More of the Subject: The Corner of the Field

Gifted Light Field

14.25" x 18.25"

Pastel

Casey Klahn

I think that a yellow phase is in the works.  

Choose Without Knowing Why

Whitetail Heaven

5" x 7"

Pastel & Charcoal

Casey Klahn

An example of intuitive choices is given by this small painting that I did from memory.  We have daily visitations by Whitetail deer  at my house, and so reproducing one on paper doesn't require actually looking at one - memory is good enough.  The trick, for me, is in rendering a four-legged animal because I almost never draw them.  Anyway, this was the result of my memory sketch of the buck.

After this one hung on my studio wall with a piece of tape for about a month, I looked at it and wondered why I had made these linear and color choices.  I realized that there are several layers of observation in this image, none of which I was thinking consciously about when I drew it.

Deer, while considered color blind, don't actually see in black and white, either.  According to the science, they are supposed to see the the ultra-violet, and perhaps also the infra-red spectrum spaces. They have been shown to respond to blue, and possibly yellow.  Why did I choose to bathe this image in blue?  Was I thinking, at some level, about the way deer see?  Consider also the fact that they aren't binocular in the same way that people are. They see outlines, but not much depth.  Movement is the thing they respond to, and they trust less of what they see, but everything that they smell.


Whitetail Heaven shows the vague, broken outline of this buck, who is sniffing the air at dusk and he is in motion.  Weird how this turned out that way.  Strange, in fact.


Maybe I'm making too much of it.  I gotta get out more.

Bright Pine & News

Bright Pine

10" x 11"

Pastel

Casey Klahn

This weekend, I started on a new project that is a wonderful departure for me.  I hope you'll be able to see it completed in the next month or two, but I'll keep it under wraps for the time being.  Hee hee.  It should be very cool.

My hands are very full with daddy duty now that school is out.  And, that caught me by surprise.  We watched the Eddie Murphy movie, Daddy Day Care, and got some laughs over the whole scheme of dad taking care of the youngsters.  

If you live in the Oakland or San Francisco areas, be aware that I will be teaching a workshop in your area in the next few months.  The date will be announced, along with the venue, soon.  Contact me if you are interested.  The announcement for On-Demand Workshops is here.

Paint Like This, Only Different

Orchard Grass

5" x 6.5"

Pastel & Charcoal

Casey Klahn

Below is the flyer for my new "On-Demand" workshops.  On Demand means you can now host a workshop in your area.  Putting together a workshop involves finding a potential venue, and gathering 5-10 students, and we can set a date.

Back In The Draw

In The Draw With Vermilion

6.5" x 6.5"

Pastel

Casey Klahn

Buttes Are My Next Subject

Up Country Pines

11" x 17.9"

Pastel

Casey Klahn

Butte

Smaller than a mesa and bigger than a berm.

Red & Violet Something Different

Red & Violet Corner River

9.75" x 9"

Pastel

Casey Klahn

See the page: Pressroom, for news about my on-demand workshops.

The wet scene above demands a rain song video. Whaaaaa-yahlluhhhh Greeeen Rivah!

Music and Fields

Music and Fields

8" x 12"

Pastel

Casey Klahn

Breakthroughs at the Workshop

My Set-Up at Katherine's Studio

The best thing for a workshop, I think, is when artist's can get a breakthrough and find new strength in their paintings.  I appreciate the very hard work my students put in to do this, and I have a feeling others will want to endure experience this same kind of fun at one of my on-demand workshops.  

See Katherine van Schoonhoven's photos and posts at Art and Music.

Katherine's Studio Hosts My Workshop

"I Use Matisse's Method.  Matisse Said, 'I Have No Method.'"

I am teaching a small group of Portland area artists in Katherine van Schoonhoven's beautiful studio.  Kvan lives in Battleground, WA, and she blogs at Art and Music. We share a love for abstraction in the landscape, and she posts about the workshop here.

It took some courage to begin a fresh work for my demo, which was of a subject viewed in the Columbia Gorge on my drive over from eastern Washington.  Luckily, I was pleased with the results.  Whew.


Photo Credit:  Katherine van Schoonhoven.

Workshop Bound

Look here for my report over the next few days.  Have a nice weekend.

Fluid Corner River

Fluid Corner

19.5" x 13.75"

Pastel

Casey Klahn

With the river scenes also comes a music video with the theme of rain.  Water is everywhere in these images:  in the sky; in the trees; in your hair.

ArtFest Behind; Workshop Ahead

Thank you to the friends who stopped by to see me at the ArtFest.  It was interesting, and very enjoyable, to meet readers of The Colorist whom I've not met before (and who don't show up on Statcounter at all!)


Next weekend I'll be in the Portland area teaching a pastel workshop.  It looks like we are entering the busy time of year.

Spokane ArtFest 2011

Fauvist Forest

Fauvist Forest

12.3" x 10.75"

Pastel

Casey Klahn

New Work - Pastel Field

Pastel Field

11.25" x 16"

Pastel & Charcoal

Casey Klahn

This is a piece done over the top of a discarded work.