Duane Wakeham’s Approach to the Landscape

In the current October issue of the magazine, Deborah Secor has written a feature that takes you inside a Duane Wakeham workshop. Secor has made note of many of the tips that the artist shares with his students—those little art-making gems that Wakeham has discovered over his career as an artist and teacher of art.

It’s clear from the article that Wakehman puts a big emphasis on composition — and on how an artist moves from scene to painting in an imaginative, individual way. One method he receommends is the “10-minute sketch,” which he says is a great way to summarize what you’re seeing in a scene. “You develop your ability to say as much as possible with the minimum amount of time and effort,” he says, “forcing yourself to think in terms of large shapes and simplified patterns of light and dark, instead of getting bogged down by details.”

In addition to the six finished paintings (and related resource) shown in the feature article, here is another example: Before painting the pastel January Afternoon (top), Wakeham did the quick study (above) to explore his options and develop a workable plan.

To see the 10-minute sketches that Deborah Secor created in Wakeham’s workshop, visit our website.