Ray did a beautiful foggy-day demonstration on the beach at 9 AM this morning. He spoke about the persistent desire to create tension and balance in his compositions. Here was a great example of taking a placid scene and making it rhythmic and energetic while maintaining a sense of place, feeling, and romance. In my own work, I find this quite the challenge, to create a bit of drama, but still convey a quiet, serene and dreamlike scene. *[Ray often talks about the famous artist, Frederick Waugh, as he did this morning. Waugh liked to key his paintings off of one illuminated area, such as a spectral highlight in the water], so he chose to push all the values around that highlight, darker. Just the same, Ray made a conscious decision to push the sky darker this morning, to push the difference in the spectral highlight in the water.
The LIVE demo recording was available to our participants to watch for a limited time. The viewing time has since expired. If you missed the LIVE demo, no worries--we'll have it available for purchase in our "Streaming Videos" section on our website soon.
To learn more about Frederick Waugh, check out these rare and out of print books: Frederick Judd Waugh American Marine Painter, George R Havens - University of Maine Press 1969 and Frederick Waugh's Paintings of the Sea, Walter foster book 153 - Walter Foster Publishing
*After the demo, Ray later remembered that it was William Ritschel who liked to key his paintings off of one illuminated area. Waugh and Ritschel are names that you'll often here Ray bring up during his demonstrations. Head here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Frederic_Ritschel, to learn more about William Ritschel.
