Wildlands Conservancy: Plein Air Painting Workshop with Anthony Smith Jr. and David Sommers

This class series will encourage practicing and aspiring artists to explore the method of plein air, or “out in the open” painting. Led by Anthony Smith (artist and Professor of Art at NACC) and David Sommers (Resident Artist at the Banana Factory), the class series is open to all skill levels and will use oil and acrylic as the primary medium to teach the skills and techniques to paint the landscapes at Trexler Nature Preserve. Anthony and David will show you how to approach the outdoors with new skills on how to simplify the landscape, how to create a thumbnail sketch for plein air painting, and how to use edges to create the illusion of distance and atmosphere to get the effect you want. In case of inclement weather, we will do our paintings from photographs. Plein air painting is about leaving the four walls of the studio behind and experiencing painting and drawing in the landscape. The practice goes back for centuries but was truly made into an art form by the French Impressionists. Their desire to paint light and its changing, ephemeral qualities, coupled with the creation of transportable paint tubes and the box easel—the precursor to the plein air easels of today—allowed artists the freedom to paint “en plein air.” This 6-week course consists of 2 classes per week. When registrants sign up, you are committing to all 12 classes. The intent is to combine the experience of plein air painting at the nature preserve during the Saturday morning classes and then use the classroom at Midnight Gallery on Monday evenings. The classroom setting gives the opportunity for the instructors and students to break down their compositions and learn specific skills and techniques. The gallery and preserve are near one another, and the course will culminate in a gallery showing. Workshop cost- $525 Saturday morning classes (4/15-5/20) will be held at the Trexler Nature Preserve Environmental Education Center, 11am-1pm Monday evening classes (4/17-5/22) will be held at Midnight Gallery, 4315 Independence Drive, Schnecksville, 18078, 5-7pm There will be a closing reception at Midnight Gallery on Saturday, June 10th from 6pm to 9pm For registration questions, contact [email protected] For program questions, contact [email protected] For specific workshop content and questions, contact Anthony Smith Jr. at [email protected]

Event Links

Website: https://go.evvnt.com/1630903-0

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