Our demonstrator was Mark Richards, who did an oil landscape painting demonstration.
The meeting was held in the Guild Hall, First Congregational Church (middle side door), Sanborn Street, Reading, Wednesday September 12th, 2018 at 7:30 p.m.
We have some photographs of the event in case you could not make it there in person.
Mark started with a canvas that he had already painted.
He mentioned that his technique is different when using
a painted canvas instead of a blank canvas because the
paint flows differently. He paints wet in wet.
His source material was a section of this painting.
Here he shows us his palette.
He had started to put in the sky.
He continued to fill in large areas until the entire canvas
was covered with fresh paint. He paints wet into wet.
After the first layer of paint was in, Mark put in
the large masses of color on the second layer.
Here is the painting at this level of completion.
More details and colors go in.
The clouds are indicated using white paint.
Then, the dark sides of the clouds were painted using purple.
Notice that some green foliage has been painted in.
Mark adds more details to the rocks.
A closer view of the painting at this stage.
Bright purple is used to indicate flowers.
A closer view.
Mark adds the final touches to the painting.
This is the final result.
Mark has been experimenting and creating since 2005 using his own medium which is a combination of photography and painting. His background is a little different than most artists. He studied electrical engineering and worked in the hitech world for many years before immersing himself in the world of fine art.
His art work starts with his photography. He captures the lighting and composition of a scene using high resolution equipment. Next, he uses printmaking equipment and each work is screened directly to canvas. This allows him to achieve unique quality and dynamic range in his works.
Mark has a very long list of exhibits and awards throughout the United States, way too numerous to list. He explained that he seeks out natural subjects that fulfill his love of the natural world. His paintings attempt to capture the spirit of time, place, season, atmosphere, and mood with colors that are bold and vibrant. Paint, color, texture and form are elements that he combines to elicit a response from the viewer. He considers the viewers' responses as important as the places depicted.