Tag: Tuscany oil painting

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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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.

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

Tuscany Plein Air Painting / Photography Workshop

October 11, 2010

“Chasing the Light” ©2010 Niki Gulley
 8” x 10” oil painting

We just got back from teaching our plein air painting / photography workshop in Tuscany, and everyone had a fabulous time! Of course it would be hard not to when immersed in such beautiful scenery – gorgeous rolling hills that stretch for miles and mysteriously change shapes from the Tuscan sun light. I painted this piece right outside the front door of our villa, which was surrounded by amazing 360 degree views of the valleys and distant hill towns. Truly beautiful! With the constantly moving clouds causing the light to change minute to minute, our challenge was to paint the scene quickly and yet capture the mood created by the soft dramatic morning light.

If you’d like to see my recent Italian inspired landscapes, along with my students’ work, stop by my studio as part of the White Rock Artists’ Studio Tour this weekend in Dallas. WhiteRockArtists.com

If you’d like more information on our next painting / photography workshop in Greece this May or Tuscany September 2011, visit my website at

nikigulley.com/?page_id=13 for more information

or e-mail me at [email protected].

Painting Tuscany with Niki Gulley

September 17, 2010

“Crimson Waves” © 2010 Niki Gulley
Oil on canvas • 18” x 48”

Yesterday we painted the beautiful rolling hills that make Tuscany so picturesque, after a leisurely morning of hill town touring and wine sampling. Being in Tuscany right at harvest time makes the grapes taste even better! It was a perfect 78 degrees and so peaceful in this perfect spot where we set up our easels. I find the cypress trees really fascinating and unique, creating such a striking contrast to the otherwise flat surroundings. A very inspirational day!


Plein Air Painting & Photography Workshop
Tuscany, Italy – September 2010 & 2011
Athens & Santorini, Greece – May 2011
Led by Niki Gulley & Scott Williams
Our trip to Tuscany for this year is full, but please join us next September in Tuscany or May 2011 in Greece.
Visit nikigulley.com/ng2/?page_id=13 for more details.
E-mail me at [email protected]

Tuscany Painting Workshop with Niki Gulley

April 15, 2010
“Crimson Waves,” Tuscany ©2010 Niki Gulley
oil on canvas • 18″ x 48″

Inspired by the gorgeous rolling hills and prolific poppy fields in Tuscany, I chose this location to experiment with a different technique utilizing extremely thick paint (1/4″ – 1/2″ in thickness) and palette knives. I was extremely pleased with the results – a three-dimensional painting that explodes with color and energy.

If you’d like to join us in Tuscany for our next Plein-air Painting / Photography Workshop this September, e-mail me at [email protected]. Space fills up quickly and we have room for only two more participants, with a final registration deadline of April 24th.

For more information, visit my website at NikiGulley.com

Also, I will be showing this painting at the Fiesta Arts Fair in San Antonio this weekend if you would like to see it in person, booth #74 at Navarro and Augusta Streets.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Tuscany Workshop – Register by Wed. March 24

March 23, 2010


“Parting Clouds” by Niki Gulley
36″ x 24″ oil painting

This painting was inspired by one of our trips to Tuscany. I’ve always been attracted to this lone clump of cypress trees and the story behind them, and on this day the clouds in the sky parted just enough to allow the sun’s rays to pass through and illuminate the cypress grove below in almost a spiritual way. I decided to keep the bold colors of my underpainting showing through in areas because I thought the intense reds added to the drama of the moment.

If you’d like to join us on our next Plein Air Painting and Photography Workshop in Tuscany this September, let me know as it is limited to 10 participants and filling up quickly! Visit nikigulley.com/ng2/?page_id=13 for more information. Early registration deadline for a $300 savings is this Wednesday, March 24th.

If you have any questions, e-mail me at [email protected].