"Richard this" and "Richard that" ... "he's so great ... wonderful ... inspiring ... knowledgeable" ... and on and on.
Hmm. Who is this guy? I mean, Bert is amazing and if she thinks he's fabulous ....
So, I checked out his blog. It's called "Pastel Pointers with Richard McKinley," which is indeed a great blog and yes, he is very knowledgeable. So, I got on a waiting list for his next workshop. And I waited. It was so long ago I can't even remember when it was.
Then, last month I got an email that someone had to cancel and there would be an opening for his Ojai Workshop (which was perfect since my family lives there!) It turns out he lives in Oregon and travels around the country teaching these workshops. In a week or two he is off to Illinois, then New Mexico, Washington and by summer he will be in France.
At the risk of missing my Italian midterm (which I did!) I took the spot.
It was amazing. He was a wealth of both new information and techniques, as well as reminding us about all of the good old art 101 stuff about composition, value, creating depth etc. I don't think anyone had ever explained things so clearly!
There was A LOT of information imparted and if you are interested you should get his book. It also covers how do do watercolor under-washes for pastels, which might be one of my favorite things ever! There were also a couple of people doing oils. If he is ever in your neck of the woods and you want an amazing workshop, you would not regret it. You can check the schedule on his website.
Richard McKinley at Lake Casitas doing a "demo" for us
His yummy watercolor under-wash ...
Here come the pastels ... how gorgeous is his palette?
And here is the magic he created. I wish you could see it person! It's was so rich and glowed at the same time~
Pastel by Richard McKinley
Richard, if you read this, THANK YOU!
I left inspired, jazzed, excited
and ready to head to the great out doors with my palette in tow!
(Although I still have to take my Italian Midterm!)
We do not see nature with our eyes,
but with our understandings and our hearts.
William Hazlitt
1859
10 comments:
Hi Lucinda,
Well, I can totally understand why you would want to go to Richards pastel workshop!
His work is very beautiful and inspiring. I like the watered down pastel textures and his use of colour is amazing!
Have a lovely creative weekend.
Jo. x
Where does he live in Oregon? I live here now in Portland!
Thank you for this wonderful post. The result of this workshop is lovley! Hugs from Luzia.
It sounds like he made you as excited over paint as I am over yarns and crochet thread! How great is that! :-) And I love the water-color painting! He really does have an eye. I can't paint it, but I know what I like! ^_^
always love to see how artists work...the watercolor works very well with the pastels...fascinating post!
I'm not familiar with him, Lucinda, so thanks for the introduction. His work IS beautiful! It sounds like it was a wonderful class. I'm so glad you went--you can take that exam later. Life is short!
Well wasn't THAT serendipitous!!
Can you make up the midterm?
How fantastic! i always wanted to do some outdoor art...it's so Renaissance, romantic and that landscape looks so inspiring...love that big grove of trees with the blue flowers...your pastels are equally gorgious...Bella!
thank you for sharing your experience and teacher with us, lovely palette indeed!
Thank you all for the comments! I am happy to share him with you guys! :)
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