Composition in Plein Air: Working with Water-Mixable Oils with Charlie Hunter

Charlie Hunter’s distinctive plein air work turns heads and raises questions. Why water-mixable oils? Is it true that a squeegee is involved? And what about those Stim-U-Dents and Q-Tips we keep hearing about? All will be revealed in this fun and fast-moving workshop. There will be daily demos and plenty of time for painting; we’ll go over some simple, yet invaluable tools for accurate rendering, and Charlie will expound and instruct about how and why he uses water mixable oils. Most importantly, there will be discussion and mutually-supportive critique sessions at the end of each day’s painting. We’ll learn and laugh a lot each day while staying true to the credo of have big fun; make big mess.

“If it is within the realm of human evolution, or the whim of the Divine, to allow one individual to possess the gift of a natural sense of design, then Charlie Hunter is certainly the lucky winner… No master of the pure line can surpass what Charlie, almost matter-of-factly, does when he takes pencil in hand.” – Richard Schmid, ALLA PRIMA II.

Using water-mixable oils and a reductive technique based on 19th century tonalism informed by modern reproduction processes, Charlie Hunter explores textual and graphic elements of contemporary representationalism. Organic yet irrevocably hinting at photography, Hunter’s work is simultaneously journalistic and deeply subjective. He lives and works in Bellows Falls, Vermont, 20 miles from where he grew up on the highland farm built by his great-great-great grandfather. Hunter holds a degree in art from Yale University, worked as a graphic designer creating tour posters for scores of rock bands ranging from Jerry Garcia to Bob Dylan, Ramones to The Clash, was a music manager for a dozen years and now exhibits at museums and galleries across the US. He has been profiled in ARTSCOPE, VERMONT LIFE, RAILWAY HERITAGE and PLEIN AIR. www.hunter-studio.com