LAND'S END, THE FINISHED PAINTING

Posted originally on 5/28/2019 10:04:43 PM by Cori Dyson, MD 
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Seeing PACE as a Workshop

Currently I see PACE (Plein Air Convention and Expo) as more of a workshop to learn new techniques, new ways of seeing, or new ways of getting paint on the canvas. Part of that learning is coming home and finishing the painting you started on site at home. This is like doing homework when you were in school. The teacher taught something new, such as long division. You didn't really master that until you went home and practiced and practiced it. This is why it's important to finish the paintings you start while at a workshop, or in my case, PACE. 

Land's End

This painting is one of those examples. I started it on site, and learned a great deal from starting it there. I started with a good value structure, good composition, and good idea. I wasn't able to finish it during the time I had. Part of that is I'm still working on speed and part of that was the cold did begin to get to me. My fingers were barely able to move by the time I was putting everything away. 

Taking what I had learned on location and in the demos/lectures, I needed to come back home and do my "homework", or finish the paintings. I'm so glad I finished this painting. In every painting, you learn something. This one taught me many lessons, and I'm so grateful to this painting for the many lessons. 

Learning

In order to really become a master of any craft, you need to learn from some of the best in that field. In psychiatry, that means reading journal articles, attending conferences, reading textbooks, etc. In art, that means examining the artwork of masters who had painted something similar to see how they tackled the problem or subject. In this case. the exact subject. 

Here is a painting by Bierstadt, one of the early Plein Air Painters of the Americas. He painted Land's End as well. His work is definitely the work of a master!

I love looking at his water! It is telling a story in and of itself. Also, the light on the water seems to glow from within. I love it! This is most likely a studio painting painted from one or more plein air studies, and memory. It is certainly gorgeous. 

Thanks for tuning in. Hope you enjoyed my painting as well as seeing how a master artist tackled the same scene. What would you like to read about in future article? Please let me know in the comment section below or send me an email. 

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