If you read my last post you'll know that I'm taking a Central Park landscape class during the month of June. After a year of staying in place it's so liberating to be out and about with other people who love making art as much as I do. And in such a gorgeous setting! Not only that, our teacher, Sam Adoquei is a monumental source of knowledge, heart and skill. I'm thrilled that he's teaching the tools that will make my work stronger. And potentially more beautiful.

For an artist there are a million things to study. In this class my focus has been on the essential rules of composition. After all, no matter how well I paint, or how lovely my brushwork and colors are, if my design stinks then nobody will be interested in my work. A sobering thought. And high motivation to master this fundamental lesson.

Like Mr. McGuire's famous advice in "The Graduate", during the class Sam shined the spotlight on one single word. But in this case that word was BALANCE.

Yes, balance is the secret password to great design. Especially asymmetrical balance created by things that are dissimilar. Here are three simple examples of this principle: If you have a large object in your painting balance it with a few smaller ones. Or if you paint something round and smooth you might balance it with some short sharp lines. Or balance dull colors with a few bright ones. You get the idea. All the very best paintings, both modern and traditional, are based on this concept.

As the class began I spent quite a few days practicing balance with value. In art value is how light or dark things are. In the pencil studies below I used only three values: light, medium and dark. For each study my assignment was to choose one of the three values, using it as the dominant one in roughly 75 percent of the sketch. I placed the other two values in the remaining area, about twenty and five percent respectively. All this while making sure that there was at least one large, dominant shape.

For me this was an easy concept to understand. And like so many things in life it was a bit trickier to execute. I'm glad these sketches were fun to do, because I did a whole lot of them (smile). And I'll probably continue to make quick pencil studies before beginning a painting, even after the class is over. Turns out these little sketches are quite handy for solving big problems before committing to a larger work. 

If you take a look at the second sketch on the first page of pencil sketches above you'll see the study I used as the basis for my watercolor, Central Park Tree Looking West. Let's see if I managed to maintain a sense of balance in the design. Seventy-five percent dark in value? Check. One large dominant shape? Check. And there were several other things to balance too. For instance the tall, stately tree on the left with the smaller, delicate one on the right. And the trees representing the vastness of nature compared with the tiny man-made Central Park West building in the background.

What a great class, right? It's given me so much food for thought as I plan my paintings in the future. Hope you've enjoyed reading about my experience. Please let me know what you think in the comments!

It was one of those weeks. The kind where life happens and not much art work gets done. Although I did find time to flip through some of my sketch books. And reminisce about the good old days when it was easy to take sketching trips for granted.

For me, sketching on location is just plain fun. And since it's fun, it's a painless way to practice and improve my design and drawing skills. It also happens to slow me down for a deeper look at my surroundings, which widens my appreciation of them. All wonderful reasons for regular sketching trips!

In the whole wide world, one of my favorite places to sketch is the Metropolitan Museum of Art. With so many galleries and amazing treasures, it would take a lifetime to draw them all. Of course, right now getting out and about is pretty much on hold. So my sketches have become precious keepsakes, bringing back memories of the days when indoor expeditions were a lot less complicated. I'm looking forward to their return! And I don't suppose I'll ever take them for granted again.

Here are a few of my Metropolitan Museum sketches. Click through the gallery below to see larger images.

The bedroom. The place where people sleep. In western culture it's an intimate room often tucked away in a private area of the house. Artists have been painting them for ages. But in my search for images I found mostly erotic and religious works that happen to take place there. It was much harder to find paintings that were all about the bedrooms themselves. Until I got to the 19th century. So what changed?

Well, prior to the 19th century western painters made a living by making art for the one percent of their day. And what did the wealthy want? Mostly portraits of themselves, and art with religious, mythological and historical themes. Along with the occasional naughty picture commissioned for their own unofficial and secret enjoyment.

But then came the industrial age, and with it the growth of the middle class. Artists found new buyers who were interested in a whole 'nother type of art. Basically their new clients wanted nice paintings to hang on their walls, and were uninterested in large formal paintings with a religious or complicated  message.

Technology brought major changes for artists too. Photography, a new invention, became a  popular source for portraits. New tools, like collapsible paint tubes and portable easels catapulted painters out of the studio and into the great outdoors. Discoveries of bright new pigments opened their eyes to the brilliant world of light and color. Freed from former constraints, artists began experimenting with their shiny new toys. And looking to their own, personal experiences and immediate surroundings for inspiration.

Why was I interested in bedroom paintings in the first place? Well, as you know there's a pandemic on right now. I was looking for inspiration without leaving the house. This couldn't be the first time artists encountered rainy days or pandemics. I wanted to see how they made the best of being stuck inside. 

Do you paint interiors? Have you got a favorite artist who did? Or a favorite painting of one? Do tell us in the comment section below.

I'd love to hear from you!
Click on the comment section below to add your questions and comments. ​

Do you know that feeling, when it's summer time and you're learning to watercolor, and you're itching to go outside and paint? But it's raining! And raining and raining and raining ... Well, I do. Here are a couple of indoor watercolor efforts from those countless soggy summer days. 

Most likely I'll be painting more interiors as we plod along into winter. ​Maybe you know of a cool, colorful and laid back venue in New York City. Where they wouldn't mind an artist hanging out with watercolors for an hour or two. If you do please let me know!