art lessons

Art Treks: Tuscany – last day

October 16, 2011

“Morning Textures, Tuscany” • 10” x 8″ oil by Niki Gulley

Last Day – ART TREKS: TUSCANY
with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

After a busy full day in Florence, we decided to take it easy on the last day of the workshop and paint in the nearby town of Pienza. Choosing this quiet alleyway and working on a vignette rather than the sprawling landscape, we each picked a doorway and concentrated on its individual character. The age of the stonework, dating from the era of Pope Pious II, and each home’s unique heavy wood doors made for a fun study in texture, and some of the best paintings from the trip!

Two of our students painting in a quiet picturesque courtyard in Pienza.

Our last meal in Tuscany, filled with truffles, pecorino, pasta, vino, fun and great memories!

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If you would like to join us on future ART TREKS to Paris, France in May or Tuscany, Italy in September,visit nikigulley.com/?page_id=1420, which goes into detail about our upcoming Plein Air Painting and Photography Workshops.

Or, if you’d be interested in learning how to paint “plein air” or improve your location painting a little closer to home, visit nikigulley.com/?page_id=13, which tells you about my upcoming Painting Workshop at the Dallas Arboretum and White Rock Lake, Oct. 29th and 30th. Space if filling up quickly, so e-mail Niki if you are interested.

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E-mail me at [email protected] for more information.

Tuscany Workshop with Niki Gulley & Scott Williams – Florence

October 14, 2011

“Evening, Florence” • 25” x 19″ pastel by Niki Gulley

Day 5, Florence – ART TREKS: TUSCANY
with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

On day five of our Tuscany workshop, we spent the whole day in Florence, visiting some of the best art galleries in the world, exploring its impressive Duomo and architectural sites, and of course shopping! With such a busy day of sight seeing, unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to paint but we took many references to work from back home, such as my pastel above. To top off our day, we had one of the best meals of our trip, and everyone left satiated and happy. Enjoying our stroll back to the van, there’s nothing quite like the romantic feel of Florence after dark when the crowds have left and the streetlights and shop lights cast magical colors that dance across the cobblestone streets, stone buildings, Ponte Vecchio, and the river that kisses it.

Our Tuscany workshop group overlooking Florence.

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E-mail me at [email protected] for more information.

October 12, 2011

“Magical Light, Tuscany” • 8” x 10″ oil by Niki Gulley

Day 4, afternoon location – ART TREKS: TUSCANY
with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

After we finished a delicious antipasto lunch of prosciuttos, local pecorino, and fresh fruits and vegetables, we headed into the hills for our afternoon painting location. Starting fairly late in the day, we timed it so that the light would be soft and golden as we were putting the finishing details on our paintings. For this painting, we focused in closer on one of the tuscan farmhouses, with just a suggestion of the peaks and valleys in the background. Between the quiet surroundings, the quintessential Tuscan vineyard behind us and the perfect weather conditions, this proved to be a very inspiring afternoon.

Niki Gulley and one of her students painting the agriturismos and rolling hills in Tuscany.

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E-mail me at [email protected] for more information.

Art Treks: Tuscany – Day 4 with Niki Gulley & Scott Williams

October 10, 2011

“Pienza” • 4” x 10″ oil by Niki Gulley

Day 4 – ART TREKS: TUSCANY
with Niki Gulley & Scott Williams

After a busy two days of exploring surrounding hill towns, on day 4 of our Tuscany workshop, we decided to slow down the pace and enjoy the beautiful 360 degree views surrounding our villa. Today each one of my painters painters picked a different subject, feeling much more confident about painting en plein air and expressing their personal vision.

I chose this view of Pienza for my demo, and decided that I wanted two main focal points to help tell the story of what I was seeing in the scene. I was particularly attracted to the hill town above with the church steeple rising above the rest of the village, and a simple stone house on the bottom right below. Unfortunately the trees had grown so large that they were slightly hiding the house, so with artistic license, I just moved them off to the right a little to see the house better! I arranged the composition through a series of diagonal lines to lead your eye through the scene. Then I painted in the sky and hills with a thin application of water mixable oil paint so that the paint could be drying in those areas while I started blocking in the hill town, densest foliage and farmhouse below with thicker paint. Lastly I added even thicker highlights to the buildings and details to the rows of crops to complete the painting.

One of my students, Rosemary Achepohl, and her palette knife sketches from our villa. Rosemary chose to work with 5×7 boards and a single subject and they turned out great! You can see her work and her husband’s paintings, Fred Achepohl, from our Tuscany trip in Grapevine, Texas, at grapevinemainstreetartgallery.com.

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E-mail me at [email protected] for more information.

Painting / Photographing in Tuscany with Niki Gulley & Scott Williams

October 7, 2011

“View from the Villa, Tuscany” • 5″ x 7″ textured oil by Niki Gulley

Day 3, Afternoon Location – ART TREKS: TUSCANY with Niki Gulley & Scott Williams

After a busy morning and afternoon in Siena, we were all content to stay at the villa for our afternoon location. With it being warmer today, the pool was calling us so we set up our easels under the beach umbrellas, and started sketching the distant hills, foliage, and stone houses. With a short amount of time, we decided to work small and focus on a simple subject. We thought it would be fun to make this quick study very loose and free. So using palette knives and small canvases we layered in the rolling hills, dark to light, and then added the details on top, completing these fun, spontaneous paintings.

Niki Gulley and two of her students in front of their completed paintings at the Tuscany villa.

That night we ventured into town for dinner, and had the best dessert of the trip, fresh figs stuffed with homemade gelato and drizzled with caramel sauce. It was so good, everyone had to order more for the next night! A perfect ending to a fun, inspirational day.

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E-mail me at [email protected] for more information.

Day 3: Siena – Art Treks Tuscany

October 5, 2011

“Doorway to the Past, Siena” • 10″ x 8″ pastel by Niki Gulley

Day 3 – ART TREKS: TUSCANY with Niki Gulley & Scott Williams

Today we headed to the much larger medieval walled city of Siena, and explored its intricate marble cathedral, numerous streets and passageways, and its main square where all of the action is, el campo. One of the unique things in Siena are its hand-carved doors and detailed door knockers, which everyone had a great time photographing. Several folks savored the long Italian lunch hour while others continued shopping and touring.

If you would like to join us on future ART TREKS to Paris, France in May or Tuscany, Italy in September, visit nikigulley.com/?page_id=1420, which goes into detail about our upcoming Plein Air Painting & Photography Workshops. Early registration deadline for a $500 savings is only 5 days away!

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E-mail me at [email protected] for more information.

ART TREKS: Tuscany, Day 2

October 3, 2011

“Autumn Harvest, Tuscany” • 24″ x 36″ pastel by Niki Gulley

Day 2, Afternoon – ArtTreks: Tuscany with Niki Gulley & Scott Williams

After lunch, we explored the streets and shops of Montepulciano, and then later that afternoon we treated our group to a wine tour in the surrounding countryside. One of the wineries has been in business for over 300 years, and their pride and enthusiasm for their wines is infectious. Their robust Vino Nobiles were delicious, and the local meats and cheese they paired with them exceptional. Many students said this was their favorite day of the trip!

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E-mail me at [email protected] for more information.

Cottonwood Art Festival this weekend & Day 2 in Tuscany

September 30, 2011

“Morning Overlook,” Montepulciano • 9″ x 12″ oil by Niki Gulley

Day 2 – Morning Location – ART TREKS: Tuscany

Plein Air Painting & Photography Workshop with Niki Gulley & Scott Williams

On day 2 of our Tuscany workshop, we headed to the picturesque hill town of Montepulciano, know for the delicious red wines. We set up at this beautiful scenic overlook to paint the valley below. Narrowing down a subject to paint was challenging since the whole scene was amazing, but impossible to capture all of it on our small travel canvases.

Several students settled on painting the Duomo below, with its unique architecture and aqua dome. I decided to sketch in some of the buildings on the left side of my composition and show the Duomo and the lush landscape on the right.

With only two hours left of morning sunlight, we had to paint very quickly, but everyone did a great job. Bella – as a few onlookers commented to us in Italian!

One of our my students with her finished painting of the cathedral below.

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I’ll have this Tuscany oil painting in addition to many more at the Cottonwood Art Festival, CottonwoodArtFestival.com, this weekend, Oct. 1st & 2nd from 9am – 6pm in Richardson, TX. Please stop by my booth to see them in person.

Or, if you would like to join us on future ART TREKS to Paris, France in May or Tuscany, Italy in September, visit nikigulley.com/?page_id=1420, which goes into detail about our upcoming Plein Air Painting & Photography Workshops. Early registration deadline for a $500 savings is quickly approaching!

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E-mail me at [email protected] for more information.

Tuscany Workshop & Cottonwood Art Festival this weekend

September 28, 2011

5″ x 7″ textured oil by Niki Gulley

Day 1 – Afternoon Location – ART TREKS: Tuscany

Plein Air Painting & Photography Workshop with Niki Gulley & Scott Williams

After we finished our morning painting at the villa, and enjoyed a delicious lunch of proscuittos, pecorinos, fresh fruit and a little vino, we ventured out to our afternoon location. Just one of the unique aspects of the Tuscan landscape are the cypress that dot the horizon, so we picked this long curving road lined by cypress for our second subject. This was the only day that it looked like it might rain, but we lucked out and the drops stayed away. The overcast skies are actually quite nice for plein air work because it provides some shade while you’re painting, and keeps the light more constant.

So we set up our easels along this overlook, and quickly blocked in our basic shapes and colors. Next we worked on creating volume in the hillsides, and then added highlights and shadows to the bushes to give them more dimension. Lastly, we added highlights to our road and finally the fun part – all of those cypress lining the road. Above you can see my easel set up – I like this simple lightweight pochade box by EASyL (http://www.windriverarts.com/pochade_boxes.htm), which holds everything: palette, paints, brushes and 2 wet boards.

As a reward that night, we treated ourselves to a fantastic Tuscan dinner!

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E-mail me at [email protected] for more information.

ART TREKS: Tuscany – Day 1 with Niki Gulley & Scott Williams

September 26, 2011

8″ x 10″ oil by Niki Gulley

Day 1 – ART TREKS: Tuscany

Plein Air Painting & Photography Workshop with Niki Gulley & Scott Williams

On the first day of our Tuscany workshop, we stayed right at our villa (pictured below) since the scenery there is so beautiful and painted right on site. While some of the group chose the countryside for their first subject, I had a couple of students who had never painted before and one professional artist, Barbara Mason, http://www.dragonflystudiocreations.com/index.cfm?pID=2724, who decided to paint the still life.

Barbara often paints these gorgeous pears and cherries, so we set up a still life next to her against this textured old stone wall. When someone has never painted before, I like to start them on a single subject like this, rather than have them try to narrow down what to paint from the entire landscape. So first, we sketched out our composition, and then applied a thin layer of oil paint to block in the basic shapes and colors. Next, we added depth by introducing the shadows and highlights to each object in the still life. Lastly, we worked on creating texture in the stone wall behind the fruit bowl and lastly, we added finishing details, such as stems, bowl rims, etc. Of course, when we were finished we had to treat ourselves to the delicious Tuscan fruit – grown locally – sweet and delicious!

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E-mail me at [email protected] for more information.