Last Day in Matt Smith's workshop

On the last day of Matt Smith's Plein Air workshop it was raining. We met at the Lost Dog Trail and the weather didn't look so hot and everyone decided to go back to the studio at Scottsdale Art School. Matt had a bunch of pictures we could pick out to paint from and of course I picked out a Colorado snow type of landscape- at last something I was familiar with!

It was easier painting in the studio and it was nice to hear what Matt was saying to everyone when critiquing. After we were done, Matt did a beautiful demo of a rocky ledge. It was a breathtaking piece when he was done. We talked more about materials and colors- and how to prepare plein air panels etc... then time to start home.
This workshop was extremely valuable to me. Matt taught me the importance of keeping my palette fastidiously clean. By the last day of the workshop, I was cleaning it so much that I felt that maybe I was getting a little anal but I did notice a positive change in my paintings.

He taught us the importance of having good equipment and materials. He uses a lot of his painting supplies from Sourcetek and they carry many items that artists can't find in most other places. I ordered all of my panels from Sourcetek before I left because I just didn't have time to make any and they were wonderful to paint on. I am going to order some brushes from Sourcetek and of course I always get my Miracle Muck from them.

Watching Matt paint was extremely important as well. He has a beautiful type of calligraphy when laying in the painting right from the start. All in all it was a very valuable class!