Techniques of the Masters (Past and Present) with David Dunlop

Landscape Painting with David Dunlop
Saturday and Sunday, June 9 and 10, 2018
Fee: $300 for members, $325 for nonmembers

Day One: Where do we get our ideas of landscape painting? What were the criteria and how are criteria changing? How do you design, draw, and paint a Romantic 19th century landscape picture?

We start with historic ideas and methods. We reach back to 17th century landscape painters from Holland and Italy. We learn (through demonstration) how they sketched, composed, and painted. Here artists grasp the conventions and models of landscape painting as they influence us now and determined our Hudson River painters like Church and Gifford. We consider their ideas, palettes, brushwork, and methods. I will demonstrate a variety of their techniques and how they used the strategies of English landscape painters like J.M.W. Turner. We examine applied color theory for these artists, their palettes, and tools in the demonstration.

Day Two:  The subject is contemporary landscape painting. History begins here in the late 19th century with the blurred, dream landscapes of George Inness, the Barbizon tonal landscapes of Corot and the Impressionists. Then we move into Cezanne’s ideas on the biology of vision as merged with the history of art in landscapes. Next,A we look at the evolution toward abstracting the landscape with expressive color and gestures. We move through the 20th century with the abstracted landscapes of artists like Diebenkorn and Thiebaud. How did they redesign and color their paintings. I will demonstrate new tools (squeegees, brayers, and blowers), materials and techniques of 21st century landscape painters. The demonstration also focuses on the influence and use of software like Photoshop in landscape painting and includes new substrates like enameled brushed silver aluminum, or the effects of over-painting digitally printed material.

Your Instructor will provide individual instruction in oil, watercolor and acrylics.

Suggested Supply list for Studio:
Note: any supplies you already own are useful. This list represents only suggestions nothing is mandatory. Bring whatever you have and we can start from there.  This is only a recommended supply list. These represent optimal choices. If you prefer to work with other materials that will be fine. We can work with whatever you have.

For all painters: rolls of Bounty Paper towels, a sketch pad and sketching materials, artists tape , disposable surgical gloves for oil, watercolor and acrylic painters: I recommend Charvin’s Extra Fine oil paints or Old Holland oil paints or Sennelier oil paints: A Few Suggested Colors are listed below .

oil paints: Titanium white(Charvin Extra Fine, Old Holland or Sennelier), Ultramarine Blue(Old Holland or Sennelier), Lemon Yellow ( Sennelier), Gamboge Yellow (Old Holland), Transparent Red Oxide(Charvin Extra Fine or Old Holland), Napthol Red ( Charvin Extra Fine) or Vermillion ( Sennelier), Azure Blue (Sennelier)…Those are basics….if you want more you could pick up any of a violet like Quinacridone Magenta or Quinacridone Fuchsia ,or carmine lake( Charvin or Old Holland),Imperial green(Charvin Extra Fine). I use refined linseed oil, walnut oil or poppy oil as a medium.

I have researched the work of past great masters and discovered many did not use turpentine or solvents; they just used oils, like linseed, poppy or walnut. For cleaning your brushes you can use them and, follow up with soap and water or, use a biodegradable non-toxic degreaser like Soysolv or Simple Green. There is no need to use toxic solvents when oil painting. If you wish to use a solvent then I recommend Gamsol or Eco House.

Suggested brushes: soft synthetic flats (watercolor wash brushes by Rafael or Polar Flo)….…from at least , a couple of 2” flats and 1”flats to ½” flats and perhaps And 2” and 1” and ½” inexpensive bristle brushes. I personally rely on 2”, 3” 4” and 6” soft synthetic flats (either the Polar Flo watercolor washbrush series or softacryl by Rafael or freestyle by Liquitex) There is a new line of water color 4” and 6” watercolor wash brushes at Jerry’s artarama. These are watercolor wash brushes which I use for my oil painting. For small brushes I use Rafael’s #12 or #14 soft synthetic flats or Polar Flo water color wash brushes. A couple of primer brushes with hog bristles (Home Depot) that are inexpensive and excellent for stippling, or fan effects.

I will also be using 6″ and 8″ rubber (window cleaner style, Ettore brand is best) squeegees.

I suggest painting on portrait canvas (linen) pads, smooth canvas pads, and, acrylic varnished watercolor paper, or sheets of plexi-glass, aluminum, copper , or Aluma Comp/Bond (available at Jerry’s Artarama)..the smoother the surface the better. I varnish the watercolor paper myself with Golden’s Polymer Gloss Varnish. The watercolor paper I use is a 140 lb. hot press.