Featured artist: Camille Przewodek
Good Morning Sun, 11x14, oil on Ampersand Gessobord
Nationally renowned colorist and painting instructor, Camille Przewodek, is noted for her ability to see and use color relationships to effectively express the “light key” or “envelope of light” that nature presents to us outdoors at different times of the day or under different types of weather conditions.
Q: How many paintings do you work on in a week? You have an extensive portfolio.
It varies. When I participate in plein air events, I will paint several paintings per day. I have a running schedule of what I need to accomplish and deadlines I need to meet. Other times, I am working on promotion.
Reclining Heidi, 24x36, oil on Ampersand Gessobord
Q: You are pretty active on social media. How has it changed the way you work?
I have hired someone to help me build my social media platform. We meet once a week for a few hours to plan my Instagram posts for the week. I do a post and reel every day on Instagram and have been doing this for the past ten years. Social media is a great tool to promote my classes and workshops - both online and in person. It also gets more eyes on my artwork which results in more sales.
Italian Staircase, 14x11, oil on Ampersand Gessobord
Q: You designed an Oil Paint Saver Palette. Tell us a little bit about how this came about and where other artists can purchase one.
My husband designed this product. You put your paints on an Aluminum surface and then store them in the freezer, where your paint lasts longer. We have information on our Paint Saver Palette on my website here.
On Golden Marsh, 16x20, oil on Ampersand Gessobord
Q: Originally, you were studying Illustration. How did you make the shift to plein air?
When I started out, there were big budgets, and I was getting hired specifically for my fine art style. I did major ads for Alfa Romeo and Target Stores. However, the industry changed, the budgets got smaller, and art directors used computers to develop their designs. I wasn’t getting the work I wanted, so I quit my job as an illustrator. I was the primary earner, so this was quite a risk. I said to my husband, "I am going to my new job," and set out to paint on the streets of Petaluma. An attorney came up to me after I had been painting for about an hour and asked me if I would do a painting of his Julia Morgan house. I told him that a 12x16 would cost $1,200, and he could not art-direct me as I had just quit my job as an illustrator. I did a few studies that he picked from. So, on the first day of my new job, I earned $1,200. However, I immediately transferred my $20,000 advertising budget, bought ads in American Art Review and other art publications, and started building my fine art business.
Fragrant Diversion, 16x20, oil on Ampersand Gessobord
Q: You brand yourself a plein air colorist. Please tell us a little about this and how it applies to your landscapes.
Two major colorist traditions coexisted in the early 1990s, The Hensche-Hawthorne and Sergei Bongart. I studied with Henry Hensche, who carried on the tradition of Claude Monet. Both Hensche and Bongart valued Charles Hawthorne, and that is their connection. My goal, in the tradition of Monet, is to paint the light keys of nature.
Mendocino Morning Garden, 11x14, oil on Ampersand Gessobord
Q: Painting Color Blocks is a big part of your teachings; you have even taught some DreamWorks artists. What is it, and how can it help painters?
Henry Hensche came up with the block studies. By setting up simple blocks that are primary colors, you can focus exclusively on trying to capture the effect of light on these simple objects. You can then apply what you have learned to the more complex subject matter.
Gray Day Hibiscus, 12x16, oil on Ampersand Gessobord
Q: You enjoy painting the same locations on different days and in different lights. What have you discovered from this practice?
The more I paint a location, the more I learn about that location. As the light is always different, it is always painted with a fresh eye, and it is always a different painting.
Riley, 20x16, oil on Ampersand Gessobord
Q: Your works have such a distinct style. What characteristics would you say define your painting style?
I am always concerned with capturing the different light keys of nature. When I refer to the light key, I am referring to not only the light but the collection of variables that modify the light falling on the subject, such as the time and type of day, the prevailing atmospheric conditions, etc. Color is important to me, and if it is the right color, it is the right hue, saturation, and value. I say, “Hues on First!”
Vineyard Melody, 16x20 | Sonoma Vineyard, 9x12 (1991)
White Roses, 14x11 | Noe Valley, 14x11 (1991)
Q: Ten years ago, you almost stopped painting. However, you inspired yourself with Progress not Perfection. Can you touch on that for us?
In 2006, I had to reevaluate who I was as a painter. It was not only about covering miles of canvas or Gessobord, which I had already done, but I had to define specifically why I paint. This took a lot of soul-searching. I eventually decided to paint wetlands as they were my water lilies, and they could be redesigned and abstracted. They were also endangered, so I was inspired to capture the various wetland light keys.
Beach Babe, 14x11, oil on Gessobord
Q: What do you love most about Ampersand Gessobord for your work?
I love how Gessobord takes the paint as well as the smooth surface. They work well with brushes as well as palette knives.
Artist Bio:
Camille Przewodek studied with master colorist Henry Hensche, who carried on Charles Hawthorne’s pioneering painting principles at the Cape School of Art in Provincetown, MA. This unique approach teaches that the painter’s first concern is to perceive and vigorously portray the effect of the particular light in which the subject is seen. To that end, students are encouraged to make many quick color studies, so they can confidently convey the illusion of light through accurately stating the big masses of color, usually within the first 20 minutes of painting.
Camille teaches painting workshops across the US and offers regular weekly classes near her studio in Petaluma, CA. She has been a regularly featured, on-stage demonstrator at PleinAir Magazine’s Annual Plein Air Convention, as well as an invited instructor, lecturer, and panelist on the Hensche-Hawthorne approach to seeing and painting color at American Artist Magazine’s Weekend with the Masters. To see more of Camille's work and teaching schedule, visit her website and Instagram.
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