A mission to showcase local artists & preserve the legacy of KW as a city of artists.
301 Front Street, Key West, FL 33040, US
Build Confidence in Plein Air through the Poetry of Value
A Four-Hour Workshop with Patricia Sweet
Details
Date: Friday, March 12, 2027
Time: 10 AM to 2 PM, with a short break for snacks or lunch
Cost: $150 Nomembers/$125 KWAC Members
Format: Studio instruction and preparation for outdoor painting
Class Description
Build Confidence in Plein Air Through the Poetry of Value
By understanding value relationships, you will learn to create depth, simplify nature, and strengthen your compositions with confidence.
This four-hour studio workshop prepares you to head outdoors and paint en plein air with comfort and confidence. Learn to simplify nature into large shapes, organize values, and choose one clear focal point. Through demonstrations and practical exercises, discover what to include, what to leave out, and how to let one strong idea guide your painting.
We will mix a value string of fresh paint for you to use as a guide during the plein air event. I will also introduce color relationships and demonstrate how to use your value strings in harmony with color.
Drawing on my experience as a plein air painter, I will share practical tips for working outdoors, including field do's and don’ts, recommended materials and supplies, and what to pack so you can focus on painting.
About the Artist
Patricia Sweet is a plein air and studio artist whose lifelong observation of nature informs her understanding of light, value, atmosphere, and color. She has painted en plein air for more than 25 years, deepening her knowledge through dedicated practice, guidance from several mentors, and study of Frank Vincent DuMond’s prismatic palette. Today, she works primarily in monochromatic oils, using subtle shifts in value to convey depth, distance, and the quiet emotional presence of a landscape.
Traveling throughout the United States and occasionally abroad, Patricia responds to the changing light and atmosphere of the places she paints. In her workshops, she shares practical techniques and insights that help students simplify what they see, recognize value relationships, and build confidence in their own artistic expression. Her goal is to help painters look more closely, trust their observations, and discover the beauty within an ordinary moment.
View Patricia’s work at www.patriciasweet.com and follow her painting adventures on location on Instagram @patriciasweetartist.