The Winter Park Paint Out has brought about 25 plein air painters from all over the country to central Florida where they are capturing the area’s charm mostly with oils on canvas. From 6pm to 8pm on April 26th, John Guernsey from Marietta Georgia gave an Oil Painting Demonstration on Dynamic Shadows in the Rose Garden in Central Park. Bring a blanket or lawn chair and join us in Central Park by the Rose Garden. Spectators brought lawn chairs to sit and watch as the painting took shape. It was the golden hour, so warm light ignited the scene as the sun set.
John had completed the drawing aspect of the small composition by the time I arrived. He then blocked in dark shadows using a large two inch flat paint brush. He used this brush for the entire painting using mostly vertical and horizontal strokes. The resulting grid was a bit like a pixelated version of the scene. He used the paint thickly and boldly. He worked incredibly fast. When the sun set behind the trees in the west, he stepped away and said he was done. In a conversation with someone, he said that architects and graphic designers are great wit the drawn aspect of a painting, but the messy and abstract blocking in of colors and valves often gives them trouble. Even after the demo was over, John kept adding dark strokes to the canvas to push the value range.
The Paint Out will come to a close with a Garden Party from 6pm to 9pm tonight, April 30th at the Polasek Museum (633 Osceola Ave, Winter Park, FL). Tickets are $100. Each ticket entitles the buyer to $50.00 off the purchase of a painting during the Garden Party! (Limit one ticket per painting valued at $300 or more)
