. You can do as many as you want but to keep it manageable, I'm following Richard's approach with just a dozen colors. I have substituted a few colors I use often for a couple of his that I don't use that much or were similar. There will be 13 charts in all including this first one which is just unmixed colors straight out of the tube, then lightened 4 more values with white.

I'll share my approach and learnings over the next few weeks as I go along and my next blog will be on materials I'm using in case you want to do this along with me.  I plan to do a short video of the study once it's done, so stay posted for more to come.

Plein Air Workshop

  

Yesterday I taught a plein air workshop at the Smith Gilbert Gardens in Georgia. It got pretty hot, up into the 90's by the afternoon, but we were able to find some shade and had a fun day painting in this beautiful  spot.

I did a brief demo in watercolor of this area of sunlit lilies.

Started out capturing the yellow lilies and establishing the light areas

                                          Continued building in the darker foliage behind.

Here is another beautiful view of the garden with lots of contrasting yellow and purples ( and one of our artists Barbara on the right).

Everyone had a fun day and I am planning another for the fall ( September 19) when things cool off a bit.

Painting demo in Italy

Here's a scene looking down the driveway at San Fedele, our home base for my recent workshop in Italy. I choose it for a quick watercolor demo while there since it has a strong value pattern and also the trees are very typical of Tuscany.

Started out with a simple sketch of the big shapes, painted in the light areas first.

Then proceeded to add in the darker trees and shadows. there are lots of greens so I have to continually remind myself to change, change, change for the sake of variety

Here's the final impression of the scene.

Painting in Italy

Pat Fiorello painting in Radda in Chianti, Tuscany

Hi, you haven't heard from me for awhile since I have been away for about 10 days painting in Italy. Last week, I taught a workshop in Tuscany.

Our home base- The Tuscan Renaissance Center in San Fedele

We stayed at the Tuscan Renaissance Center which is a really special place. It's a 12th century monastery that was active thru the 1980's. It was abandoned for about 20 years after that and then a private family bought it and over the course of 6 years of work and millions of dollars, they restored it to an amazing place intended to foster creative growth.  It's the best of both worlds, modern amenities and comfort in an authentic and sacred building with lots of character . We have the place all to ourselves so it makes it feel like home. We used that as our home base to take day trips to other painting sites in Tuscany as well.

Two students painting on location- Tom in oils, Haylee in watercolor

 I was crazy enough to bring both oil and watercolor painting supplies ( which consumed most of my luggage space), so did some of each every day! Will share some of the highlights in the coming days.

 If you have always wanted to paint in Italy, I have another trip planned for late September of this year to Northern Italy- beautiful Lake Garda, so get in touch if you want to find out more.

Viewing Art is Like Being in Love

 

Red Rose Study

Oil Painting by Pat Fiorello

6 x 8

I'd like to share an interesting article on the effects of viewing art. Brain chemistry research has shown it's similar to the feelings of falling in love. No wonder we artists and art lovers are so passionate.
Click here to link to the article:        Viewing Art is Like Being in Love

Flower Painting Class

This was the last session of the Painting Flowers- Loose, Fresh & Easy class I teach in Atlanta.

We had a great class of 15 painters. We paint each week from flowers the students bring in. It's fun to have a room filled with artists happily at work surrounded by colorful  flowers. 

Here are some of the students at work.

  Have a great summer and see you again in the fall.

For those who don't want to wait till then, I have added a new one day workshop on June 14th at the 

Smith Gilbert Gardens in Kennesaw GA. It will be a plein air painting workshop designed especially for those who might be new or less experienced at painting outdoors. I shared about the gardens on an earlier blog post (May 6).   If interested, please contact me at patfiorello@aol.com

Hydrangea Painting

Hydrangeas in Blue
Oil Painting by Pat Fiorello
12 x 16



Here's today's painting. The hydrangeas are out in bloom and beautiful. They are one of my favorite flowers to paint.


 Here is the still life set up which I simplified a bit:

The start- using only transparent oil paints

Adding in a background underpainting, still only transparent paint.

 After the 2nd stage, where I added opaques and adjusted colors, values edges, brushwork. On the easel left, with the set up  on the right.

It was a fun day!
 I plan to try the same arrangement in a very different approach later this week and will share what I learn.

Creatures of Habit

“First we make our habits, then our habits make us”

John Dryden 17^th century English poet

Many of the results that we produce in life are a function of the habits we have - the repeated patterns of behavior that we do almost without thinking. We might have habits that support what we are committed to( like going to the gym  every Tuesday and Thursday or taking a daily walk) or habits undermine what we say we are committed to ( e.g. eating that second bowl of ice cream while watching tv- in that moment maybe our commitment to indulgence and feeling good trumps our commitment to health).

Many times we are unconcious to our habits- they are just automatic. But if you start noticing them, that is the first step to change.

 I noticed a couple this week as it relates to art. First, I seem to get a lot of oil paint all over me and my brush handles while painting.  One day, I noticed the paper towel I lay the brushes down on was covered in paint and the light bulb went off- aha- no wonder these handles get full of paint.  I had no awareness that I habitually laid out the paper towel that way which caused the entire length of the brush and handle to be resting on a towel  full of paint. I was so busy concentrating on  the painting and palette, that I never even noticed that small thing that was causing an annoyance. So I reoriented the position of  the towels to just rest the tips or the brushes( not the handles) on the paper towels and problem solved.

 I also noticed I am pressing the full brush, rather thatn the tip ,down on the canvas with quite a bit of pressure which can muddy the paint. That is a helpful habit or stroke I acquired for watercolor, which had been my main medium for years, but it is not so effective for oils. Also, I kept washing brushes in between color changes in the turpentine cup ( another habit from years of waterecolor where it does help to rinse brushes in clean watec between color changes)  and that can contribute to muddy color. So I have the turp holder out- but I now keep the cover on so that I have to actively take it off if I want to use some turp. This has cut down on that habit dramatically. 

By  becoming more alert to what I am actually doing,  I am now more aware and making small changes that are helping.  None of them are earthshattering- but they were minor things that each took away from the expeience or results of my painting sessions. I'm sure there are others, so now I am on the lookout .

What  unconscious habits do you have that might undermine you? Do you consistently put other things before time for art? Organize or use your materials in an incovenient fashion? Get lazy about putting out fresh paint at the end of a  painting session so you compromise by using sub-optimal colors? Are you doing anything that leads to an annoyance that detracts from your painting experience or prevents your art from being the best that it can be?

Become more mindful of your habits, tendencies and automatic behaviors and notice if they are supporting the results you want . If not, how can you alter things?  I've heard it  takes 21 days to form a habit and that you must replace a bad/old habit with a new one behavior ( not simply remove the old one) to be effective, so be patient with yourself.

If you have noticed anything  that you are habitually doing that would be helpful  share with others, please feel free to comment .
Happy Painting!
 

""Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of"
-- Anonymous

Why are habits so Important?  Here's what Jim Rohm had to say:

"Motivation is what gets you started.  Habit is what keeps you going.” 

Mixing Natural Greens

Color chart for practicing Natural Greens

If you're an artist. like me who loves painting florals and/or landscapes , you have to make peace with the color green. It is often the most challenging color to handle. Many of the paints in tubes like Viridian, Winsor Green, Pthalo green( which is the same as Winsor), Hookers Green are much too cold to accurately depict natural looking greens. So often artists avoid these colors. Of course you could always mix your blues and yellows to get a range of greens, but there are so many nuances of greens in nature, it's a good idea to have every tool at your disposal.

 My tip is to take the tube greens and add a warmer color to them to warm them up.You can add almost anything- yellow, orange, red, burnt siena, alizarin crimson, even violet, to warm up a "too cold" green. The chart shown here is an exercise I do with my students where we mix a range of greens starting with Thalo green to come up with warmer greens on the right( vs the top thalo green which is right out of the tube). You can get everything from a bright spring or tropical green to a deep, rich evergreen tree type of green depending on what you mix into it.

 I recently did a quick demo of this for a watercolor class I was teaching. You can view it at
http://youtu.be/GObTq57wDQI

Go out and enjoy painting some spring greens this week and give it a try!

A beautiful place to paint...

Lake Garda, Italy

If I had to pick the most beautiful place I've ever been, it would be the lake region of Northern Italy.  I've been there 4 times to paint and will be returning later this year.

Despite being in the northern part of Italy, not far from Switzerland,  the climate is quite mild. The lakes create a microclimate where the weather conditions are more like the Mediterranean. They grow lemon trees, palm trees , bougainvillea, lots of lush foliage. Charming towns and  elegant villas on the lake with a backdrop of majestic and even sometimes snowcapped mountains of the Alps take your breath away.  Incredible inspiration for painting. And it's fun to go on a quick boat ride across the lake to visit neighboring towns.

San Tomaso in Gargnano is our home base

These are some photo's I took when I taught a workshop at Lake Garda in 2010. I am arranging another workshop for this fall. If you'd like to explore and paint this lesser known area of Italy, you are welcome to join in the fun. There is a flyer with the details at  http://patfiorello.com/italianlake_fiorello_fall2011r1.pdf  or just get in touch with me. It's open to painters of all levels and mediums.  a painter's dream come true.

View of Lake Garda from San Tomaso

Painting on Location- What to bring for watercolor painting

The other day I shared what I bring on location for oil painting, today I'll share suggestions for watercolorists:

·      Watercolor Paper- Paper quality does make a big difference in watercolor. If there is one place not to cut corners it’s on paper.  Some of the cheaper papers just don’t absorb the paint the way the better papers do, so using better paper will give you better results and will be easier to work with. 140lb cold press - Arches brand  is preferable. Avoid the inexpensive spiral pads if at all possible. I find the blocks are easiest for painting on location.  I suggest  taking an Arches  block 12 x 16 or 10 x 14 or 9 x 12 ( smaller size is good ,especially if you are a beginner). If you prefer to use loose sheets and have a board to attach them to, then that is fine too. In addition to the block for your paintings, bring along some scrap watercolor paper for exercises and other quick studies we may do.

·      Palette – any plastic palette suitable for watercolors (w/cover) [John Pike or Robert Wood are great options]. If you’re just starting out- a simple white plate or inexpensive palette is okay- just make sure it is large enough to give you room to mix paints.

·      Paints – Here are some suggested colors (Winsor-Newton, Holbein, Daniel Smith or Sennelier  brands preferable, but other brands fine unless noted).  Artist’s quality paints will get you much better results than student grade- but either will work. Again these are just suggestions there’s nothing you absolutely have to have. Also, if just starting out, it’s fine to buy the smaller size tubes to keep the cost down. At an absolute minimum you’ll need a red, yellow, blue and burnt sienna, and thalo or winsor green but if you can get a broader range of paints, these are very useful colors to have:                                                                  

o   Lemon Yellow

o   New Gamboge or Indian Yellow*

o   Cadmium Orange

o   Raw Sienna or Yellow Ochre* or Quinacridone Gold

o   Burnt Sienna* or Quinacridone  Burnt Orange

o   Burnt Umber* or Sepia             

o   Permanent or Quinacridone Red*

o   Alizarin Crimson*  

o   Permanent Rose

o   Sap Green*

o   Winsor or Thalo Green*(preferable to viridian or hookers green)

o   Winsor or Thalo Blue or Prussian Blue

o   Cerulean Blue( Grumbacher if possible)

o   Ultramarine Blue*

o   Cobalt Blue*

o   Winsor or Dioxizine Violet                    

     *Indicates suggested minimum palette

Miscellaneous Tools

·      plastic container for water

·       #2 Pencil, sharpener, eraser

·      Sketchbook 

·      Brushes – round (size 6, 10 or 12), flat (½”, 1”or 2” for washes), rigger

·      Natural sponge

·      Masking tape ( avoid the blue tape- it can distort color pecreption)

·      Tissues/Paper towels

·      A cut up credit card

·      Anything else you use often in your techniques and can’t be without (we all have our favorite gadgets

General

-Camera  (with extra memory discs, battery charger (remember converter/adapter for European currency and other accessories)

-Bug Spray

-Sunscreen

-Bottle to carry water for painting (although you can pick up a bottled water there and re-use that after you finish drinking it)

-A hat

-A small folding stool that you can pack in your suitcase (If you don’t have one, there are some excellent options available thru Judson’s Plein Air 1-866-POCHADE or http://www.judsonspleinair.com/

 ( I have the Roll A Chair- 3133 and really like it- it has good back support and is really lightweight)

-You can bring a lightweight easel if you have one and like to use it.  For watercolor, I find a small folding stool and a block that you can put on your lap work pretty well.

Despite all this, try to think minimal and not have too much to carry around- it gets heavy (maybe someday I will follow my own advice). Take a bag you can carry all your supplies in.

 In terms of the plane- pack anything that could been viewed as a knife( even palette knives) inside your packed luggage. I pack my paint tubes inside Ziploc bags inside a Tupperware type container in my suitcase and note that they are artists supplies- non-flammable/hazardous in case someone checking my bag isn’t familiar with watercolor paints.  If you have some absolute favorite brushes, you may want to take them in your carry on just in case-I do- I’d hate to have to rebuild my collection of brushes if my luggage got lost.


If I've missed any of your favorite on-location tools or supplies, or if you have any other tips, please send a comment to share with others. Thanks and Happy Painting!