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James Gurney Demo

Kenn Backhaus Demo

Painting Seascapes

Sierra Ram Demo

Tractor Painting Demo

Vernal Falls Demo

Camera vs.sketching

Creating a Powerful Moment

Discovering An Extraordinary Life

Baumann’s Top Ten When Working in the Field

by Stefan Baumann

When I teach a location workshop, I try to go beyond just “putting a little blue here and a little green there.”  I feel students should take a moment and think about what they’re painting and why they are painting THIS location.  Students love to make lists so here is my “Top Ten Helpful Hints When Working in the Field” list:

1. Stefan Baumann    "View from Castle Craig r"  12 x 18 Oil on Canvas

   First – a reaction!  Why are you going to paint this painting?  Having the answer to this is essential and is the very first question that all artists must answer before they start a painting.


2. Try to define your feelings – why did I stop here?  Ask yourself “What do I see?”  Before you start with the first brush stroke, bring yourself to full awareness, notice your perceptions and feelings toward the subject, and then make up your mind about what you intend to say about the subject.
   
   
3. Squint, it will help pre-edit and guide you to a value plan.  Keep it simple; look for the chunks of value.  There should be no more than four or five values to a good painting.


4. We see too much and feel too little!  Take a moment and feel the subject.  It might be the color effect or the atmospheric mood.  Is there an emotion or something spiritual about the subject?  Choose it, fix it in your mind, and put it into words.


5. Art starts where the camera stops.  If you want to render a subject perfectly, take a photo of it.  The most important thing is that YOU are the artist and what YOU see is what the world wants and needs.
6. Music and painting both have a key, a pitch, and a rhythm.  Look for them.


7. Do not paint with ego by making a painting to take home to show other artists how good you are.  Don’t try to make it right; just concentrate on making it.


8. Don’t focus too hard on distant details.  Keep it simple!


9. Subject matter is not as important as the feeling you have towards it.  Self-expression and poetic destination must win over your technical efforts.  Use your vision to set up your painting.  A good painting unmistakably comes from the heart.


10. Stop before you run out of things to do for the painting.  Paint no more than two hours at one location.

This is just a short list.  I recommend that students keep a journal or a sketchbook.  In the sketchbook you should start your own list; you can start with this one and add to it.  Leonardo da Vinci stated “An artist must be curious.”  I think what he meant is that artists should be observant of nature and take notes of what they see and think.  One of the ways of doing this is having notes that you write down for yourself.  Leonardo had thousands of notes about his own observation on painting; I find that the student who takes the time to do this will find that he is thinking like Leonardo da Vinci.

If you would like more information on Baumann Location Workshops, please contact me at Baumann@thegrandview.org or by phone 415-606-9074.