Recently I traveled just four miles down the road to McNair Horse Farms . . . and back in time to Henry Hensche and the Cape Cod School of Art with the help of Lee Boynton. (thank you Waverly Artists Group for bringing him to Cary
Most of my teachers paint and teach with the limited palette approach, mainly four tubes of colors. This makes for very harmonious paintings and makes mixing colors, especially for beginners, a much easier learning experience. It is amazing how many variations of color can be achieved with the limited palette. But honestly, I’m not the most patient mixer. And because a painter can never really duplicate the natural brilliance and intensity of natural light, I have been frustrated in finding ways to translate what I perceive onto the canvas with the limited palette. So I have been yearning to find out more about the full spectrum palette and ideas of the Cape Code School of Art. The full spectrum palette often has up to 20+ colors representing more of the color wheel.
Lee Boynton started us off “practicing the scales”, that is, painting colored blocks—to see how light changes color on planes facing different directions. He reminded us this was essentially what Monet was doing with the haystacks—watching the effect of light and atmosphere. It wasn’t about the haystack, it was about seeing and painting the light and atmosphere. Upon returning home, I made my own colored blocks so I could continue to “practice the scales”.
What Lee said during the workshop was often in agreement with what my other Impressionism teachers have taught (especially “always paint the light, not the object”). He persistently emphasized awareness of the warmth or coolness of the color in the light (also something emphasized by my other teachers). He mentioned that the Cape Cod school of thought has sometimes emphasized color over value, but he, himself, does not. But he mentioned that nature is not homogenous. By that I understood him to mean that representing the full spectrum of color found in nature was more important to him than strictly harmonizing the palette. (But here, this is my own conclusion, not his statement.) He also does not harmonize the painting by toning the canvas, a common practice of many painters, believing this can muddy or deaden the sense of light of the colors.
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| "All Silence and Glimmer" 8 x 8 oil Available First painting completed following the workshop |
With my color blocks, some tips and techniques to try, new colors on my palette, and new inspiration, Lee has given me fresh tools on the journey to become the painter I want to be.
Drop in Cary Gallery of Artists 200 S. Academy St. Cary
In the Wilmington area, drop in Figments Gallery, 1319 Military Cutoff, Landfall Shopping Center Wilmington, NC 28405 910.509.4289
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