Episode 5: Mark Mehaffey
This week we talk with Mark Mehaffey. Mehaffey paints across media and subject including watercolor, acrylic and mixed media, landscape and non-objective. We are focusing in on his plein air work in the interview but a lot of what we talk about can work for any subject realistic or non objective.
Mehaffey explains how he gets to the story of his work. He shares practical tips on blending color and controlling the saturation of that same color. And he talks about how and why it’s so important to keep things simple.
You can learn more about Mark Mehaffey at:
In the episode we talk about:
1:08 What he likes about plein air
2:02 Mehaffey’s process
4:38 The usefulness of repeatable process
5:23 The usefulness of painting from life
6:42 Biggest challenges he sees for his students around painting in acrylic
7:17 Blending acrylics
8:34 Planning and spontaneity
9:57 Value plans
11:17 Why he suggests value studies
12:45 Assigning values
14:14 What he takes from the scene
15:47 Simplification
17:49 Keeping shapes interesting
19:02 Focal points
19:59 Intuition
21:14 Composition
23:14 Keeping the viewer at the focal point
24:53 Types of edges
25:52 Designing the work
28:54 Dominance and unity
30:56 Mother color
32:42 Setting a good color foundation
33:53 Mehaffey’s palette of colors
35:58 Controlling brightness in secondary mixtures
38:07 Acrylics and opacity
39:33 Colored ground
42:44 Finished paintings vs working on skills
Get more episodes delivered straight to your inbox by adding your name and email below!