Light on Forms, and Orange Crush painting by Everglades Artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Orange Crush, 2012, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on canvas, 16x12

I've started teaching again, which always keeps me on my toes.  I love to see what and how my students are working on, and get as much from the class as I hope they do. 

This series of classes is about light in the landscape.  We started by talking about how light moves around the most basic of forms, a cone, cylinder, a box and a circle.  Most forms in the landscape can be made with these simple shapes. 

I brought flashlights with both warm and cool bulbs, and a red and white ground, and the shapes.  I think the most surprising thing the students discovered was how much red light bounced from the ground and onto the form.  It was a good lesson in reflected light, and they'll be more ready to see it in the landscape when they go outside.

They did a great job of painting balls, getting lots of roundness using a warm and cool palette.  It was a nice start and they are terrific! We'll work on atmospheric progression next week.  

Orange Crush, today's painting was a lot of fun to do.  I love the sherbet colors.  Some of the oranges are a favorite right now, and exploring them in the landscape, for me, anyway, required some balance.  It all has to do with a commission I'm working on.  More on that later.