Last Sunday, the 2018 workshop participants arrived on this beautiful island in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada. Everyone settled in to their lodgings and, in the early evening, gathered at the Compass Rose Inn for our Welcome Dinner. It was a delicious lobster feast.
MONDAY
On Monday morning, we met at 9am sharp at our studio, the North Head Market Hall. We discussed the week ahead. Some of the more experienced painters headed out to the nearby harbour and got to work. I kept the newer participants behind and taught my ‘drawing checklist’ which hinges on the use of a measuring stick to help with angles (perspective) and proportion. At one point, we stepped outside to analyze the angles of a neighbouring building.
Following our session at the studio, the rest of the group wandered over to the harbour and settled in to sketch and paint for the day.
As we painted, the everyday activities of the island went on around us, such as harvesting rockweed.
It was a great start to our week. At the end of the day, we went back to our studio for our critique. Click on any critique image to see a larger version.
After critique, I presented a slide show (PowerPoint) with the theme of planning a watercolour. It included ideas and artwork of quite a range of artists from the contemporary American Frank Webb to renowned English watercolour painters from as far back as a few hundred years ago. It set the table for the Tuesday morning demonstration.
Monday Critique a
Monday Critique b
TUESDAY
Woodward’s Cove was our sketching and painting venue for Tuesday. I followed up on ideas we’d discussed during the Monday slide presentation and demonstrated on-site at my easel.
I painted a study in four values; paper-white, light middle value, dark middle value and dark. Let me show you the steps.
I started with a pencil drawing. Next, I painted a light middle value everywhere except for the areas I wanted to preserve as my most important lights.
A dark middle value starts to show more structure overall.
The final value is the darkest of all. The darks add definition and detail.
The harbour at Woodward’s Cove drains completely at low tide and fills up again six hours later. It’s a great painting site with a wide range of subject matter.
Another day of sunshine! Eventually, we gathered at our studio for critique.
Tuesday Critique a
Tuesday Critique b
WEDNESDAY
This workshop, as stated on my website, is for participants with some previous experience in the medium. No-one in our group was a complete beginner but several had taken other watercolour courses and not really been taught any fundamentals. Go figure! So, on Wednesday morning, I gave a short refresher of basic techniques and brush-handling in the studio.
Once the demonstration was done, we joined the rest of the gang at historic Seal Cove. A bit of fog rolled in and added some mystery to the old herring smokesheds and docks that make this such a special painting spot.
Lovely, isn’t it? Let’s see what the painters did at Seal Cove.
Wednesday Critique a
Wednesday Critique b
We have two more days to go on spectacular Grand Manan Island! Thanks for following and stay tuned.
Tags: art holidays, Barry Coombs, Canada, Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, outdoor painting workshops, painting holidays, plein air art vacations, plein air art workshops, value study, watercolor, watercolour, watercolour demonstration
Barry Coombs Art Workshops 
18/09/2018 at 8:15 am |
Thank you for all your postings. So appreciate it!! love the pic and learn a lot. even tho I’m not there. wishing I was!!
Lois