A few samples from Liberace's Ireland.

[Linda Brandon]

Beth, this looks like a dream of a workshop and you know how jealous I am of you for having taken it! Rob has been on my Top Twenty list for a long time now. I had a chance to watch him work at the PSA workshop at PAFA last fall and again at the PSA convention this past spring. He is a terrific instructor and an excellent artist.

Can you set forth his simplified method for painting the figure?

I really like your work here, by the way. Those plein aire paintings can be so hard to do, especially when the weather is bad, and you get a big from me.

[Alexandra Tyng]

Beth, these are terrific! I'm so envious of you, being able to take the Ireland workshop. I had been eyeing it for a while but I knew my schedule and budget wouldn't allow it. What a great head. I see the mosaic of brushstrokes. It has such a painterly and tactile surface, I want to reach out and touch it. Great landscape, too. How many days did you have for painting outside?

Alex

[Elizabeth Schott]

Thank you all for taking the time to comment.

Linda and Alex I do feel blessed to have been on this trip to Ireland, it was so much more than just a "regular" workshop. The people traveled with were great and we became wonderful friends. We stayed in one of Rob's cousins Bed and Breakfast and it was very much like a dorm. Art 24/7 - it was fantastic! Also learning other forms of painting rather than total focus on portraiture.

Notice how so many of the greats are also great human beings too? I guess it's because they have nothing to prove. Seems to be a correlation: the better they are, the nicer they are.

Bill you are certainly the first one to prove this true!

Linda I didn't have any images of Rob starting his demo's from Ireland, so I grabbed a few from his Bradenton workshop, hopefully these will give you an idea.

When he masses in the shadows, he then starts with the predominate (he doesn't like the words "local color") mid value flesh. A great easy to remember rule of thumb he teaches is that no white is ever added to the color going over the shadow under painting.

Rob is a "colorist", so you need to remember this when looking at his skin tones. He uses Burnt Sienna for his under drawing then he scrapes it off his palette, there is nothing "earthy" on it. Yet he still comes up with the lovely finished painting below.

Hope this gives you an idea.

Beth

[Elizabeth Schott]

Here is one of my favorite portraits by Rob and I had to add this picture of him from Ireland, it was one of my favorites too!

[Jimmie Arroyo]

Wow, what a difference in style. I like it even tho you say it's just a "sketch". They make great finished pieces as well. I love the drawings, don't remember if I've seen any drawings from you. You're doing a fantastic job with them, don't give them up.