Weekend with the Masters, 2012, San Diego

I am catching up with some seriously overdue blog posts and am excited to share some pics and thoughts from my trip to San Diego this past September. My experiences at Weekend with the Masters were rich and undeniably life changing. I gained skills, confidence and amazing friends.

The first demo I attended was a half day portrait demo with Daniel E. Greene. I enjoyed watching him block the head in and learned some great colour techniques.

Daniel E. Greene and his massive palette (which he uses resting on a table)

On my second day I spent the day plein air painting with Kenn Backhaus. We were painting on the beach and it was SO FUN! He is just a delight to watch- he slaps on paint thickly and changes the scene before him to suit his aesthetic. He appears to have a blast painting and that is so refreshing. I learned a tonne about colour and plein air painting from Kenn.

Kenn Backhaus painting

My plein air painting

My 3rd day at WWM was a full day figure painting workshop with one of my favourite artists Michael Klein. He taught me some things about colour, anatomy and how to work the paint on the palette that undoubtedly changed how I paint. 

                                    

Michael Klein working from the model

Klein's demo

my alla prima painting from Klein's workshop

I spent my final day watching Jeremy Lipking paint from the model. I have seen Jeremy demo in New York and at his studio in L.A. From a technical standpoint he is my favourite living painter and it is always magic to watch him work. 

                                   

Jeremy's demo paintings

Even the amazing David Leffel enjoys watching Jeremy paint

So all of the workshops, demos, roundtable and panel discussions were mind-blowing, but the nights were supremely fantastic too! Lots of foods, drinks and sing-alongs. We were chased out of several parts of the hotel and I slept very little! I have to say those Americans have a thriving figurative arts community and they welcomed me into it without hesitation

                                    

Alexey Steele and Jeremy Lipking with Heather and Katie from Jerry's Artarama (who generously picked up the dinner tab for a large table of artists!)

I am giving Danielle Lipking some love on our last night at WWM

                        

 Here I am with Stephen Cefalo- the other WWM scholarship winner and one of the nicest guys ever!

David Kassan playing Jeremy Lipking's mandolin. Oh, and the pools weren't too bad either!