10 Days in Arizona

I attended a workshop at the Scottsdale Artists School earlier this month. The three day workshop was given by Nancy Seamons Crookson, and titled Lessons on Russion Colorist painting. The workshop was based on color theory she learned from Sergei Bongard, a Russian artist who immigrated to the United States and taught students in Utah in the 70's.

Nancy did a demo of a still life the first day and we all did the same thing. The second day we had a great model for a half day. His name was Miguel and he was dressed as a pirate. I worked on him for three hours on Saturday and another two hours on Sunday, the final day of the workshop.

I love the way this turned out and I had fun using Nancy's method of making a blue underpainting as a base. Lends the piece a mysterious and unusual feel. I found it was possible to achieve a very realistic looking painting in a short period of time using her strategy. In keeping with what I try to do when I take a workshop, I will use her methods for a three month period and evaluate what I like and don't like at that point.

11" x 14" Miguel