Painting trips

San Isidro de El General, Costa Rica, 2013:

Visiting Jan Hart in San Isidro de El General was a really great experience for me. First of all she was a very good and experienced teacher and taught me a lot about how to choose the colors to get a harmonic painting and how to compose the whole painting with the foreground and background in order to get an interesting composition.  Then she showed me how she builds up an entire painting with the main feature in the foreground and how to construct the background of different layers. Along the way she showed me some very useful tricks to correct mistakes and change the color impressions while working. So even though I was only visiting for a short time, I learned a lot and was afterwards able to go on by myself in a more professional way and compose more complete paintings. It was just the inspiration I needed!

In addition Jan was a really nice and welcoming host and it was very easy to get along with her. And it was wonderful to paint at her terrace from where there was the most fantastic view to the surrounding valley and the city.

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View from the garden in San Isidro de El General.                  Work in progress during my visit at Jan Harts place.