JULY 14 WORKSHOP & MEETING: Nels Femrite plein air and quick sketching

By Barb Parisien Nels Femrite, founding member of NorthStar Watermedia Society, was featured in the first-ever July NorthStar event. Femrite led a four-hour plein air workshop at Silverwood Park on July 17. Eleven members enjoyed a perfect summer day painting en plein air. Nels began the workshop demonstrating his approach to painting a lakeside scene. He first made a quick value sketch (using Payne’s grey) of the scene he intended to paint. He then squeezed out fresh paint using two reds, two blues, two yellows and a couple other favorites. He completed a painting of a lakeside scene in about an hour. Participants were then given two hours to work at their own compositions. The workshop ended with a one-hour critique. At four thirty, about 30 NorthStar members joined Nels for a demo in the Silverwood sheltered picnic area. Using photos of oil paintings by Paul Strisek, he showed how a watercolorist can borrow an excellent composition from an outstanding artist and practice quick studies of landscapes. Nels completed three of these large studies on Canson Mixed Media 90 pound paper. It was a pleasant day to celebrate art and nature. (Click on the photo to see it enlarged!) IMG_0200 By Barb Parisien IMG_0210 By Barb Parisien IMG_0209 By Barb Parisien IMG_0212 By Barb Parisien photo 1 By Marilyn Jacobson photo 3 By Marilyn Jacobson photo 2 By Marilyn Jacobson photo 4 By Marilyn Jacobson photo 5 By Marilyn Jacobson photo 6 By Marilyn Jacobson photo 7 By Marilyn Jacobson photo 9 By Marilyn Jacobson photo 8 By Marilyn Jacobson photo 10 By Marilyn Jacobson photo 11 By Marilyn Jacobson IMG_0192 By Barb Parisien IMG_0190 By Barb Parisien IMG_0193 By Barb Parisien IMG_0194 By Barb Parisien