Attending a Workshop at the Gibson House is an experience you will long remember.
Whether you’re an aspiring artist or an experienced art instructor, the Gibson House is the perfect place to be inspired.
Notes on Plein Air: New England
(3-Day Workshop - $350)
June 22, 2021 - June 24, 2021
by Professional Artist, Adriano Farinella
Workshop Description/Presenter Info:
This immersive plein air workshop is an opportunity for painters of all skill levels to join me in beautiful Haverhill, New Hampshire for three solid days of painting on a bluff overlooking the Connecticut River Valley and along the grounds of the historic Gibson House B&B.
Like all my workshops, this one will focus on balancing the development of technical skills with the aspects of painting that transcend technique and get us to higher levels of ourselves as artists and creators.
Beginners, intermediate, and advanced students will have the option of working from my guidebook, ‘Notes on Plein Air’, to build their painting process by learning to use Notan sketches, three-grey value sketches, monochromatic block-ins, line drawings, and a limited palette to compose paintings. We’ll also challenge our own habits in composition and design by working more intuitively and freely with directly painted small scale sketches. All students, beginners and those with extensive plein air experience, are welcome and will receive at least two personal critiques a day where demos, suggestions, guidance, and attention to their individual concerns and questions are addressed.
The general itinerary is to paint from 9 am to 12pm and 1pm to 3pm. We’ll break for an hour lunch in between. From 3 to 4pm, we’ll meet back at the B&B for a group critique where we assess the day’s work and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of our paintings. Group critiques are an extremely valuable time where we show our work, ask questions, answer questions, discuss techniques, and offer constructive support. So much of the lessons and learning happen during these sessions and the next painting days are always better for it.
The great part about staying at a B&B with all the workshop participants is that we can spend time before and after painting in conversation. We’ll have an opportunity for some informal discussions on plein air painting in art history, the art business, as well as all the elements of a painting career that go beyond technique and process. Really, every day spent painting outside is an opportunity for growth as a painter because plein air painting is a lesson in paying attention to the moment you’re in. That can be a frustrating lesson for some especially if they are struggling with the technical aspects and skills needed to accurately express what they want through their work. In my workshops, I seek to meet painters where they are in the strengths and struggles of their practice and help get them to their next level as artists. I came a long way from how I felt about plein air painting in my early career. I’ve given talks on that experience and you can listen to one of those here: https://www.adrianofarinella.com/blog/2018/8/15/i-am-not-a-plein-air-painter
All skill levels are welcome.
Students need to provide their own materials including a portable easel or pochade box.
A materials list with direct links to suggested paint, brushes, and plein air gear will be published on adrianofarinella.com in the coming weeks. Sign up for my newsletter to stay informed.
Instructor Adriano Farinella's Bio
Adriano lives and works in Easton, Pennsylvania. He teaches workshops that balance elemental skill-building exercises with intuitive painting practices.
He approaches his studio work as a spiritual practice creating meditative landscape paintings from memory and imagination. These invented landscapes use clouds as protagonists and symbols of impermanence while the land acts as an eternal counterbalance. Rather than being a recording of a specific place at a particular time of day, the studio paintings refer to a metaphysical version of ‘a place in time’ and are intended to connect the viewer to broad contemplations that simultaneously transcend the temporal world and root into it.
From his guidebook, Notes on Plein Air: “I know from experience that it’s very possible to lose oneself in the struggle with the technical aspects of painting and the attachment to what you think your final painting should look like. It’s best to let that all go or you can find yourself ultimately frustrated with everything you make, sometimes even before you make it. Or worse, that kind of energy can just kill your creative spirit entirely. Instead, consider your time outside in and with nature to be an exercise in paying attention. A chance to cultivate a dynamic dialogue between what you’re seeing and what you’re making. There’s no need to impose pressure on yourself to make a masterpiece in one day a weekend. Just be present, be mindful, be aware, paint”.
*** WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS ***
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Composing the Landscape
(3-Day Workshop - $325)
June 29, 2021 - July 1, 2021
by Professional Artist, T.M. Nicholas
Workshop Description/Presenter Info:
"In this workshop we will learn about composition, editing the landscape and choosing the important elements. Using values and color to complete your idea. You will also learn some ideas about how to deal with the changing light, and getting the most out of your subject."
"The palette and color mixing will be discussed. I will begin the day with a demonstration to help students navigate the landscape after the demo. I will give individual critique to the class as they paint. One evening we will have a group critique. We shall work on the grounds or in a location that is close to the Gibson house."
-T. M. Nicholas
Bio
T. M. Nicholas was born in Rockport, Massachusetts in 1963 and is the son of Tom Nicholas, NA, AWS. He has studied privately with his father and also at John Terelak's Gloucester Academy of Art and the Montserrat School of Art, as well as workshops with noted California artists, Jade Fon, Morris Shubin, Millard Sheets and George Gibson. He has received 97 awards from 1981 to the present, including several Gold and Silver medals. More About T.M. Nichols
View "Exploring the Arts with Ed Colley: T.M. Nicholas" Video
*** WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS ***
Be sure to mention this workshop to receive special lodging rates and extras as a workshop participant.
Find The Essence: Plein Air Painting In Watercolor
(3-Day Workshop - $295)
July 6, 2021 - July 8, 2021
by Professional Artist, Tony Conner
Workshop Description/Presenter Info:
Creating successful en plein air paintings in changing conditions is challenging. Light, shade, and shadows can change rapidly and dramatically over the course of just a few hours. Learning to simplify the scene and fixing it at a point in time are the most important factors in creating successful en Plein air landscape paintings.
We’ll work from about 9 am to 4 pm each day. The instructor will do short demos each morning and we’ll end each day with a gentle review and critique of the day's work. We’ll also stay late one evening to work on the particular challenge of capturing the evening sky and shady landscape.
Here's what you'll learn:
- Planning by sketching
- Selecting your scene and identifying the important elements
- Combining shapes and simplifying your composition
- Capturing light in changing conditions
- Using color and value creatively
Materials list and en plein painting equipment lists available on request.
Fee $295
Instructor Tony Conner's Bio
Tony Conner was born in Winchester Virginia. He has drawn and painted most of his life. In the mid-1980's he turned his focus to watercolor. Since then his path as a self-taught artist has followed an apprenticeship to the unique disciplines of the watercolor medium. Watercolor is meant to be 'glowing and flowing' and is greatly appreciated for these qualities. It is also a flexible and versatile medium, capable of subtlety and boldness. The key is in the balance between freedom and control.
Most of his work is done from direct observation. Whether it is a landscape, seascape, still life or figure model, he focuses on identifying the essential element that gives the subject meaning. From there he relies on simple compositions and basic watercolor techniques to bring focus and a sense of complexity.
Conner describes his painting process as a conversation. The artist makes his mark and allows the medium the freedom to respond. The painting continues back and forth until the conversation is done.
His work has been included in many juried exhibits and a frequent participant in juried Plein Air Painting competitions. His work has also garnered a number of awards.
Conner is a Signature Member of the New England and Vermont Watercolor Societies and an Artist Member of the North Shore Arts Association and the venerable Salamagundi Club.
*** WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS ***
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Key Elements of Plein Air Painting
(3-Day Workshop - $325)
July 20, 2021 - July 22, 2021
by Professional Artist, George Van Hook
Workshop Description/Presenter Info:
Join George Van Hook, a nationally recognized artist has won numerous Plein Air competitions and awards from around the country for his oils and watercolors, for a four-day plein air workshop. George stresses allaprima painting and using a loose and fast approach to capture the landscape in the first try. Participants will be meeting on location and painting all day from 9am-4pm with a lunch provided. Workshop includes live demos and individual attention. Please bring your own plein air equipment, supports, and media (oil, pastel, watercolor, acrylic). Suggests medium to advanced, but all levels welcome.
We will begin each day with a demo by the artist. At that time, he will discuss composition, laying out the pallet, proper use of materials and all other aspects of plein air painting. We will then break up into groups and paint individually.
He will then provide individual instruction helping solve the issues for each artist. After lunch, he will do a quick demo to refresh the ideas presented at the start. Painters will start a second painting for the afternoon with additional individual instruction.
After 4 pm we can simply paint as a group. George has found this to be the most congenial and beneficial experience of the day. Evenings can be spent enjoying each others company in conversation about their experiences of the day.
Bio
George Van Hook was born and raised in Abington, Pennsylvania, a northern suburb of Philadelphia. He began painting very early and was able to participate in the vibrant artistic culture of the region. The family owned a farm in Bucks County, home of the Pennsylvania impressionists, and he became heavily influenced by their fine academic training coupled with a love of the prosaic landscape. Another early local influence was the Brandywine Traditional, the illustrative work of Howard Pyle and the generations of Wyeths. This was further enhanced by a close association with coastal Maine. George has spent many summers painting in the midcoast area of Rockland and Rockport Harbor, and on North Haven Island where his wife's family owned property adjacent to the famous Boston artist Frank Benson.
Van Hook’s love of the European tradition also began early. He spent two summers during high school filmmaking throughout France and England. This allowed him to visit many of the great museums, and further increased his commitment to become a professional artist. Following college, he left for Paris and spent nearly a year copying at the Louvre and travelling through France, Italy and Holland making numerous paintings “en plein air”. He returned to California, where he continued painting the landscape and figure out of doors. After marriage and the start of a family, George returned to the East Coast, eventually settling in Cambridge, NY, a beautiful nineteenth century village in the Hudson Valley. His wife is a Mycological Consultant for Ecovative. Their three daughters were often models for his paintings when younger, and are now grown and successfully independent. More About George Van Hook
Materials and Supplies List
The workshop will focus on the fundamentals of both oil and watercolor painting, but the emphasis will be painting the landscape in oil en plein air. This class will cover both oil and watercolor, and pastel if anyone wants. However, I intend to focus primarily on oil painting. _GVH
Please bring any and all materials that you currently use and are comfortable with.
I DO recommend the following:
COLORS
Ultramarine Blue
Cobalt Blue
Alizarin Crimson
Cadmium Red Light
Cadmium Orange
Viridian Green
Cadmium Yellow Medium
Cadmium Yellow Light
Titanium White
PAINT
I use a lot of paint, and buy these in the large tubes. Please bring a good quality/quantity of paint.
I use Winsor Newton and Gamblin ,but use your judgment.
I use Gamsol with some Liquin as a medium.-GVH
BRUSHES
Bring plenty of Brushes.
Flats, # 2,4,6,8,10&12, natural bristle, and any filberts or rounds that you usually use. For watercolor, a wide selection of sable brushes, both flat and round.
PAINTING SURFACES
Please bring a large number of smaller panels, 8-10",9-12",11-14",12-16". Any of these sizes that you are comfortable with.
Watercolor: several sheets or blocks of 140-lb cold pressed paper, of a good quality.
We'll all be doing 2-4 paintings a day, so please be ready to work quickly on a variety of surfaces. Panels are better for this work than stretched canvas, and cheaper too!
MISC.
A good, sturdy easel that allows you to work outside and sets up easily, painting medium, thinner, rags, paper towels, trash bag, etc. Basically anything else that you want and are comfortable with. Many artists like to use an umbrella. Don't forget your hat, eye protection, sun screen, and water! I recommend this highly!
*** WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS ***
Be sure to mention this workshop to receive special lodging rates and extras as a workshop participant.
Plein Air Landscape Painting
(3-Day Workshop - $275)
July 27, 2021 - July 29, 2021
by Professional Artist, Robert J. O'Brien
Workshop Description/Presenter Info:
Paint the summer colors at this beautiful and historic location overlooking the beautiful Connecticut River Valley while relaxing in the comfort of the Gibson House Inn.
This workshop will focus on Plein air landscape painting and will be open to all abilities.
I have been painting in the watercolor medium for over forty-five years. One of my main objectives in watercolor painting is to create light through the use of shadow. In painting ordinary images, I find a fascinating interplay between the two. The transparency of the medium helps in bringing shadows alive while allowing the light to glow.
My recent paintings have emphasized close focus features of a particular subject giving the piece an almost abstract quality, with great attention placed on composition and value. I have also been exploring portraiture and figurative works. One of my objectives is to transform mundane, everyday scenes into beautiful works of art.
Robert is a Signature Member of the American and National Watercolor Societies as well as several others including the New England Watercolor Society. He has studied with noted watercolorists including James Whatford, Tony Couch, and Marshall Joyce NA AWS.
His work was featured in the December 2011 / February 2012 issue of the Art de Aquarelle and in Splash 15, the Best of Watercolor. He teaches workshops locally, throughout the United States and abroad.
Bio
Born 1954, in Rochester, NY, Robert O'Brien has been painting in the watercolor medium for thirty years. Since moving to Vermont in 1977, he has focused his work on landscape and architectural studies. Vermont, with its distinct four-season climate, provides the artist with a wealth of subject matter and ever-changing light effects.
The artist finds beauty in the ordinary, subtle reminders of everyday life in rural New England. In his own words, he is driven "to capture the vanishing landscape in my paintings" before they disappear forever as a result of the steady hand of "progress." More About Robert J. O'Brien
*** WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS ***
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Painting The Complicated Using The 'KISS' Method
(3-Day Workshop - $275)
August 17, 2021 - August 19, 2021
by Professional Artist, Stewart Burgess White
Workshop Description/Presenter Info:
This workshop will emphasize using watercolors to connect and complete your paintings. This is primarily a watercolor class but the principles apply to oil painting as well.
DAY 1
A presentation on paintings that simplify complicated subject matter. From landscapes to urban industrial scenes. Emphasis on composition and line. Practice in Plein Air in the surrounding area
DAY 2
Morning demo addressing the work from the previous day. Color takes on more importance in simplification. Several painting trips through out the day
DAY 3
Putting it all together. Work on technique and application of paint. The Art of Mark Making.
Bio
Stewart White is a watercolorist from Baltimore, Maryland. He is one of the rare plein air painters using the medium of watercolor. His background in architectural illustration adds to his skill set and his paintings reflect his knowledge of good design. Stewart’s paintings have the pleasing combination of good structure with a painterly style. He is a transparent watercolorist  in the purest tradition of watercolor painters. Where as watercolor expresses its nature as fluid oil paint is stiff and seems to want to be expressed in a thick and buttery way.
Details/More Info About This Workshop
Stewart Burgess White
10 Light Street
Baltimore, MD
443-254-3087 Email Website
Baltimore, MD
443-254-3087 Email Website
*** WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS ***
Be sure to mention this workshop to receive special lodging rates and extras as a workshop participant.
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