More Plein Air!

A few more paintings from last the Brandywine Plein Air festival last week!

Frolic's Ford, 8x10 oil 

Pasture at Big Bend, 8x10 oil 

 During the exhibit at Winterthur, I demonstrated plein air painting in the main tent to entertain visitors. Here I am with my half-finished watercolor demo on Saturday. The painting sold before the paint was dry!

On Sunday I demonstrated watercolor painting again, this time using a photo from my recent plein air workshop in Calella de Palafrugell as my reference. Both my demo paintings are on the "Cezanne" 140 lb rough watercolor paper from Hahnemuehle. I was demonstrating alongside my co-organizer of  Plein Air Brandywine, Yvonne Mucci; and I invited my house guest Gerilyn Gaskil to join us. I gave each of them a block of the paper to use, and both of them loved it every bit as much as I do.

Plein Air Painting in Calella de Palafrugell, Spain!

I haven't posted in a few weeks because I've been too busy teaching a plein air painting workshop for French Escapade Tours in Costa Brava, Spain! My students and I stayed in the gorgeous little historic fishing village of Calella de Palafrugell, and painted the Mediterranean Sea, the medieval villages, the quaint fishing boats, the beautiful Spanish gardens, and more. I'm still catching my breath! Next year I'm teaching a workshop in Provence, but I loved this location so much that I'm going to teach a workshop here again in 2019.  

Calella de Palafrugell

Students in Annie Strack's Plein Air Workshop 

More views to paint!

Fishing boats on the beach in Calella de Palafrugell

We had the town pretty much to ourselves the whole time!

I fell in love with the boats in Calella de Palafrugell

Gorgeous views at every turn

The weather was perfect, and my students and I had the place all to ourselves

New Paintings and Plein Air Workshops!

It's been a busy Spring season for art, with workshops, demos, classes, and shows every week. I've conducted so many events that I can't post them all in one blog post, so here's just a small sampling of paintings from recent events. 

SS United States, 6x6 watercolor on panel $75.

The SS United States is an old derelict ocean liner on the riverfront in south Philadelphia. Every time I drive by, I stop and marvel at it's beauty. This 6x6 painting is mounted on panel and displayed in a floater frame. It is a bargain at $75, but there's a catch -- the painting is not available for sale until 10am Saturday, May 20, in my studio during the Chester County Studio Tour. So if you want it, you have to come and get it, and -- be first in line. But there will also be 4 other artists displaying and selling their paintings in my studio that day, so you can also find great deals on fabulous artworks by Jeanne Kirby Bruneau, Tom Dempsey, Karen Frattali, and Carrie Barcomb. The studio tour is Saturday and Sunday, so be sure to stop by! We'll have wine and nibbles, painting demos, door prizes, and great artwork! The studio is at 105 Kabob Lane, Kennett Square, PA.

Chilly, $195. 11x15 watercolor on 140# CP Stonehenge Aqua paper

 More great paper has arrived from the awesome folks at Legion Paper! They sent me a case of the 300# Stonehenge Aqua to try out and share with my students. I loved the 140# paper they sent earlier, and didn't think it could get any better -- then I tried the 300#, and it's twice as nice! This paper is bright white and holds up better than I thought was even possible. No buckling or warping at all, not even with the heavy wet washes I used to create these paintings of skies and seascapes. The bright white color of the paper keeps my colors vibrant, clean, and fresh.

Sunset, $95. 11x15 watercolor on 300# CP Stonehenge Aqua paper

 I taught watercolor workshops for the Art Educators of New Jersey and for the Baltimore Watercolor Society last month, and used the new Stonehenge Aqua paper and also gave away free samples to all my students in both of them. I haven't photographed all the paintings yet, so there's still a few more besides these!

Beach, $125. 11x15 watercolor on 140# CP Stonehenge Aqua paper

 Last weekend, I conducted a plein air painting demo for the Audubon Society during their grand re-opening of their museum. This is John James Audubon's house at his farm "Mill Grove," in Audubon, Pennsylvania. The house is a museum and has been closed for the last couple of years for renovations, but finally reopened last month. Tons of people came to watch my demo, and I had a wonderful time painting in perfect weather at a beautiful location!

Audubon House, $95. 9x12 watercolor on 140# Stonehenge Aqua paper

 The Audubon House plein air demo painting is on the new Stonehenge Aqua watercolor paper, which now comes in blocks! I absolutely love painting on blocks -- the pad of paper is gummed on two sides, which firmly holds the paper down flat while painting. The blocks are ideal for plein air painting, as it provide a stable support for the paper and makes it easy to place on the easel or carry around to painting locations. I've packed several of the blocks in my gear to take to Spain later this week for my plein air workshop. In fact, it's the only paper I'm taking, so I suppose we can say that the Stonehenge Aqua blocked paper is the Official Paper of the 2017 Annie Strack Plein Air Painting Workshop in Spain! I also found out that this workshop also sold out last month, so my long standing record of filling every workshop still remains unbroken!

New watercolor blocks of Stonehenge Aqua paper!

 Here's some of the art supplies I've packed for my plein air workshop in Spain -- in addition to the Stonehenge Aqua paper blocks, I'm also taking a sturdy easel and umbrella, spare glasses, value finder, and the usual paints and brushes. I always bring gifts to give to my students, and one of the items that this class will receive is small spiral bound sketch books that they can each fill with the scenes from places we visit and paint during our workshop, and keep as a wonderful memento of our trip!

Packing for plein air painting in Costa Brava, Spain!

I'm fixing to leave out for Spain now, and I'll catch up with more news when I get back. See ya then!

New pens for plein air watercolor painting!

I just tried some new products for watercolor painting en plein -- opaque white gel pens. These pens are lightfast and archival, making them ideal for watercolor painters. The Uniball pen was a given to me by my dear friend, artist Deb Watson. The Sakura and Marvy pens I found in the crafts department of a fabric store chain. Both the Uniball and the Marvy are 1.0 mil wide, and the Sakura is .04 wide. The wider ones are better for watercolor. Because these are opaque, they cover very well and can be used to add whites to a watercolor painting at the end. This makes it perfect for painting en plein air, when it's inconvenient to use masking fluid. 

 In other news, my workshop in Spain next Spring is almost full! There are only a few seats left, and prices go up after November 2016 so you don't want to wait until the last minute to reserve your space!

As an added bonus, I'm giving away white gel pens, traditional sketching pens, and a special sketchbook to each artist in this workshop!

Paint with me in Spain!

I've just been booked (yesterday!) to teach a watercolor workshop in Costa Brava, Spain -- and it's already selling out fast! There are only 8 spaces left! This plein air watercolor painting workshop is May 1 - 8, 2017. The itinerary includes museums, medieval villages, botanical gardens, castles, fishing villages, and the beautiful coastal seashore of the Costa Brava in northern Spain.

Sign up NOW to reserve your space, before it's all sold out! Contact Jackie at French Escapade tours for more information or to sign up!