Nature Impact Factor: [New post] Landscape Class at Woodmere

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Landscape Class at Woodmere – Three and Four

by Claudia McGill

Over six weeks in June-July 2021 I attended an in-person landscape painting class at Woodmere Art Museum. We met each Friday for 3 hours and painted a scene from somewhere on the grounds.

Here's another painting from the class for you to see.

Thank you to Marta, our instructor, and to all my classmates for a great experience.

In our third session my location-choosing difficulties continued. I began to realize that I was not much interested in painting trees and plants only. I really like having a building or people in my work and I was struggling to find a scene I felt any attachment to doing.

In the end I painted the garbage dumpsters and their surroundings next to the studio building. A little off the plan, I know. Anyway, the painting was just awful. I took it home and worked on it and finally - I got my husband to sand it down and I gessoed over it (it then formed the basis for Week 5, so it didn't die in vain...)

That's why you see no painting for Week 3.

For Week 4, Marta wanted us to try working with the palette knife. We had reviewed some paintings in the museum that made use of this tool Now we tried it for ourselves.

I chose to do the studio building and its surroundings. Yes, I know, a building. Well, that's how things went.

I did two paintings. One was done 100% with the palette knife. I enjoyed using the knife but I am not so fond of the results. I feel it is a frenetic scene I have created and it makes me anxious to look at it.

I finished up early (using the knife does make for a fast painting experience) and I started another one of the same scene (finishing at home), this time letting my abstract imagination take over a bit more, and using brushes more extensively. I pared down the "realism" and simplified many of the elements. I felt happier painting this version and I like it better, but...it's all personal preference. Classmates liked the earlier version better.