The Painting School - April Plein Air Session

at Portaferry Farm with Laura Wooten

Wednesdays, April 8, 15, 22, 29 / $450

What to Expect:

Immerse yourself in the seasonal changes and rural beauty of Albemarle County as we paint outdoors at historic Portaferry Farm in Batesville, VA. Working from observation, we will build foundational skills while exploring color, light, shape, composition, and mark-making. The beauty and complexity of nature will be our muse as we learn to simplify forms, untangle the parts from the whole, and create dynamic paintings that reflect a powerful and personalized visual language. Students will learn a framework for observational painting that is independent of style, allowing for the discovery of their own artistic temperament and authentic interpretation of the natural world.

General Schedule:

• 8:30 AM: Studio opens for arrival and set up

• 9:00 AM – Noon: Lessons, demos, and guided practice

• 12:30 pm – 1:00: Lunch Break & Conversation, Bring a brown bag lunch

• 1:00 – 3:45 Painting and individual coaching. Allow time for clean-up.

• 4:00 PM Departure

Week 1: LIGHT & COLOR

• Mixing a Color Matrix for Landscape

• Value: Range of Light to Dark

• Temperature: Range of Warm to Cool

• Intensity or Saturation: Range of Bright to Neutral

Week 2: COMPOSITION & SPACE:

• Point of View & Dynamic Composition

• Cropping to Engage Edges

• Movement & Circulation through Space

• Push & Pull of Color creates Near & Far

Week 3: SHAPE & FORM:

• Positive & Negative Shapes

• Creating Form with Color & Light

• Handling Edges: crisp to soft

• Simplifying & Merging for Clarity of Form

Week 4: MARK & SURFACE

• Gesture & Mark: Finding your “hand”

• Experimenting with tools

• Directionality, Harmony & Variation of marks

• Building a surface through edits & layers