In the spring 2007 issue of Workshop, we discussed how Jason
A. Saunders taught Tennessee artists how to recreate the subtleties of
light and shadow found in the landscape by using a limited palette,
constantly considering the conditions under which they were painting,
and working to achieve accurate value relationships.
by Allison Malafronte
Individual Instruction
The two demonstrations Saunders conducted during the three-day
workshop were the only times the artist was at his easel. He spent the
rest of the class walking from student to student offering
straightforward advice and hands-on instruction.
Right: As Saunders made the rounds to the students spread among the
sunlit hills of the private farm, he noticed that the value of almost
all of their ground planes was off—no one seemed to realize how light
it actually was. Here, he mixed a lighter green and added it to the
foreground of this artist’s painting, which allowed him to reestablish
the correct value relationships.
Left:
As Saunders arrived at this student’s easel, she was questioning how to
accurately paint sunlit foliage. “You have to mass in your dark values
and then create a light side and a shadow side,” the instructor
advised. “Because you’re dealing with a backlit subject, you have to
first establish the form and then deal with the light. Remember that
too many and too bright lights in your dark masses will break up your
form.”
Right: Walking
up to this artist’s canvas, Saunders stopped and observed from afar.
“You have a great balance among your lights and darks,” he said. Coming
closer to her painting, he pointed to the background area and suggested
simplifying the variations in the trees that were breaking up the
forms.
Left:
After applauding this artist’s accurate reading of values, Saunders
suggested she find ways to break up some of the forms. “Each subject
has a slight variation,” he said. “Find out what’s different about
those trees—look at the difference in the stems and the shape of the
leaves, even the way the light is hitting each differently, and paint
those in.”
Student-Critique Session
The workshop concluded with an outdoor critique session of the
paintings produced during the three-day class. Here is a selection of
student work and Saunders’ feedback on each.
Gary Young (right):
“You did a great job of using your blues to create the feeling of
distance in this painting,” Saunders said of this artist’s work. “As
busy as this painting is, it still holds together because the values
are reading correctly. I would only suggest moving the point of
interest from dead-center to the side slightly to lead the viewer’s eye
in from the right.”
Lori Putnam (left): Saunders gave this painting the verbal “painting-of-the week” award, applauding the
artist’s handling of colors, composition, and overall mood. “Look how
fresh this little vignette is,” the artist said holding up the
painting. “Look at how the looseness in the lower-right-hand corner is
just leading your eye in. And look at the colors: the cools are added
in just the right areas to balance the warms, and the scratched-in
phone lines are just subtle enough—it’s these kinds of things that make
a good painting a great painting .”
Andrea Jones (right):
“Great design in this piece,” Saunders said of this artist’s work.
“It’s very well balanced. I would lighten your ground plane
slightly—your tendency is to paint your values too dark. There’s some
really good brushwork in this painting as well.”
Douglas Jones (left):
“Nice painting,” Saunders commented. “Look at how the fence is helping
to hold the composition together. Also, this tree near the fence is
doing a great job of balancing the busyness in the left.” Now
addressing the entire class, Saunders said, “If you have something busy
happening on one side, go to the opposite side and put something
interesting there, such as a sharp edge or an area of contrast. It will
balance the work.”