http://www.aaronschuerr.com/aaronsblog Plein-air painting in Montana and the west. Landscapes in Pastel and Oil. Workshop info. Artist links. Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:14:04 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en For years I've done charcoal preparatory drawings, and then put them in a drawer.  A few friends have seen my "stash" and encouraged me to show them, so I thought I'd talk about this critical step in my creative process.  My process is to do a plein air painting in ... http://www.aaronschuerr.com/aaronsblog/2009/12/01/the-secret-life-of-charcoal/ I've been a terrible blogger.  In my defense I've been painting.  I know, it's a sorry excuse, but there it is.  The summer has whizzed by, early snowstorms have frozen the leaves before they could turn golden, and I have the flu, so now is the time for an update. MAY: ... http://www.aaronschuerr.com/aaronsblog/2009/10/13/a-quick-summer-overview/ In early May I headed down to the Tetons for a dirtbag painting adventure.  After dropping off new paintings at Legacy Gallery, I painted for three days.  I thought I would enjoy a nice spring trip: snow in the mountains, a few drifts down low, and new spring green.  Well... ... http://www.aaronschuerr.com/aaronsblog/2009/06/15/painting-winter-in-springi/ I recently collaborated with my son's first grade class to do a pastel painting.  I had the kids come up to the easel one at a time, and I handed them an pastel and gave them some instruction.  The picture that they did was auctioned off at a school art ... http://www.aaronschuerr.com/aaronsblog/2009/06/03/1st-grade-virtuosos/ I've been a little slow in the blog posts of late.  As some of you know recently a gas-line explosion took out half-a-block of downtown Bozeman.  Montana Trails Gallery was decimated.  I lost roughly 30 paintings.  Worse, Tara Bowman, the gallery director was killed in the explosion. It's been hard ... http://www.aaronschuerr.com/aaronsblog/2009/04/07/some-winter-studies/ Yes, I used the words extreme and dude, two words that should not enter the lexicon of a serious artist, but stick with me here.  I just spent a day painting in Yellowstone National Park, not really an extreme activity, but check out the rig we took into Indian Creek ... http://www.aaronschuerr.com/aaronsblog/2009/01/11/extreme-plein-air-dude/ Here they are, the paintings that I did while in Arizona.  Ah, to bask in warm sunshine!  We've had a week of sub-zero weather since returning home, making the temperature spread between Arizona and Montana nearly 100 degrees!!!  For those of you living in Cold Climates, I hope these studies ... http://www.aaronschuerr.com/aaronsblog/2008/12/19/santa-catalina-mountains-arizona-plein-air-cactus/ Ah, to wear shorts and bask in the sunshine in winter!  I just returned from painting in saguaro cactus country, in the warm wilds of Arizona.  I traveled with the family, so I didn't set a grueling painting schedule.  I did come home with a dozen studies, and I can't ... http://www.aaronschuerr.com/aaronsblog/2008/12/08/saguaro-cactus-desert-arizona-tucson-painting/ Things that don't happen in the studio:  Six horses hung out with me while I painted.  This one wanted to help out. Yes, that is cadmium on his nose! I occasionally had to  push him out of the way. They hung out with me for a couple hours. And they didn't want me to ... http://www.aaronschuerr.com/aaronsblog/2008/10/24/plein-air-painting-friendly-horses/ Things you don't expect to learn at a Painting Workshop: That's George Bumann, Sculptor, Naturalist, and Neanderthal; he is starting a fire without matches. In the first picture he's using a bow-drill to spin a carved piece of sage into another block of sage wood fast enough to create embers. ... http://www.aaronschuerr.com/aaronsblog/2008/07/15/yellowstone-institute-backcountry-painting-slough-creek-workshop/