Grateful Notices: Fall Imposing, Sunset in Pinks and Orange and Field with the Orange Tree, oils on canvas

Fall Imposing

oil canvas, 36 x 60 inches

Private collection, Texas

Sunset in Pinks and Orange

oil canvas, 36 x 60 inches

Private collection, Texas

Field with the Orange Tree

oil on canvas, 36 x 60 inches

Private collection, Texas

It's a great pleasure to meet new people and this Texas couple was a delight! My good friend here in Colorado is the daughter of the woman that visited. We had a lively time before they left and three works were selected for their home. 

I couldn't be more happy to have met them and I was honored that they took a number of oils back to Texas.

Thank you!

Ken 

Workshop: Sat - Sun, November 21-22 The Pastel Society of Colorado

Making it Fine Art Workshop, Marshfield, MA

This will be my last Making It Fine Art Workshop of 2015 and I am honored to be invited and sponsored by the Pastel Society of Colorado.  I hope you can make it!

This will be an indoor, two-day workshop open to artists at all skill levels and in all media.

Because of the Society sponsorship, this workshop is over $100. less than the usual price.

In these Workshops new artistic paths are offered and strategies for making fine art. It is an inspirational weekend with information that will last you for a lifetime.


Sat - Sun, November 21-22
Making It Fine Art Workshop

Pastel Society of Colorado, sponsor
Workshop flyer and supply list

Location:
Lakewood Cultural Center
470 S Allison Parkway, Lakewood, CO 80226
Open to artists at all skill levels and media
An indoor, two-day workshop, 9-4 pm
Limited to 20 participants, $225 payable to the City of Lakewood.

Register online: http://www.Lakewood.org/Register
(keyword search Ken Elliott) or a much easier way by phone:
303-987-7845, workshop #379401-01

In this workshop:
This workshop is open to artists are all skill levels. Ken will discuss strategies for creating better artworks with a variety of common and creative tools. The workshop will focus the strategies for making better paintings, going to new places in your work and how to make fine art. Much attention will be given to improving your own artworks and career.

Ken will demonstrate painting using oil and pastel. He will discuss the idea of making strong starts and keeping the way open for more interesting and dramatic finishes. Ken is a very hands-on teacher, so there will be some collaboration if you are open to it.

In addition to making art works, Ken will talk about business and promotion, which are necessary to be a successful artist in the marketplace.

There will be serious discussions, laughs, and your questions. We will all come away with new tools to take your art to the next level.

Attendees are invited to bring whatever they wish to paint with and work on. Bring works to start, works in progress, and finished works to evaluate. There will be a lot of conversation about the mental aspects of making good art by design and experiment. The mental aspect is the quickest way to get the breakthroughs to the next big success in your art.
Ken will bring some finished works to share with the group.

The feedback from the "Making it Fine Art" Workshops has been very positive. People are saying they are getting much more than they expected and for many, a real boost to their careers. Some have experienced tremendous breakthroughs.

People are saying:
"So, when my friend, Ken Elliott, told me he was co-teaching a workshop on color with Casey Klahn, I immediately said sign me up! Ken's work is simplified impressionist landscape with an emphasis on bold color like reds and yellows. Casey's work is influenced by the cloudy days of the northwestern part of the United States, and his paintings are simplified, abstracted landscapes. Casey uses subdued colors like blues and purples. Both artists' style and color sense are so dramatically different than mine that I knew I would be challenged by this workshop. And indeed I was! I have to smile when I see the work I produced in this workshop. It's so unlike my usual work."

Lee McVey website

I so enjoyed meeting you and being part of the workshop. You got me on fire!!!!!
Ed

"Wow! My weekend of private lessons was fabulous! While I was there I stepped into a whole new world that my soul was calling for. Wonderful conversations, a beautiful time with great art everywhere and artistic success!"
Kate

"Thank you so much for including me in the wonderful weekend workshop at the Castle Rock Artist "Retreat" :D I found all of you to be a delight and am so happy to meet each of you! Ken, you are a wonderful teacher & inspiring person!! The one day with you in your B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L home & "artist sanctuary" was "exactly" what I needed on so many levels !!! Thank you for your generosity, great color sense, sharing of your artful knowledge & supply resources. I came away with a renewed art spirit and also w/ some new artistic ideas for applying paint to the canvas! Very inspiring indeed!
Jeannie Paty website

"When I signed up for a painting workshop, who knew that it would be so much more. Thank you Ken. For your kindness, generosity of spirit, and sharing your knowledge and skill of painting with us. And thank you to everyone for making our time together a magical weekend which will be cherished. Fortunately the universe provided me with what I needed, whether I knew it or not."
Linda

"It was a fabulous workshop! I know we all had a lot of fun and really enjoyed having you here. We would love to have you come back again next year!"
Donna


"Just wanted to thank you again for a very inspiring, informative, and fun workshop. I worked LARGE today!
Maxene


Thank you for all your inspiration!
Deb


Thanks SO VERY MUCH, Ken, for such a fun, informative, and energetic workshop. Your enthusiasm is contagious. What a wonderful weekend!!
Christine


"You are so gracious. Thank you so much for the wonderful workshop and ALL that you shared. It was a great weekend."
Suzanne

"Love the class, you are a great teacher!"
Betsy


"I feel so enriched and on fire to paint big and glowing colors. If you ever get a chance to study with Ken Elliott, I highly recommend him. If you need help getting to his workshops just read his book Manifesting 123"
Francine "

Great class Ken! Thank you for all the good tips and inspiration. So glad you came to Houston."
Kay

You are so gracious. Thank you so much for the wonderful workshop and ALL that you shared to inspire us. It was a great weekend in Alaska.
Suzanne

A good time was had by all! Thank you!
Barbara, Workshop organizer and attendee

It was a great work shop, I highly recommend Ken's workshops.
Scott

Art Workshops: Colorado Springs Art Guild, October 2015

Here is a photo from the Colorado Springs Art Workshop with some of the participants. I'm working on an oil demonstration as the class looks on. One of the lessons here is to make a good start on this 36 x 36 canvas. So far, so good!

My thanks for the Colorado Springs Art Guild that sponsored this event. I throughly enjoyed myself and we put a lot of new ideas into effect during that weekend. 

New Work: View to the Foothills, High Contrasts, oil on canvas, 40 x 40

View to the Foothills, High Contrasts, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches

This is an interpretation of the view behind my home and studio. I'm so happy to be free from making a portrait of landscapes. My view barely resembles what you see here. In this oil the colors and contrasts have taken over, bringing the artwork to a dramatic edge.

Here's the best part. I picked up a canvas that was a problem child. It had been sitting in a stack of unfinished canvases for about three years. I put it up on the easel and in fast, broad strokes painted this new image over the old one. It felt great as I covered up that unsolved mess with a bright, new idea. Some of the old came through and created wonderful effects in places, a nice bonus!

Now I have a study for a larger idea and I'm back to the studio to make a bigger horizontal version.

New Work: Sunset Impression, oil 30 x 30 inches

Sunset Impression, oil on canvas, 30 x 30 inches

This is a cropped version of a 5 foot sunset painting from months back. I was intrigued by the idea of doing that bright ball in a painterly rather than decorative or illustrative way. It's so easy to do something ordinary out of a sunset. I wanted this oil to really push the color and light.

Once I cropped the composition down from the larger version, I was left with the basic parts of the sunset. Every remaining element would be very important to the overall success of the piece.

From the start, I decided that the overall color would be tangerine but to keep it interesting, a lot of different colors were applied the canvas and remnants of many of those colors remain. This work was done in about 5-6 painting sessions. Each time I returned to the easel the painting was demanding more power, contrasts, glow, etc. It was a very simple composition but it required a lot of moves and attention before it came to life.

It was also very important to just leave it alone between sessions. Sometimes in the busy - ness of working to a finish, a lot of interesting subtleties go unseen and get covered up. It was nice to return to the studio and see those previously hidden notes present themselves. Those little gifts were left in place or used to take the oil further along.

Honestly, it seemed like it would paint itself in the dark of the night at times and surprise me with some positive developments while I was sleeping. If you are watching, the paintings will speak to you as they evolve. 

Opening reception: Manitou Springs, Colorado, Friday Sept. 18

My oil is pictured here: Sunset in Pinks and Orange
oil on canvas 36 x 60
$8450 framed


I hope you can join me for the opening reception of the Colorado Springs Art Guild Regional "Autumn Glances: Juried Show 2015.

Friday Sept. 18 Artist's reception, 5-8pm.
Manitou Art Center
513 Manitou Ave.

Manitou Springs, Colorado

I was honored to have been selected to the juror this show. There are over 100 works exhibiting and offered for sale here. Over $1000. in prizes were awarded and the winners will be announced tonight!

The Colorado Springs Art Guild is also sponsoring my Making it Fine Art Workshop Fri-Sat Oct 2-3.
CSAG members $200.
Non-members $225.

More info and registration here
Workshop flyer and supply list

Grateful Notices: Chromatic Forest, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches

Chromatic Forest, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches
Private collection, Washington state

This oil was begun as a painting demonstration during my October 2014 Workshop in Marshfield MA. It is of a favorite motif, a wall of trees. For this quick start during the demonstration I opted for a very dark foreground, middle values in the trees and a lighter background.

Originally the foreground was very dark but once I got the oil back in the studio the foreground needed a lot more interest. Rather than try to represent a forest floor, I layer on the colors, moving them from left to right. I was completely unconcerned about what it should look like - the colors would carry that part of the scene if they were interesting enough. In the end, the bright reds were modulated down with the blues and greens but leaving the glow of the reds.

Once that lower part of the oil was in place with the hot reds, the upper part of the painting looked pretty dull. That's where the fun began. I decided to use arbitrary colors, unnatural choices with the purples and pinks for the foliage.

After adding ''standard' greens along with aquas and turquoise there, something began to happen that made the oil a lot more interesting.

I hit the reds in the background hard followed by the yellows and rose-pinks. The painting was almost there but something was needed in the upper right. Once the bright yellows went in (and those green tree trunks) the painting was complete. Thanks to Van Gough for the green tree trunks - a nice idea worth using again.

The end effect is a forest scene with a full range of chroma. It took a lot of moves to hold it together and make it sing. I enjoyed the process and patiently let the painting evolve over a period of about 9 months.

My big thanks to the Washington collector!