ALASTAIR DACEY
PAINTING THE OUTDOOR FIGURE
September 25 - 26, 2023. Portsmouth, NH
OUTDOOR FIGURE PAINTING
ALASTAIR DACEY. Portsmouth, NH
September 25 - 26, 2023. (9a -4p)
Community Congregational Church, 44 Post Rd. Greenland, NH. (Parish House)
(Limit 12) $300
Register:
Email Todd [email protected]
Or Call (603) 819-9100
Have you ever tried painting the figure outside? And after a few hours given serious thought to breaking all your brushes and taking up golf? You’re not alone.
Painting the figure en plain air is exhilarating and may be my favorite genre and subject to paint. But with the thrills come challenges. My workshop will explore two of the most important challenges painting the figure plein air presents: how to achieve a sense of light and form and how to integrate your figure so you have a believable sense of weight and space in your painting. To say nothing of making a great design!
We will be painting directly from the clothed model, alla prima, outdoors (weather permitting). I will go over things to consider when arranging and posing the model as well as how to set your palette and how I start a painting. I will demo each day and offer one-on-one critique and feedback. Students will be spending time each class working on their own painting while I make the rounds, and can expect to start two figure paintings over the course of the workshop.
ALASTAIR DACEY. Portsmouth, NH
September 25 - 26, 2023. (9a -4p)
Community Congregational Church, 44 Post Rd. Greenland, NH. (Parish House)
(Limit 12) $300
Register:
Email Todd [email protected]
Or Call (603) 819-9100
Have you ever tried painting the figure outside? And after a few hours given serious thought to breaking all your brushes and taking up golf? You’re not alone.
Painting the figure en plain air is exhilarating and may be my favorite genre and subject to paint. But with the thrills come challenges. My workshop will explore two of the most important challenges painting the figure plein air presents: how to achieve a sense of light and form and how to integrate your figure so you have a believable sense of weight and space in your painting. To say nothing of making a great design!
We will be painting directly from the clothed model, alla prima, outdoors (weather permitting). I will go over things to consider when arranging and posing the model as well as how to set your palette and how I start a painting. I will demo each day and offer one-on-one critique and feedback. Students will be spending time each class working on their own painting while I make the rounds, and can expect to start two figure paintings over the course of the workshop.
Alastair Dacey
ART SUPPLIES
With most workshops it should be perfectly fine to use the toos and materials you are already comfortable with to make pictures. Fundamental suggestion of standards include good quality brushes that are not hardened from failure to clean. Professional quality grade paints. Your color choices should be able to make a sufficient color wheel with all three primaries represented, plus a tube of white. For those who enjoy the sport and curiosity of the tools and materials the instructor uses, I will list Alastairs supplies here:
Below are notes on the tools and materials I use for ‘wet into wet’ painting.
Easel
Each student will need to bring their own portable freestanding easel. I encourage students to stand while they work, but sitting is certainly an option. Make sure your easel is not a tabletop ease and has adjustable legs that get your drawing surface high enough for you to work comfortably. For painting, a French easel which has a drawer to place your palette and supplies is ideal, otherwise you will need to hold your palette!
Palette
With enough space to put out generous piles of paint and space to mix. Please spare yourself the nuisance of wax paper disposable pallets. Get a wood one and wipe it with tung oil and sand to seal. Then apply linseed oil to clean after working.
Palette knife
Paper Towel or Tissue
Enough to keep your palette clean and routinely wipe your brushes. I use Viva or a box of tissue
Paint
I suggest a palette organized round red, yellow and blue -with a warm and cool color for each of these hues. This palette is sometimes called a ‘split palette’ because is has a warm and cool variation of each primary color.
Below are colors I use organized by hue. Winsor Newton is a good brand to start with. Rembrandt is also good.
*I use the colors in bold
Cool red: alizarin, quinacridone rose, carmine
Warm Red: cadmium red scarlet, scarlet lake or vermillion
Cool yellow: cadmium yellow lemon Warm yellow: cadmium yellow medium
Cool blue: French ultramarine
Warmer blue: sevres or Cerulean blues.
I usually add: phthalo blues and yellow ochre.
Canvases
Stretched canvas or boards are fine. Linen is what I usually use. Sizes between 8x10” and 18x24” are ideal. Bring a few. Keep in mind: boards block light from peeking in from behind your canvas.
Medium
Gamsol, Gamblin’s odorless mineral spirits, and refined linseed oil -I use this sparingly, mixed with the mineral spirits, adding a little more as the painting progresses.
Brushes
Have a selection of rounds and filbert bristle brushes (I use hogs hair) and sables or mongoose-like finishing brushes. Winsor Newton, Rosemary and Co. are great options. Have an array of sizes in both shapes, from the 1- 2’s, the 4-6’s up to the 8-10’s. Keeping in mind we will start with bristles and then finish with the softer/sables.
Below are notes on the tools and materials I use for ‘wet into wet’ painting.
Easel
Each student will need to bring their own portable freestanding easel. I encourage students to stand while they work, but sitting is certainly an option. Make sure your easel is not a tabletop ease and has adjustable legs that get your drawing surface high enough for you to work comfortably. For painting, a French easel which has a drawer to place your palette and supplies is ideal, otherwise you will need to hold your palette!
Palette
With enough space to put out generous piles of paint and space to mix. Please spare yourself the nuisance of wax paper disposable pallets. Get a wood one and wipe it with tung oil and sand to seal. Then apply linseed oil to clean after working.
Palette knife
Paper Towel or Tissue
Enough to keep your palette clean and routinely wipe your brushes. I use Viva or a box of tissue
Paint
I suggest a palette organized round red, yellow and blue -with a warm and cool color for each of these hues. This palette is sometimes called a ‘split palette’ because is has a warm and cool variation of each primary color.
Below are colors I use organized by hue. Winsor Newton is a good brand to start with. Rembrandt is also good.
*I use the colors in bold
Cool red: alizarin, quinacridone rose, carmine
Warm Red: cadmium red scarlet, scarlet lake or vermillion
Cool yellow: cadmium yellow lemon Warm yellow: cadmium yellow medium
Cool blue: French ultramarine
Warmer blue: sevres or Cerulean blues.
I usually add: phthalo blues and yellow ochre.
Canvases
Stretched canvas or boards are fine. Linen is what I usually use. Sizes between 8x10” and 18x24” are ideal. Bring a few. Keep in mind: boards block light from peeking in from behind your canvas.
Medium
Gamsol, Gamblin’s odorless mineral spirits, and refined linseed oil -I use this sparingly, mixed with the mineral spirits, adding a little more as the painting progresses.
Brushes
Have a selection of rounds and filbert bristle brushes (I use hogs hair) and sables or mongoose-like finishing brushes. Winsor Newton, Rosemary and Co. are great options. Have an array of sizes in both shapes, from the 1- 2’s, the 4-6’s up to the 8-10’s. Keeping in mind we will start with bristles and then finish with the softer/sables.
Alastair Dacey.
I trained at the Rhode Island School of Design, Ingbretson Studios and Cecil Studios in Florence, Italy.
Wandering initially from bold abstract and color plane paintings to delicate linear musings with ink and pencil, I eventually came to focus my painting on careful observation and interpretive realism. Nineteenth century aesthetics and academic traditions became my guide -with a generous smattering of Impressionism. Applying my training and historical sensibilities to my own work, I treat painting as a feat of craftsmanship and a challenge to freshly perceive my corner of the globe.
I co-curated the 2016 exhibition “Illuminating Tarbell, Legacy in Action” and am an active painting and drawing instructor. My work is in noteworthy collections including the St. Botolph Club and the New Hampshire State House.
Commissioned work has played an important role in my career and I enjoy the collaborative aspect. Feel free to contact me for information on how I approach a commission. I also create work for galleries and exhibitions.
I trained at the Rhode Island School of Design, Ingbretson Studios and Cecil Studios in Florence, Italy.
Wandering initially from bold abstract and color plane paintings to delicate linear musings with ink and pencil, I eventually came to focus my painting on careful observation and interpretive realism. Nineteenth century aesthetics and academic traditions became my guide -with a generous smattering of Impressionism. Applying my training and historical sensibilities to my own work, I treat painting as a feat of craftsmanship and a challenge to freshly perceive my corner of the globe.
I co-curated the 2016 exhibition “Illuminating Tarbell, Legacy in Action” and am an active painting and drawing instructor. My work is in noteworthy collections including the St. Botolph Club and the New Hampshire State House.
Commissioned work has played an important role in my career and I enjoy the collaborative aspect. Feel free to contact me for information on how I approach a commission. I also create work for galleries and exhibitions.