Plein Air Simplified: A Masterclass with Nancy Tankersley

Students will plein air paint with an emphasis on design and editing with frequent small, fast studies.
About this Event

Plein Air Simplified: A Masterclass Series with Nancy Tankersley

• October 9th,10th & 11th, 2026
• 9am - 4pm (3 Session Workshop)
• Includes Free Art Chat on October 9th from 9-10am (open to the public, you do not need to register for the Free Art Chat!)
• $550 (supplies not included, see list below)
• All Skill Levels welcome
• Ages 18+

During this workshop students will be encouraged to regard the elements of the landscape in simple geometrical shapes so as to develop their perception and understanding of the landscape without preconceived ideas of how a landscape should look. All practical and theoretical elements of painting a landscape will be covered in daily demonstrations and lectures. Students will learn to work with the big shapes first in a powerful design and then develop a more realistic painting with attention to values, color, edges, and paint handling. Emphasis will be on design and editing with frequent small, fast studies. Individual instruction will be tailored to the needs of each student.

This workshop series will not take place at d'Art Center, but will be on location around the Center and The Chrysler Museum.

“Painting is not simply paint what you know or paint what you see; it’s really paint what you know you SHOULD see!” - Nancy Tankersley

About Nancy:

Nancy works in both oils and acrylic, has years of experience with pastels, and is open to working with artists in any medium, including watercolor and gouache. She believes that technique is an ever evolving journey (and best learned though personal experimentation), but understanding the underlying principles of how to observe and translate your observations to a 2-D surface is key to becoming a good painter. You will work with a limited choice of colors so that you gain mastery over your paint mixing before adding extra pigments to your palette.

The d'Art Center is not responsible for issuing refunds, credits, or transfers for workshops missed as a reult of illness, emergencies, or other events beyond d'Art's control.
In the event of a Force Majeure that could cancel or delay the workshop, the instructor will work closely with the Programs Coordinator to possibly provide alternate solutions(rescheduled date(s) or online options).

Supply List for Outdoor Painting
Paint:

• Cadmium yellow light, Hansa Yellow or Lemon yellow (or any cool yellow)

• Cadmium yellow medium or Indian yellow (or any warm yellow)

• Cadmium red light or naphthol red (warm red)

• Alizarin crimson permanent

• Ultramarine blue

• Prussian blue or cerulean blue

• Burnt sienna

• Titanium white (large tube)

• One tube of acrylic paint for quickly toning your canvas and initial massing of shapes.

I recommend Burnt sienna.

Any professional quality brand may be used, avoid the student grade. They don’t have enough pigment, make it harder to mix color and may end up being more expensive in the long run. I mostly use Gamblin. The most important thing is to have both a warm (moving toward orange on the color wheel) or cool (moving towards blue) version of each of the primary colors red, blue and yellow.

You may use traditional oils, water-based oil or acrylic paints.

Panels

• Canvas panels. I don’t recommend stretched canvases outdoors because the sun can shine through the canvas from certain angles and make it hard to see values.

• At least three panels for each day including sizes 8x8, 8x10, 10x10, 9x12, 12 x12.

If you are a quick painter, bring some 6 x 8 panels to fill the time.

• Make sure you have a way of transporting your wet panels. Pizza boxes are great for laying in the back of your car.

Brushes - what you prefer is fine but here is what I recommend as basic:

• #12 white hog bristle filbert

• #8 white hog bristle filbert

• #6 hog bristle flat

• #2 red sable (can be synthetic) round

• One medium flexible palette knife for both painting and scraping the palette. Or you may buy one for each purpose. I like the long diamond shaped best.

• Mineral Spirits (for traditional oils) I use Gamsol because it is the best odorless product - but outdoors you can go with less expensive brands. Water miscible oils and acrylics only require water.

Mediums

• fast drying types such as Gamblin Galkyd Light or Gamblin Solvent free gel for traditional oils. Cobra makes some nice mediums for water-based oils and I especially like their #93 quick drying medium. (Available from Jerry's Artarama. There are many different mediums for acrylics which can slow the drying time outdoors. Check with the manufacturer to see what they offer.

• Paper towels

• mineral spirits holder and water holder (can be as simple as a glass jar with lid)

• Baby wipes

• Plastic trash bags for dirty paper towels

• Portable easel

• a chair if you like to sit when painting

• Sun visor

• sunscreen

• bug repellent

OPTIONAL:

1 or two potters ribs. Thin flexible tools that are a fun way to make interesting marks different from brushes. I will demonstrate their use. I got mine from Amazon but there are many sources on the web. Make sure they are rubber, not wood or metal.

An old, expired credit card also makes a nice tool.

Questions? Email me at [email protected]

Agenda

🕑: 09:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Free Art Chat & Demo (open to the public, not just participating students)
Host: Nancy Tankersley

Info: Free and open to the public, this Art Chat & Demo will take place in our Main Gallery during the hour preceding the beginning of the three-day Masterclass Workshop. Meet the artist and hear about her process and background while she provides a quick demo. Friday, October 9th, 2026, 9:00am-10:00am.

🕑: 10:00 AM - 04:00 PM
Masterclass Workshop - plein air workshop