Good Morning Stu. Thanks for accepting my offer. I will be moving inland to Bakersfield, CA once my house sells here in Arizona. Wouldn't be my first choice but I have a large and lovely bunch of family who helped make that decision. (Hope you and your wife are enjoying your family, the painting excursion etc.)

Thanks Stu. ....appreciated!

Great to be friends!!! :) thx

Thank you so much for the advice Stu.  I will do all that you suggest.  It is great to get suggestions as I am a bit a sea at the moment.

Hi Stuart,  I am a friend of Lori's.  Noticed in a note to her that you put grid lines on your canvas.  I have stopped making marks on my canvas that at times can be difficult to cover up.  Instead, I mark the back of the canvas with the lines on the edge, and using masking tape, I tape on the back and wrap sewing thread of any color that will show up across the front of the canvas and tape on the back of the other side.  I use that mostly for my sunsets so my clouds dont "out-grow the proper area".  If you are painting in a spot and the line is in the way, just pull off one of the attachment points and leave the thread where if you want to re establish the line just put the tape over it again.  End of painting I pull all the tape off.  I enjoy this method a lot. Roena

Hi Stu, I have just begun en plein air this spring.  What a different way to paint!  Most recently I have been painting in the Flemish seven layers method which produces really beautiful paintings, but takes a month or two to complete one painting (and add drying times to that and you have 3-4 months).  I am working on my 2nd sunset panorama painting, so when RR started a sunset workshop I just had to see what he had to offer to add to my method of painting.  smile

I think it is a really nice group of artist doing the workshop.  Roena

Thanks for the nice complement on my son's sunset painting.  There is actually a story to this.  I read about the contents of their (WN) transparent white and wrote them a note.  Stating, what ratio do I need to use of the 2 ingredients so that I could make the transparent white.  They wrote me back and stated, it was a special blend in a special binder that made it transparent.  Not just bc it was the 2 ingredients.  They sent me 3 tubes of free paint!  I typically buy the largest size white and so I guess they sent me the equivalent to that size.  ....  Tit. White and Zinc White in safflower oil. They mentioned that it was a special grind (?) size pigment to make it transparent, and that I could not just mix T.White and Zinc White together (which was my question for the recipe) to get the transparent white. I really enjoyed the paint and what it would do.  Oh, and btw, can't use it in the underpainting bc it has the safflower oil.  Got to be on the top layer of the painting (they pointed that out to me). 

Oh my, how wonderful.  To actually have met and is a friend of an online friend!  Oh to dream. Traveling as we do, I meet people for a few days and they are gone.  My online friends (who I am really close to) are all around the world.  LOL You mentioned painting with a group, not possible, traveling as we do.  Don and I love the life though.  smile

Thank you for your comment Stu on my Fire in the Sky #3.  A few years back I was doing all palette knife work, and to the point that I was wondering if I had forgotten how to paint with a brush, so I quit.  90% of all my en plein air was knife, but my last #10 was a combination and I thought it was my best one.  I only have 1 size small to paint small pic with but thought I might like to buy more sizes and more pointed shapes for better control.  With a knife I put it down and more or less leave it alone except for blending a few edges.  I have such a time doing that with a brush----blend, blend, blend.  Errrr  LOL  Glad you liked my #3 attempt.  smile

Stuart, thanks for the welcome and kind words on my artwork from my site.  The plein air group and outings is going well and, yes, we do have some lovely spots down here in NZ.  Has actually taken me a while to get around to doing one of Richard's online workshops, but as I love sunsets and painting them thought I would have to take some time out and undertake the value scale etc for this one.   Guess we are a little spoilt here in NZ and sometimes take our scenery for granted. I personally find it quite difficult to paint small, as so used to painting on a larger scale up to around the 6ft mark - hopefully become accustomed the more I do, another reason for joining in and undertaking via this site. Some of the paintings being undertaken here are lovely and imagine Richard is making a lot of difference in the lives of many with their art.  Once again, thanks for the welcome.

Thanks for your nice comment, Stu!  I would post more work but there honestly isn't very much to show at this point. I only picked up a paint brush for the first time in my life last year.  Never had any formal training, never learned to draw, really never even doodled before picking up that first brush.  LOL!  I was told a few times as a child that I had no talent for art so, even though I very much wanted to pursue it, I never did.  At 46 years old, I decided I had nothing to lose and here I am.  Your work is wonderful, Stu!  I'm very excited about the prospect of learning from such accomplished artists as you on this site.  

Thanks Stu for you encouraging comment. Wish they would all turn out all right!!

Thanks Stu for you kind comments and observations. I have a slight penchant towards 'simple' and simplicity. The difficulty is how far do you go before destroying the actual image and then applying graphics to the subject matter. Over the years I have been determined to lead the eye into the painting via good composition and regrettably this is sometimes a big mistake. The fishing boats are an exception as big skies always help!!

Thank you for the input on Fleet Street Stu, can't take credit for compositional elements, it was a tutorial exercise but the execution I humbly concede :-)

thanks so much Stu!! though you may not have posted on this subject originally, I knew you'd have the info!! I appreciate your taking the time to respond in such detail...I painted my workshop painting on canvas pad & as it would happen, I like it better than I thought I would & want to preserve it!!

Hope you and your family enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving--I am grateful for your friendship & the generous spirit in which you share so much knowledge!

Hi Stu, just wanted to let you know that I, too, will be back with VAA. Time to dig back and deep to get the science and technical aspects in place.

HAPPY NEW YEAR STU!!!! Hope everything is fine with you!!!! My best wishes for 2014!!!

Hi Stu, just spotted you on line, not seen you for ages.  Hope all well with you. P :-}}

I will look forward very much to seeing you back! enjoy the rest of your holiday and great painting! :-))

Thank you Stu,  Alway's felt we were friends, now we've cemented it! very happy to accept:-}

Stu, I've missed seeing your paintings and reading your comments. Hope you will be back soon. 

Hi Stu, just found your new paintings! they are fantastic, i'm just loving your palette especially the buildings. Great body of work!! 

Hello Stuart. RE your blog: You look so organised !!!  A big thank you for sharing. It is a very nice blog & I hope it is one of many more to come :) 

Hi Stu,

It was so nice hearing from you.  I'm sorry it has taken so long for me to respond.  Your paintings this month are just gorgeous.  I feel like I have been to all of those places, especially those on the coast. 

I have not signed on to any workshops since moving to Morro Bay.  I haven't even joined the Morro Bay Art Association...which would be really enjoyable.  Getting together with other artists is always something I have loved doing.  I miss my weekly plein aire water color class down in Santa Monica. 

My life has become more complicated as of late, and I find that painting is a true luxury.  I really wanted to spend that hour each day painting for this workshop, but found that it was difficult, and therefore,  I really only produced one painting that took the whole month.  It took me a week and a half just planning how I wanted to compose it from the photo I took.  I loved the foreground, but not the background; so, I made up the background.  I think that is what took so long, since I really need to see what I draw or paint.  It really was a challenge, and I did learn a great deal.  I am just happy that this painting finally is finished...that is unless you could critique it for me.  I have stared at it, walked away from it, turned it upside down, and  looked at it in the mirror.  It is done at least for now, and I will post it this evening. 

How are you doing?  It looks as though you are really enjoying your painting excursions.  I noticed that you now have a blog.  I would love to check it out if you will tell me how to find it.  You are such a wonderful artist that a blog is a great idea.  You do need to share you paintings.   

Thank you again.

Nancy

Thanks Stuart, love your work. Love your blog too!!!. After reading some of your blog, it brought to mind I've been looking for that perfect painting surface, that magic brush, and that special magical tube of paint. Kind of showed up on your blog!!.

Keep on painting!!!. Ern

Delighted to accept your friend request Stu. Felt we were friends already this is such a great site. I do envy you and your friends being able to paint outdoors together but am just back from a great art-fix myself having just visited St. Petersburgh. My other half had to drag me out of the Hermitage. Could have spent weeks there.

Looking forward to browsing through your blog which I have just discovered. I had already taken down last night your steps for doing plein aire which is my big weakness.

Hi Stu, I am happy and honor to be one of your artist friends, I love your artwork, too!

Thank you for the friend request dear artist friend!

All the best!

Hi Stuart - sorry to both you with this again, but seems there's another one??

FRANK KWABENA added a comment to your profile on The Complete Artist

------------
Good Day,

How is everything with you, I picked interest on you after going through your short profile and deemed it necessary to write you immediately. I have something very vital to disclose to you, but I found it difficult to express myself here, since it's a public site.Could you please get back to me on:( mr.frankkwabena0033@yahoo.com.hk ) for the full details.

Have a nice day

Thanks God bless.

Mr.Frank.

Lovely to have a new friend, thank you Stuart, sorry I've been travelling home and just got online.

Cheers Stuart :-)

Thanks Stuart for the Christmas wishes........and many more back to you.  Lovely painting of the clouds.  I am glad you are getting to get out and paint between the rain showers!  Wish you could send some of that wet to NM where we are at the moment praying for snow on top of this mountain!  The ski area could not be open at all if it were not for man made snow.  That is so sad.  I can remember deep snows by Thanksgiving years ago.  sad

Merry Christmas!  Roena

Thanks so much for taking the time to leave me a favorable comment on my latest video on drawing tricks.  I appreciate it very much.  Roena

Thank you, Stu.  I will do that.  I do not want to lose everything in My Page by creating a new account.  Richard must know of an easy way to do that. 

Have you decided about joining the Paso workshop? 

Nancy

I wrote to him, but have not heard back.  Maybe he has no idea how to do it either.  I will keep my old email until I am sure not to lose everything. 

Great that you will hopefully come down for the workshop.  I am so looking forward to it and to meeting you after all this time.

Nancy

Stuart I just wanted to tell you how pleased that you would think of me to send me an invitation to your evening at Marin Open Studios Preview Gala.  It sounds like such a wonderful evening and I do wish I could attend but NM is a far distance to CA so I must decline.  I hope it is a great time and others (friends) will be there with you.  Roena