Night of a Thousand Candles at Brookgreen Gardens 12 '07

Tonight we went to see thousands of enchanting twinkling lights which are adorning  the pathways and trees of  Brookgreen Gardens during the Nights of a Thousand Candles festival.

This annual event is a favorite seasonal event in the Myrtle Beach area, as carolers and musicians add the sounds of the holidays to the enchanting garden scene. Performers will include a variety of genres and talents, choral ensemble groups, and more.

What a beautiful local for nocturnal reference photos.

It's defiantly going to become an annual event for us

Susan Sarbach Workshop in North Carolina. 10 '07

Susan Sarbach  is a California plein-air painter known for her colorful landscapes.  She runs a well known art school outside of Sacramento CA., and has recently contracted with Dreamwork Productions to train their animators on color and form.  I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a week -long workshop which she was offering in Cary, North Carolina in October.

The course included lecture and demonstrations, as well as lots of opportunity to practice what we were learning.   

Susan paints every painting in four steps.  ( See the example  below)

Scene being painted

Step 1 block in shapes  with relative value tones

Stage 2 Blend  shapes, adjust values,  and temperatures 

Stage 3 Add highlights

Final painting  with finsihing details

 It was a lot harder than Susan made it look.  But she is an excellent teach and by the fifth day, everyone was making dramatic strides in using her techniques.  Here are three of the other students’ practice  pieces..

Student 1

Student 2

Student 3

Below is one of my practice pieces… Wadda ya  think?