To register, go through the Grand Central Academy website.

Foreground Studies with Emilie Lee, May 30 – June 3 2012
It can be easy to feel overwhelmed by nature’s infinite complexity when approaching the landscape “en plein air” or “in the open air”.  In order to move beyond broad impressionistic representations of nature, it is necessary to slow down and spend time carefully observing the integral parts that make up the whole.  In this workshop we will focus on the importance of studying nature at close range.  While grand sunsets over the mountains are sure to impress, it is the intimate foreground studies that anchor a painting and give the viewer a sense of scale and space.  With an emphasis on careful study and an inquisitive mind, students will learn how to use their time in the field as an opportunity for gaining a greater understanding of nature.  We will discuss how this knowledge will translate to the studio process and how in turn the studio process will inform future plein air sessions.  A variety of methods will be introduced including linear drawing, ink wash, written notes, and color study in oils.   We will read and discuss excerpts from Asher B. Durand’s 1855 Letters on Landscape Painting and take our inspiration from the small plein air studies of the Hudson River School painters.  Students should have some experience drawing and/or painting from life and be willing to spend the entire day working outside, rain or shine!  Each day will include a demonstration by the teacher and individual instruction addressing each student’s work in a one-on-one critique.

Bark on the Dry Trunk, by Ivan Shishkin

Stones, by Ivan Shishkin

Wildflowers by Ivan Shishkin, 1884

Asher B. Durand, Sketch from Nature, 1855

Tree Study by Travis Schlaht

Flower Sketch by Remi Cardenas, 2010, Remi drew this on his first summer at the Hudson River Fellowship

by Peter Sakievich, 2011, second summer at the Hudson River Fellowship

Maple Leaf, by Jacob Collins, 2007 Oil on panel, 5 x 7 inches

Jacob Collins Red Maple, 2007 Graphite on paper, 11 x 9 1/2 inches

Catskills Stream by Edward Minoff

by Sarah Bird, graphite on paper, 2011, Sarah drew this on her first summer at the Hudson River Fellowship

by Thomas Kegler, Tom is also teaching a landscape painting workshop in NYC this April

by Brian MacNeil, 2011, Brian drew this on his first summer at the Hudson River Fellowship

by Brendan Johnston, 2011, Brendan drew this on his first summer at the Hudson River Fellowship

Forest Floor by Nicholas Hiltner

by Connor DeJong, 2011 on his first summer at the Hudson River Fellowship

Tree Study by Emilie Lee, 2010

"Maria" oil on canvas 10"x17", 2011

It’s been a while since my last update, but I’ve been painting every day and I finally have two paintings that I’m not totally ashamed to post on the internet!  Before every success there are innumerable failures, but I’m optimistic that the ratio of success to failure will keep improving as I get more experience.  Each painting is an opportunity to learn and I’m feeling incredibly fortunate to be spending my days at the Grand Central Academy where I have the time and freedom to focus on improving technical understanding of the painting process.   I’m in my fourth year of the program, with only five months left.  For the last two months I’ve been studying figure sculpture and figure painting.  The sculpture is so much fun and it really helped me think three dimensionally while I am painting, which is one of the most important things to achieving a sense of form and space on the canvas.  For the next five months I’m going to focus on figure painting.  I would like to get to the point where the effort to “get it right” becomes less labored and the act of painting becomes more fluid and expressive, without sacrificing the clarity of form.  I can’t wait to get back to the studio in 2012!

"John" oil on canvas, 13"x17", 2011

my sculpture from last month. I can't take all the credit - I had a lot of help from my teacher Jiwoong Cheh

"St. Joseph's Island across the North Channel" oil on canvas 8"x6" 2011

This is a little plein air painting I started last summer.  I unpacked it last weekend and finished it from memory and imagination.  The sky is completely imaginary, but I’ve done a lot of plein air painting in this location so I remember seeing this happen several times when the water was lit by sun and the sky was dark with clouds.  I still think I should make the water a little darker because water always reflects what the sky is doing … so I guess I’ll repost if I end up changing it again.  I looked at a lot of Ivan Shishkin paintings to see how he painted trees with sunlight on them.  Very helpful!  He is one of my favorite painters ever.

wave study, 8"x6" oil on linen, 2011

Here is my attempt at painting an ocean wave!  I’m lucky enough to be studying with Edward Minoff at the GCA, who is a real master of seascapes.  I’ve been intimidated to try painting moving water of any kind, but after this I’m so excited to keep trying.  It was fun to notice how reflective the water is and how much warm color can be seen in it.  The ocean is so powerful! Winter is setting in fast and I’ll probably have to wait until spring to get my next chance at wave study.

Team Minoff: Repin, Bitsy, & Ted at work

Katie Whipple packing up her easel after a super windy sunset painting session

cold but psyched!

sunset session

a messy and very sand splattered sunset sketch

Edward Minoff, Brendan Johnston, and Bitsy painting on the beach

wearing all my layers

Available Paintings

Thanks for looking! — Emilie

artists on the beach at Sagamore Hill

 

 

athletic tape saved the day when my tripod broke halfway through the weekend.

We had two days to paint, and at four PM on the second day we had to submit two framed paintings to the gallery, one of which would be chosen to hang in the exhibition that night.  This was my first time painting under these kinds of conditions, and I found the pressure to be just what I needed to blast through some of my hang-ups.  Often I struggle with feeling too slow, getting caught up with details and telling myself I’ll just come back another day to finish the painting.  Working under the time limit, I was able to crank out four small paintings and I learned a lot about what it takes for me to be productive.  Not only did I get to spend two days

My friends from the Hudson River Fellowship- Cesar Santos and Steve Dolan were also in the competition. We painted together on the second day.

in a beautiful place, I got some great paintings out of it and I learned a lot about how to manage my own time and work habits for optimal productivity.

Here's the painting I submitted to the show- Marshes at Eel Creek, 10"x8" oil on linen

The Exhibit will be on view at the Oyster Bay Historical Society through October 4th, 2011.

20 Summit Street, PO Box 297
Oyster Bay NY 11771
516-922-5032

The view of Manhattan from our neighborhood in Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon.

Well, I got back to New York just in time for the earthquake and the hurricane.  My apartment in Greenpoint was only one block away from the mandatory evacuation zone, with what looked like a likely possibility of flooding and the nearest dry land being two miles away.  My roommate Sonya and I prepared for the worst, but we wanted to stay since we can both get a lot of work done on a stormy day stuck at home.  Sonya Kitchell is a very talented musician and I love listening to her practice while I’m painting in my room. (Download a free song by Sonya here)

during the worst of it my skylight started leaking, but my plein air painting rig saved the day

Taddy's Pond, 12"x9" oil on linen, 2011. This was the last painting I did before coming back to the city.

We went out and bought some wine, stocked up on drinking water and food, and ate a cozy dinner while we listened to the rain beat down on our skylights.  I spent the weekend painting and listening to Sonya play her new piano.  When the storm passed, our neighbors brought over all their hurricane provisions and we had two more nights of feasting and merriment before the city resumed it’s usual fast pace and we all went back to work.  We’re all grateful that the storm didn’t do more damage around here, especially with the huge waste water treatment plant on the banks of Newton Creek around the corner (yuk).

Then I dragged out this one from storage. I had started it 2 years ago after my first summer at the Hudson River Fellowship. After two more years of learning and experience, I'm having a much easier time painting from imagination and memory.

Periodically checking the weather ... is it safe to go out yet? I was a bit disappointed in the weak hurricane we had in Brooklyn, but also grateful that it wasn't worse.

This Friday and Saturday I will be participating in the Teaching Studios 1st Annual Plein Air Painting Competition at Sagamore Hill Historic Preserve in Oyster Bay, NY – a setting with over 83 acres of beautiful landscape, as well as the last home of Teddy Roosevelt.
The preserve is located on the beautiful Gold Coast of northern Long Island.  I’m looking forward to exploring a new landscape that I haven’t seen before and meeting the other artists.  It should be a fun way to wrap up the summer.

Bird's Eye View of Sagamore Hill

3 Events- Free and Open to the Public

1. Instructors Rob Zeller and Bennett Vadnais will lecture on the Barbizon School and the great Russian Landscape painters of the 19th Century, respectively, at the Teaching Studios of Art in Oyster Bay, Friday night August 26, starting at 8pm.

2. Utrecht Artist-in-Residence Joe Gyurcsak is conducting a demonstration in Plein Air painting on Day 2, Saturday August 27, from 10am-1pm on the grounds of the event. This demonstration is free, and worth checking out since Joe is going to try and paint TR’s mansion. That’s not an easy demo.

3. Later that night, an exhibition of paintings from each of the participants and judges will open to the public from 7-9pm at the Koenig Center of the Oyster Bay Historical Society. Light refreshments will be served and wet paintings will be available for sale.

20 Summit Street, PO Box 297
Oyster Bay NY 11771
516-922-5032