I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, full of sharing with friends and family. I know I did. One thing that I’m so grateful for is being able to pursue my passion for art.

I’m looking forward to sharing that with like-minded individuals at Randall Tipton’s upcoming workshop here. I asked Randall to write a bit about the workshop… only three  ONE space  left Class is full at this point. You’ll find the sign up on my Workshops page. Here’s what Randall said: Email me to join the wait list.

"Canyon Bog" watermedia on Yupo 12x36 copyright Randall David Tipton

“In this workshop I`ll focus on the versatility of combined watermedia, how to push the image much further than commonly thought possible. Through the use of various acrylic mediums, transparent watercolor can be extended and enhanced by the body and texture of these materials. The vibrant plastic paper Yupo will be the primary support I demonstrate on, traditional watercolor papers are also responsive.

Our individual motives and ideals about painting will be explored as we choose our subjects. As a landscape painter, I believe it is critical to analyze and understand my emotional reaction to what I`m seeing before I begin. These ‘feelings’ become memory and guide me throughout the many small experiments which build the painting. I refer to photos and drawings to structure a simple mental composition, then I proceed by intuition, chance and remembrance. Usually there are elements of abstraction which emphasize the aspects in the landscape that move me. The altering of ‘natural’ color, the simplification of forms,  distorting the perspective, adding pattern to convey depth, and using gestural brush work are strategies I use to get close to the essence of my subject. Visual accuracy is not too important, what I`m after is a unique and personal vision.

For many reasons, I chose to forgo a conventional education though I read extensively, visited many museums and galleries and figured out the technical requirements of painting. Through luck, I was able to work briefly with a hero to legions of painters, Richard Diebenkorn. It was a month long workshop, he didn`t say much but did seem to approve of what I was doing. That was enough. That ‘blessing’ caused a leap in my ambition and eventually led to much stronger work.

I think I have something different to contribute in this workshop; some innovative methods and techniques as well as fresh ideas about where you might want to take your painting.”

-Randall Tipton

"Tropics" watermedia on yupo 16x42 copyright Randall David Tipton