Brittany, France!

Plein Air Painting in Brittany with Sennelier! June 10 - 19, 2020!  Postponed due to Covid-19! 

New Dates! Due to overwhelming response, we have scheduled TWO tours! Both groups are SOLD OUT, however we can add your name to our waiting list in case a spot opens up! 

June 8 - 17, 2022 

and

June 22 - July 1, 2022

Registration is now open for my plein air painting workshop in Brittany, France, co-hosted by Sennelier! The first group sold out quickly and we are now taking reservations for the second group (ALL GROUPS ARE NOW SOLD-OUT)! We will paint the castles and chateaus, forests and parks, and the seaside villages and beaches of the northeast coast of Brittany.

We also have an exclusive, once-in-a-lifetime invitation to visit the Sennelier factories in Saint Brieuc, and the Raphael and Leonard brush factories, where we will be treated to hands-on demonstrations and given art supplies to use.

And, as the honored guests of Sennelier, we will be the featured artists at the annual Dinard Plein Air Festival! This annual plein air painting event encompasses the seaside resort of Dinard with it's picturesque squares and markets and breathtaking beaches.

UPDATE! I just found out that there will also be a Concours d'Elegance in Dinard during the plein air festival. Painting these beautiful automobiles will be a real treat for the artists!

When I was painting in Provence in few years ago, I ran into my old friend Yves-Marie Salanson, director of Sennelier. It was serendipitous, and Yves-Marie invited me to bring a group of artists to Brittany so they could visit his companies. 

Yves-Marie of Sennelier with Annie Strack in Provence

Yves-Marie and I became friends many years ago in the early days of Twitter when I was working as a Contributing Editor and Columnist for Professional Artist Magazine, and I later helped him when he was developing his new formulas for the Sennelier watercolors. I tested and reviewed paint samples for him, and I introduced other artists to him to also work on the project with us. 

It's been over a dozen years and we've been friends ever since, although we had never met in person until we ran into each other, quite by accident, while I was painting in Roussillon with my students in 2018. We made plans then and there, that I would soon bring a small group of artists to Brittany where his company is headquartered so he could show us around as his guests. 

Well, we finally got it all organized, with help from Mathieu of Provence Art Experience -- Mathieu is the world's best when it comes to organizing trips for artists, and this is shaping up to be our greatest trip. 

This trip is already half full (only ONE space remains in the second group!) so please don't wait to reserve your spot! (SOLD OUT, join our wait list). Because we are limited to a small number of guests on this trip, we are only able to accommodate artists in this group. We are not able to offer discounts to non-artists wishing to join us. 

These groups are limited to just seven artists -- that's less than half the number of people you will find in any other tour group, which means that every person on our trip is pampered with individual attention. These small intimate groups allow us to be flexible and spontaneous with our itineraries so that each person gets more than just a tour - they get the freedom to create their own personalized adventure. 

My tours are special, as I include lavish extravagances that all the other workshop artists simply can’t do because they just don’t have the resources or connections that I have. So, I only do one European tour per year, as it takes a great deal of time to plan and create these extraordinary travel experiences.

(Private concert by the Gypsy Kings on our veranda in Provence)

Lots of artists are now teaching workshops overseas, but my trips are so much more impressive than the standard, “copy and paste” itineraries that everyone else is offering. Other artists are all selling the same old cookie-cutter tours over and over again, and taking their groups to over-crowded tourist locations where hordes of artists are already staked out elbow to elbow as they all paint the exact same scene.

(Attending a wedding in the village square)

The artists who travel with me enjoy upgraded rooms in luxurious accommodations, gourmet meals prepared by award winning personal chefs, unique special events that are created exclusively for my groups, and no hidden fees or expenses (everything is included except for airfare!). Click HERE for tips on packing artist equipment and supplies for air travel.

My unique position as an Artist Ambassador for the world's most recognized brands of artist materials and my long history of working with art supply manufacturers and retailers means that my workshops are always sponsored by companies that produce fine artist materials and generously provide supplies to my participants. 

This trip is superior to all others, and provide one of a kind VIP experiences that other artists can’t even begin to offer. I take my groups to see extraordinary sights and paint at breathtaking locations that other artists don’t even know about.

Our house in Brittany!

We've secured an entire castle just a short walk from the beach for our accommodations. More photos of our Brittany house are posted here, check it out! There are five days in between, when the the first group of artists leaves on June 17, and the second group of artists arrive on June 22. So, for a small daily rate, artists in group one can add a few days on to the end of their trip, and artists in group two can add a few days onto the start of their trip. Ask Mathieu for the details. 

We have unrivaled entertainment on our tours as well, which can range from celebrity encounters, private concerts, personal tours of famous places, exclusive invitations to exciting events, and so much more. 

Travel restrictions are being loosened, be sure to keep up with the latest travel information on the official government website for travel to France. 

Many artists return year after year to take my workshops, and as a result, space is extremely limited to new attendees. Reserve your place now while there is still space available. 

To read my tips on packing light for this trip (or any plein air painting trip overseas!) click here.  

Sign up at Provence Art Experience Tours, and be sure to follow this event on Facebook to keep up with the latest updates!

Plein Air Essentials for Watercolor Painters!

I paint en plein air often and teach classes and workshops, and my new students often ask me what gear they need to come join me on these excursions. I first started painting outdoors back in the early eighties, when I worked as a State Game Warden in the Florida Everglades. Back then, I kept a small box with my painting supplies in the back of my truck so I could sketch and paint the landscape around me.

Later, when I lived in California I organized some artist friends to join me on weekends to paint the breathtaking scenery of the valleys and coastlines. Back then, we called it painting outside or paint outs -- "plein air" was not used as a noun until recent years.

The supplies I carry with me haven't changed much over the decades. Paint, brushes, and water are the essentials. I prefer pan watercolors and I keep a penknife, pencil, eraser, sandpaper, salt, and travel brushes with the folding palette. The travel brushes have self-storing handles that protect the brush when not in use. I like to use a watercolor easel such as this one, but when I was younger I would just sit on the ground and hold my painting on my lap as I worked.

I show a selection of water containers in this photo, and they all have one thing in common -- they collapse. The dog bowl holds enough water to paint a larger painting, or the smaller camping cup can can be tucked in a bag with a sketchbook to be handy for impromptu sessions. The red rectangle in this photo is a value finder. Looking through it helps artists to see values, and both in their subject and in their painting.

The right paper is a major component of painting. I like a small sketchbook such as this spiral bound one from Hahnemuehle for sketching on the go and small studies. For full size plein air paintings, I use 140 paper mounted in block form, such as this 12x16 block of Cezanne paper from Hahnemuehle.

Annie Strack teaching plein air painting in Spain

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 Workshop in Pennsylvania

 September proved to be the perfect time to teach a plein air workshop in Pennsylvania! The weather was mild with temps in the 70's and the sky was clear when my students and I gathered at the Community Arts Center in Wallingford, Pennsylvania. The location was perfect, as well. I chose a spot under the canopy of trees where my students could take advantage of the shade and the picnic tables, and had a wonderful view of several compositional subjects to from which to choose.

My students, working hard on their watercolor plein air paintings. 

My demo painting from my plein air workshop.

  The tower that I chose to use for the subject of my workshop is not "made up" -- it's an actual folly in the garden of the Art Center, as you can see in this photo!

 Al of my students use Value Finders. Here, Carol is looking at me to see if I have any values...

 More photos of my workshop students working on their paintings...

My next class at this location begins in January. Be sure to follow my updates to get the latest info.

All of my students worked on these 12x16 blocks of "Cezanne" watercolor paper provided by Hahnemuehle. I love when companies send products to me to try, and I love it even more when they send products to all of my students! I love the paper, and my students all got to try it out for themselves and experience the nice texture, outstanding brightness, and perfect sizing of this paper first-hand. Thank you, Hahnemuehle!

New Workshop just added! Plein Air painting in Watercolor!

New workshop just added! I'm teaching a 1-day plein air watercolor workshop at the Community Arts Center in Wallingford in September! This workshop is already starting to fill up, so sign up now if you want to get in before it's too late.

Students will learn how to break through the confusion of choosing a plein air painting subject, and learn how to plan a landscape composition by eliminating distractions and focusing on their subjects. They will learn how to capture light and shadow in their paintings, and how to see the landscape in simplified shapes of colors and values. They will learn how to mix colors with a limited palette, and depict a variety of perspective techniques to create depth and dimension in paintings. Students will learn how to sketch quick value studies, and add buildings, architectural elements, and gestural figures to the landscape to create drama and interest in their paintings. A variety of techniques will be demonstrated, and students will receive lots of hands on individual instruction and critique.

• This workshop takes place outdoors, so please bring a folding chair.
• Rain date will be September 19.

Instructor -- Annie Strack
Annie Strack has earned Signature Membership in 9 artist societies including the International Society of Marine Painters, and she is an Official Authorized Artist for the U.S. Coast Guard. Her paintings are exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the world and have been featured in over 20 solo shows. She is the author of the art instruction video Painting Seascapes in Watercolor which is broadcast on television stations worldwide and also available on DVD, and since 2005 she’s been a Contributing Editor for Professional Artist magazine. She teaches painting at Artists Network University, and she travels around the world to teach workshops, jury art exhibits, and paint en plein air. Her artwork has received hundreds of awards and hangs in over 1,000 collections worldwide including U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, U.S. Pentagon, U.S. Senate, Veterans Administration, and many more.

Required supplies for this course:

• Palette containing your favorite (or standard) watercolors
• Assorted watercolor brushes (natural hair such as sable and squirrel preferred)
• Sketchbook or journal for sketches
• Several pieces of 140# CP or rough watercolor paper, small sizes, no larger than quarter sheet (Watercolor Blocks preferred)
• Water container
• Pencil
• Value Finder (you may purchase one from instructor for $5 if you don't have one)
• Optional: Watercolor easel, plein air umbrella, hat

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!

More new paintings and demos from Plein Air Brandywine Valley festival!

The last couple of weeks I've been busy with the Plein Air Brandywine Valley festival. The event kicked off with a reception for the artists at the Marshallton Inn, where everyone received their welcome packets with the event schedule and artist info, and swag bags full of wonderful goodies donated by our generous sponsors. Artists started painting the very next morning and continued for four days. We started the week off by painting at farms and estates in the Greenville, Delaware area on Monday, then Marshallton, Pennsylvania on Tuesday (including a Quick Draw event!), then Chesapeake City, Maryland on Wednesday (followed by a Nocturne painting event), and finished up back in Delaware on Thursday. On Friday, we hung the show at Winterthur and the paintings were judged by Steve Doherty, editor of Plein Air Magazine and prizes were awarded during a gala reception. 

I demonstrated landscape painting using Mission Gold Watercolors provided by Martin F. Weber Fine Art Products on both Saturday and Sunday for visitors enjoying the exhibit at Winterthur.  

Painting away in Chesapeake City. Busy Bridge, 5x7 watercolor on canvas, SOLD. 

I finished 8 paintings during the event, and sold 3 of them before the paint was dry. 

Me, with Steve Doherty after the judging. As one of the event organizers, my paintings were not included in the judging, but I did get to participate in all the events and sold several paintings! 

New Paintings, Upcoming events, and lightfingered artists

Last weekend I demonstrated plein air painting at Marshall Square park in West Chester to promote the upcoming Plein Air Brandywine Valley. I painted two paintings of the fountain, one in oils and one in watercolor - using my new palette of watercolor pans from Mission Gold. The travel set of Mission Gold watercolors was a gift from the Weber company, who generously gave me samples to give out to all the artists who registered for Plein Air Brandywine Valley and also to all the artists who attended my demo for the Philadelphia Watercolor Society. 

They also gave me a set of paints to use during my demo, but another artist intercepted my box of samples when it arrived at the PWCS event and took everything, including my set of paints. She boldly announced that she was the one who got the samples for all the PWCS members, and then began handing out my samples to the audience. She even generously offered to give two of my samples to me! I was so flabbergasted by her outrageous behavior that I couldn't find the words, and I walked away. Not to worry, as I work with the Weber company on many projects and they sent me another set in the mail a few days later. It arrived in time for me to use in this demo and also the one I did for Jerry's Artarama last Friday. 

Marshall Square Park Fountain, 8x10 oil, SOLD

 Both paintings were sold off my easel before they were finished.

Marshall Square Park Fountain, 9x12 watercolor, SOLD

 Tomorrow night, I'll be at the Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia for the opening of the Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series Juried Show. I'm thrilled to be juried in this show, which had over 5,000 entries!

 Saturday, I'll be demonstrating plein air painting at Winterthur, beginning at 9am. If you're in the area, be sure to stop in and check it out! I'll be right near the main entrance of the museum, so you won't have to go far to find me.

Next weekend, I'll be demonstrating acrylic painting with Amsterdam Acrylics and conducting "make n take" classes at the Plaza Art Store in Towson, Maryland. This is the store's annual Hands On Creativity event, which features over a dozen different art supply companies and manufacturers displaying new products, offering free demos, and giving away samples. You won't want to miss this awesome event!