Crit site Monday June 22 1pm

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• From Pawlet (intersection of rte 30 and rte 133) take Route 30 south 9.7 miles
  or From Manchester take Route 30 north 4.6 miles
• Turn on to Kelly Road (left from Pawlet, right from Manchester)
• Park on Kelly Road and walk over to the marble quarry, find a suitable place to paint

This quarry is the locals favorite swimming spot so we will be able to paint figures in the landscape. Bring a hat, sunblock and water. You will probably need to set up in the sun and midday can be rather hot, but it will be worth it.

Thursday June 18th crit update

It looks like it is going to be raining early in the day. So the new plan is to meet at the Southern Vermont Arts Center at 11am. I think it is a good lesson to see how all the principles we have been talking about are used in a creative way. I will analyze the Mason & Winslow paintings and happily answer any questions you might have about them or about landscape painting in general. If the rain lets up we can then go and draw at Merck, so bring your sketchpads. Oh what the hell, bring your painting stuff too, you never know.

Directions to the Southern Vermont Arts Center.
If you are in Manchester:

• Follow Routes 11/30 to the flashing light in the center of town (known to the locals as Malfunction Junction)
• Turn left on to Route 7A
• Go 0.3 miles and turn right on to Ways Lane
• Follow Ways Lane to the end (0.4 miles) and turn right on to West Road
• Go 0.1 miles and turn left into the SVAC

From Pawlet:

• Follow Route 30 south (through Dorset) 11.7 miles
• Turn right on to the West Road
• Follow West Road 2.5 miles
• Turn right into the SVAC

Crit site Thursday June 18 10am

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• From Pawlet (intersection of rte 30 and rte 133) take Route 30 south 6.2 miles
  or From Manchester take Route 30 north 8.2 miles
• Turn on to Route 315 West (right from Pawlet, left from Manchester)
• Follow rte 315 for 2.6 miles
• Turn left into Merck Forest & Farmland Center and follow the dirt road 0.5 miles to the parking lot
• Walk down the path to the right of the Joy Green Visitors Center until you come to the farm

BRING YOUR SKETCHPAD For this class we will work on drawing animals

Crit site Tuesday June 16 5:30am

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• From Route 30 in Pawlet turn on to School Street (school st is the street in front of Mach's Market)
• follow School Street (through Pawlet village, then over a one lane bridge) for 0.25 miles
• after you cross the bridge bear left on to the Rupert Road for 0.9 miles (there will be a pond to your left and a speed limit sign to your right)
• turn left on to the trail next to the pond and park, you will see a lovely view looking back to Pawlet village
  
  This is private property. Do not paint here unless we are meeting as a class.

Tuesday June 9 crit update

It looks like it will be raining at sunrise tomorrow so we can all sleep in. Instead of meeting at the Mettowee Valley Community Center we will meet at my studio at 10am. If it is not raining we can paint on my property. If it is raining we can go into my studio and I will do a demonstration.

Crit site Tuesday June 9 5:30am

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• From Pawlet (intersection of rte 30 and rte 133) take Route 30 south 3.4 miles
  or From the Dorset village green take Route 30 north 4.9 miles
• Turn into the Mettowee Valley Community Center (left from Pawlet, right from Dorset)
• find a suitable place to paint

Crit site Thursday June 4 10am

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• Take Route 30 to Pawlet
• turn on to Route 133 North (to Middletown Springs)
• follow rte 133 for 1.3 miles, instead of bearing left to stay on rte 133 continue straight on the Pawlet/Danby Road
• take first right on to Robinson Hill Road
• find a suitable place to paint on this road

Crit site Tuesday June 2, 3pm

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• Take Route 30 to Pawlet
• turn on to Route 133 North (to Middletown Springs)
• follow rte 133 for 1.8 miles (rte 133 bends left at 1.3 miles)
• turn left on to Andrus Drive
• take first right on to Beaver Brook Road
• my studio is 360 Beaver Brook Road (the 3rd driveway on the right, name is on the mailbox)
• drive up the road past my driveway and find a suitable place to paint

If it is too rainy to paint outside come to my studio and we will have the first class there

A letter to the class

As many of you know Frank Mason has retired from teaching and I have the privilege of continuing his class in Studio 7 at the Art Students League. Because landscape painting is essential to a well rounded painting education I am continuing the DuMond/Mason landscape class tradition as well. Although Stowe has served us well for many years Elizabeth and I have decided to move the class to Pawlet in Southern Vermont so that we can use our home and studio for the Saturday crits and the Saturday night suppers. Pawlet is a small agricultural community at the North end of the beautiful Mettowee Valley and is an ideal place for landscape painting.

You will find detailed information about the class and a materials list in the post below. Please email me at thomastorak@gmail.com or Elizabeth at torak@vermontel.net for a list of accommodations. As always students will be responsible for their housing. Because the community is small, landscape class in Pawlet will be more wide ranging than in Stowe. Expect to find both housing and crit locations in the surrounding towns of Danby, Rupert, Dorset, and Manchester. Though the distances are not long (and the drives are beautiful) everyone will need a car or a friend to carpool with.

I hope I haven’t left anything out but if you have any questions please feel free to email me at thomastorak@gmail.com or Elizabeth at torak@vermontel.net or call 802-325-6428.

The tradition of Saturday night parties and suppers will continue. You are all invited.

Information and Materials

FIRST CLASS: Tuesday June 2, 2009 @ 3pm – We will start with a late afternoon painting session on the road (Beaver Brook Road, Pawlet, VT) outside my studio. Directions will be sent when you register for the class.

CLASS SCHEDULE: Three classes a week. Tuesday and Thursday we will meet outdoors for plein air painting and critiques. Saturday we will meet in my studio to discuss the principles and theories of landscape painting, each student should bring one painting.

CLASS SUPPERS: Each Saturday evening (June 6, 13, 20, 27) Elizabeth and I will host an informal class supper at our home and studio. We invite the students to bring their friends and family who might be visiting.

LAST CLASS: Saturday June 27, 2009

CLASS FEE: $750 for the month or any part of the month. No partial payments for one week or half of the month. A $50 nonrefundable deposit (checks only please, no credit cards) payable to Thomas Torak will reserve space in the class, enrollment is limited to 40 students.
Mail to: Thomas Torak
360 Beaver Brook Road
Pawlet, VT 05761
For additional information contact Elizabeth Torak: torak@vermontel.net or call 802-325-6428.

SUPPLIES: Portable field easel. Palette (a small wooden palette works well outdoors). Gesso panels, canvas boards or stretched canvases (if you bring stretched canvases bring a piece of cardboard to put behind the canvas so that light will not pass through from the back), 9 x 12 or so is good for field crits, but if you want to do something larger to bring to the Saturday crit please feel free to do so. A sketch pad (9 x 12 or so), pencils, charcoal or other drawing materials are very useful. Mineral spirits in a can or jar to clean your brushes. Filbert and round brushes in a variety of sizes (large for massing, small for details) and a few round sables are useful for details. Paper towels or rags to wipe your brushes and a small bag to keep them from blowing away. Palette cups to hold medium.

PAINTS: OIL PAINTS ONLY, no acrylic or water based oils. White (titanium-zinc or Permalba, a large tube); Winsor Newton’s best quality cadmium lemon yellow and cadmium yellow light (these are very important for making rich landscape greens); cadmium yellow medium; cadmium yellow deep; cadmium orange; cadmium red light (again Winsor Newton’s best quality); cadmium red medium; cadmium red deep; alizarin crimson; cerulean or manganese blue; cobalt blue; ultramarine blue; thalo blue; thalo green; yellow ochre; ivory or lamp black.

MEDIUM: A good general medium is: 1 part linseed oil, 1 part dammar or mastic varnish, 1 part turpentine mixed together in a jar. If you prefer to use Fels mediums, Maroger, Liquin or any other medium (except water based) please feel free to do so.

Prepare for all sorts of weather. Bring boots, warm clothing, rain poncho, sun hat and a swimsuit.