Last Fall, I attended another workshop on Whidbey Island and enjoyed my time with Zoey Frank. As you can tell, I really like it there (on Whidbey). Excited to paint with Zoey, I found her enthusiasm of the contemporary realists refreshing and her teachings were similar to Kimberly Trowbridge. We were enthralled by Zoey’s historic slideshows, the group banter and of course her very own creations.
Zoey addressed the emotional side of the still life and different approaches to space, perspective, and geometry. Basically, we were challenged to leave behind the regimented ideas of how we render the usual realistic still life and use more intuitive reasoning. Color was also evaluated and a highlight for me as it was strategized—as if I were a two-year old. It was a welcomed strategy and finally brought the clarity I sought for so long. Our exercises included limited color palettes (our choice) and in my case, also a limited value range.
During the weekend, I began painting in a Stillman & Birn Beta Series sketchbook (8″x10″) in earnest. One of my favorite YouTube subscriptions is of Miami artist Cesar Santos where he turned me on to his personal sketchbook videos. One of those videos highlighted the S&B brand sketchbooks. I’m sold!
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