Many thanks to Brian McNeil for sharing his talent and expertise this past weekend to myself and 8 other painters as we joined Brian, an instructor at the Academy of Realist Art, Boston, for a two-day plein air workshop.   We painted in the Boston Public Garden during two beautiful weather days.  Most of us stayed around the Swan Boat pond which has exceptional views in all directions.  

We spent the entire first day creating a value study of our painting. Brian painted for couple of hours in the morning, laying in his value study wash in Burnt Umber.   He explained that it's all about the shapes and values.  (Ha, makes it sound so easy, doesn't it?)

I did my best and ended up with this:

The next morning, Brian applied color to the sky and the trees.  Since he is Hudson River School of Art trained, his technique was fascinating.  I have never applied paint in such a meticulous way when painting plein air.  

I tried the same approach, but found it very difficult to paint the trees.  I'll keep trying, but have a long way to go with this.  

My painting doesn't have the 'zip' I normally try to create with the light, as I think I 'fiddled' with the paint on the panel too much. And, I started chasing the light around with the changing angles of the sun throughout the day.  Consequently, colors got a little muddy everywhere.  

I hope to go back to the Public Garden and paint again soon.  What a gem that garden is to all of us!