As (primarily) a landscape painter, travel is important. The Bay Area is beautiful, with lots of variety, but there’s nothing like getting out of your usual surroundings to spark new creativity, inspiration and push yourself technically.
This past Spring I was fortunate to study with Kevin Weckbach (I highly recommend his workshops, here are my notes) at The Scottsdale Artist’s School. The Arizona landscape is a different planet compared to home, so it was fun painting there. The greens and reds especially are much different. I know I don’t have the reds of the soil there down yet. I think it probably has more violet in it that I’ve depicted here. I’ll just need to get back out there and paint plein air to find out! Michael Chesley Johnson teaches in Sedona, Arizona, four months every Winter/Spring. Michael clearly knows this landscape.
Desert Sky, Oil on Linen, 11x14
