MANZANAR WORKSHOP - Manzanar - It's much better to ruin a painting than do a safe painting - Chris Hero

On Sunday we painted at Manzanar
According to Wikipedia
"Manzanar is most widely known as the site of one of ten camps where over 110,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II. Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in California's Owens Valley between the towns of Lone Pine to the south and Independence to the north, it is approximately 230 miles (370 km) northeast of Los Angeles Manzanar (which means “apple orchard” in Spanish) was identified by the United States National Park Service as the best-preserved of the former camp sites, and was designated the Manzanar National Historic Site."

Chris Hero did the demo Sunday at Manzanar.

Here are my notes: Thinking is done in the sketchbook. He paints against the traditional use of watercolor media. He likes to use a crayon as a resist. He says you know you are in trouble when you get out the little brush. He says he doesn't talk about colors that much he talks about warms and cools. White is a cool.

He says "it's much better to ruin a painting the do a safe painting." He says when you watch a demo for two things 1) What you never want to do or 2)things you would like to borrow. He says instant coffee and tea make great drawing inks. He works from memory a lot. He always knows he is going to take a painting back into the studio.

He says Manzanar is a prison camp not just any place is Owens Valley. This needs to come across in the painting. In the best artmaking technique and content are in balance somewhere in the middle is the sweet spot.