Newsletter 2018 March - Phil Starke Fine Art

Educational Resources

PHIL STARKE STUDIO NEWSLETTER

March 2018

Spring in Tucson means the Palo Verdes will be turning yellow, as well as the wild flowers springing up for a couple of weeks.  It also means temperatures climbing back into the 80's and 90's. So I'm looking forward to getting outside over the next month and doing some spring painting before the heat takes over.

Big Horn Gallery had a very nice Open House this month to announce their move to a new location in Tubac, AZ.  If you're in the area, take a look at the new paintings I brought in. I’ve posted a few of them here.  All images in this newsletter can be enlarged by clicking on them.

The Southern Rim - oil

The Height of Autumn - oil 

Long Shadows -oil

I finished up my workshop in Tubac a few weeks ago, I want to thank everyone who attended, it was a good group who worked hard and put up with some cooler temperatures in the early morning. I know those of you who live up north think that 40’s and 50’s is spring weather but our blood is thinner down here. The Tubac Resort is a great place to stay and paint, It's a historic ranch converted to a resort and it sits on the Santa Cruz River with some great places to paint. I’ll be teaching there again next year. You can contact the Scottsdale Artists School (800) 333-5707) for information.

ARTIST AT A GLANCE

Charles Adams Platt, 1861 to 1933

Platt was very busy guy, he studied drawing and painting at the Art Students League, the National Academy of Design as well as the Academie Julian in Paris. On top of all this study he was an architect as well as landscape designer. He had a really powerful client list including the Roosevelts, Rockefellers and Endecotts.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

He exhibited his etchings and paintings at the Paris Salon and became well known. He later became a part of the Cornish Art Colony, known for a long list of painters, sculptors and writers.

His paintings and etchings are very design oriented, containing large shapes and masses. These shapes aren’t cluttered with unnecessary detail. The value of the masses is always dominate over the color.  More about Charles Platt can be found at this link:  CHARLES ADAMS PLATT

ARTIST TIP

Color Schemes

It helps to think outside the box when you are trying to learn more ways of seeing and mixing color. One way is to do color charts, we’ve all seen them and I’ve done my fair share of charts. I would rather poke my eyes with sharp sticks than do another chart. I think a better way is to think in terms of color schemes. There are a variety of color schemes to practice and work with. In the images below I demonstrate how to work through a color study using different schemes with the same image. This gives you a variety of ways to view the color without copying the photo and to understand that skies aren’t always blue and grass isn’t always green, plus, you can really see how important color harmony is.

ANALOGOUS
Orange, Red-Orange, Red, Blue-Green

Original photo image.

TRIADIC
Blue-Green, Yellow-Orange, Red-Violet

TRIADIC
Orange, Green, Violet

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

PHIL STARKE ONLINE MENTORINGWeekly video lessons sent out and video critiques of work from lessons. Each student has instructor access.

PAINT WITH CONFIDENCE FAMILY OF ONLINE COURSES - Includes Online MentoringThe Bootcamp Workshop, The Plein Air Painting Course, & Conquering Summer Greens Mini-Workshop.

A LA CARTE LESSON VIDEO DOWNLOADS - Individual Video Demos Available for Download

MY FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY FOR ARTISTS - Increase Your Knowledge, Strengthen Your Skills, Love Your Art!  Free access to Art Guides, Video Tutorials, e-Books, Checklists, Tools, Supplies & More.