Together we look at what gold leaves look like in the landscape in preparation for making a painting. Gold color is relative. I show trees in my yard in light and shadow, then we take a leaf inside to examine it further with simple background colors. I encourage you to try this with any object! Amazing how flawed a photo can be (really shocking!). Look at what your camera or phone has captured versus what you see in reality! I learned something here myself!
Then we mix oil color together in preparation for the Gold Tree paint a long demo. All color is in a relationship with the surrounding or adjacent colors... therefore no gold color is perfect! Preparing mixes ahead or just playing with color in dabs will foster a quicker response when mixing color for a painting.
ONE CONCEPT & MANY VISUALS = FOSTERS A SENSE OF WONDER
The prep video is open ended on purpose. Prior to the live class I have a loose idea. Then in class (see next video recording of Gold Trees class) we clarify together what will happen specifically. Keeping a loose idea for a project in the beginning stage is important for both me and students because we need to think like a creative. Think of unlimited possibilities! The opposite of this open-ended thinking would be a concrete idea where there is no room for expansion or deviation. This leads to a 'copy this' mindset, tight renderings, and a stiff feel to the art. Even beginners can do this! Open thinking is going back to that joy and wonder we had for life as a child. It's playtime with paint! Gold paint to be precise.
My demo project becomes vertical gold aspen trees with backlight. To have more independence on this assignment, you might use your own reference photo of a similar scene.
SIZE, SKETCHES & MORE ISNPIRATION
In addition to a more open ended assignment preparation, I also provide master art inspiration. In this video, I show my art, Edgar Payne's art, and 2 photos for reference. Try to make a sketch of your idea or what you see. I kept the reference as a square but you may use any dimension of paper or panel (including square if you like).