A couple of weeks ago, I spent five blissful days in a workshop with Bob Burridge. It was FANTASTIC and right off the bat, I’m going to recommend it to anyone who wants to have a change from working in the studio, who wants to paint looser, who wants to renew their passion with painting, who wants to learn some neat tips and tricks. Bob is fun, informative, energetic, generous – he was completely there for us. He’s also a successful artist and he and his wife Kate (who had accompanied him on his trip from California luckily for us!) went over many marketing tips. Kate also agreed to be in a short video related to marketing – check it out below.
Let me summarize what I learnt:
1. Goofing around is of the utmost importance!! Play play play. And yup, I know this but I rarely let go and do it. I put pressure on myself to always produce something worthwhile. Get over it!!
2. Do warm-ups everyday. Think about it – when we exercise, we always do a warm-up, same goes for singing and playing music. In painting time, these warm-ups are a time to GOOF around!
3. Have themes in mind – the BIG idea. I am sort of onto this with my different series – like On The Edge – but now I will really stick to a theme and work it through.
4. Bob names his painting before starting. Doing this means he can more easily tell when it’s complete. He also has an idea of the composition and the colour combo (using his goof-proof colour wheel) right at the start. Hmmmm….gonna try this one.
5. If you’re painting and you get a new idea, start a new painting rather than trying to incorporate the idea into the current piece. This way offers more opportunity for exploration and learning and grand possibilities!
6. Save on framing costs by ‘gluing’ painting that’s on paper to a canvas or cradle panel. Cool!
7. Paint everyday. Yup, know this one but boy is it ever hard to do – soooooo many distractions!
8. Exposure=Success. Makes complete sense of course.
9. Don’t fall in love with your painting too soon – be open – more things will come to you.
10. Don’t judge a painting where you created it. Take it somewhere else and either put a mat around it or lay it on white paper/board. Huge difference.
11. Write down the goals you want to accomplish for the day in painting. It could be, for example, paint all day in black and white.
12. Goof around more!! (This is so important I had to say it twice!)
The days mostly went like this: Bob talked and demoed in the morning then we worked, then after lunch, perhaps another Bob demo and then we painted until the end of the day. The first couple of days there was more talking and demoing, the last days, more painting by us.
Every day was fantastic, all about learning something new. I worked on large pieces; loved working on paper.
Day 4, however, was one of frustration with my painting! I thought it looked like a mess of you-know-what. I forgot that acrylics dry dark. I felt I was afraid of whites and lights. I felt I wasn’t using enough paint. Argh. But I talked it over with Bob the next day and he liked what was there and gave me some ideas to move it forward. Here it is as I painted it in the workshop. I haven’t had a chance to work on it yet but will let you know what happens when I do. I just gotta be fearless!
This workshop was run through the Vancouver Island Art Workshops by owner, Mary Stewart. The workshop ran efficiently, there were good snacks and beverages, Mary was always onsite to make sure we had all we needed, the venue was fantastic (so much space!!). I would definitely recommend taking a workshop with Bob Burridge but also, I suggest taking a look into the other workshops available through this company.
The other thing that Mary organized was gifts for us all as well as gifts for a draw done everyday. She managed to wangle a generous donation of a brush, carrier bag and a discount slip from Opus for each of us and we all got a free tube of paint from Kroma Acrylic paints! I had never tried these paints before. I LOVED the colour saturation and viscosity. They are made on Granville Island where you can buy them in-person. The only other option is online but in either case, you are buying directly from them – there’s no middleman i.e. retailer. I plan to try more of their paints. Go to their fabulous website by clicking here.
To see Bob’s own work, check out his website – www.robertburridge.com. I highly recommend signing up for his newsletter and especially his weekly Bob Blast – a lovely way to start a Monday morning!
And finally, as I mentioned, I was able to take a few minutes of Kate’s time to ask her about marketing and here’s what she said:
What do you think? Did Kate’s words strike a chord??
So that’s it! It was a wonderful five days. Bob Burridge will be back teaching in Saanich in 2016 so if you want to be alerted when the time comes, get onto Mary’s list.
You know I’d love to hear from you. What point from the list above resonated with you the most?
Talk again soon,
~ Gail
18 thoughts on “I took an awesome workshop with Bob Burridge!”
Awesome blog
Thanks Gerri!
Gail:
Thanks for sharing Bob’s tips. I think they can be paraphrased for any life endeavor whether creative or not. I am going to post them shamelessly borrowing and modifying with credit to you and Bob.
Linda
Wonderful!!!
Great blog on your Bob Burridge workshop. Terrific pics of him with the green background.
I quite like the darker image. A good start I think.
Thanks and thanks 🙂
Excellent interview with Kate! I am in the process of typing up new info for my show and website and this has really helped me to understand the differences between them. Thank You!
How wonderful to hear Cindy! Yes, I too appreciated hearing the differences. Mindyou, I still have to put this new understanding into action!
Great blog Bob could use it as a promotion piece you did enjoy yourself and made very good use of your time the piece you are working on looks to have much promise will follow closely
Thanks Sandy! I must remember to let Bob and Kate know about this blog post!
Very interesting…. play around, have a firm mindset go for it and enjoy!
Thank you for sharing Gail
That’s it in a nutshell Wichaya! Glad you enjoyed.
This looks like a really fun workshop and he seems to be a person one can have fun with. I love your painting “The Bird Outside my Window”. Thanks for all the tips.
Karin, thanks for your encouragement regarding “The Bird Outside My Window.” One of these days I’ll be brave, and get it out to work on. Bob was so fun, so full of energy and passion. I miss having him around!
Great review Gail! And, so comforting to see that I wasn’t the only one struggling on day 4. Growth is messy after all. Lovely to have shared the time with you.
Blessings,
Cheryl.
Thanks Cheryl!! I love what you said – “Growth is messy after all.” How true! It was a wonderful workshop wasn’t it??
Thanks for this thorough wrap-up of your workshop. It gave me a lot to think about; especially making time to goof off! Your posts are always so informative. I look forward to each one.
Thank you so much Gabrielle!!! I am glad you saw food for thought in this post. For me, the goofing around, putting the idea of play into action, is the best lesson and the most difficult for me to follow through.