Wonderful Weekend Workshop With Bart Lindstrom

Hope you all had an excellent weekend, I certainly did! I went to a workshop with Bart Lindstrom. If you are not already familiar with his work, please visit his website so you can learn more: Bartlindstrom.com The first day, he did a demonstration on how to paint portraits from life. How wonderful! He has such a wealth of knowledge in his brain and so graciously let us peek inside of there:) I filled up my little notebook with every little tidbit I could write, since I can use all the help I can get. He says that half of the portrait should be finished before you ever start painting. There is so much planning involved. This is the exact opposite of what the art universities teach people...that you have to let all your creative juices out and just be free flowing. Not so with portraits. We need to have a plan, make our studios organized and efficient and set goals for ourselves. Paint with really big brushes, do color studies and design great abstract value patterns. Bart gave us so many practical reminders like how to set up a model and how to make the most out of every brushstroke. He also helped remind us that as artists our job in the world is to remind people how gorgeous the universe is - to draw attention to the beautiful things in life. I so enjoyed seeing the process that he uses to paint someone. I have so many new things to try and new "tools in my toolbox." I cannot wait to go the studio tomorrow!

He brought so many beautiful pieces to show us! All the work shown here is by Bart Lindstrom. Tomorrow I will tell you about the Still Life demonstration...it was excellent as well!