Mitchell Albala in Bellingham

Mitchell Albala, artist and author of 'Landscape Painting'

Last Friday night artists in Bellingham were treated to an art critique by Mitchell Albala, artist and author of the book 'Landscape Painting.' It was terrific.

But before I say more about that, there's a couple of things you need to know.

First, Mitch is an exceptional painter. You can see his work on his website here.

Second, his new book, 'Landscape Painting' is a comprehensive and much needed book on the subject and I highly recommend it. It was published in November. My copy is often open on my studio table, that's how good it is. I like to look at the images of paintings because he put together beautiful art to illustrate his points. I also tried out his exercises in things like underpainting and following his lead, experimented with different temperatures in my underpainting. The book is best described as an updated Carlson's Guide but with more information, more readable and with great pictures.

So on Friday a number of local artists gathered in a classroom at BellinghamArt where Mitch spent 3 hours discussing paintings we'd brought for critique, and walking us through key ideas in his book using our paintings as examples. I was glad I went.

And if you don't have the book: buy it.

Comments

loriann signori said…
Sounds like an amazing evening.Lucky you. What is the most important thing you gleaned from your experience- the crit or talk?
May 18, 2010 at 6:41 PM
Lisa McShane said…
Hi Loriann -

I was so glad I went and glad that I took 3 paintings with me. I think the crit was exceptional but what was really good was that he wove the talk into the critique, drawing from his book. He also turned to the book many times to pull out specific points related to a painting he was critiquing.

I do like his book. It's one of 2 I keep in my studio. This and 'Like Breath on Glass.'
May 19, 2010 at 4:42 PM
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