Painting the Experience of Place: Mood over Depiction En Plein Air

Description

Painting the Experience of Place: Mood over Depiction En Plein Air
with Anton Nowels

November 6-8, 2026 | Friday – Sunday

Times – To be announced
Experience – All levels of experience are welcome, Beginner to Advanced
Medium: All 2-D Mediums (instructor will teach in oils)
Registration – Click the Cancellation Policy tab above.
Location – Plein Air and Theatre Studio

In this three-day plein air workshop, artist Anton Nowels will guide painters in shifting their focus from strict depiction toward capturing the mood and experience of place. Working outdoors, participants will explore how color, shape, and expressive mark-making can convey atmosphere more powerfully than literal detail. Through demonstrations, guided painting sessions, and critique, Anton will show how to simplify the landscape into strong design and dynamic color relationships while responding to changing light and conditions. The goal is not to copy the landscape, but to translate the feeling of being there—creating paintings that move beyond observation into personal expression.

Check out this video of Anton now! https://vimeo.com/917212312

26 1106w AN

Anton Nowels

Anton Nowels is an accomplished artist who has exhibited work on a national level. Nowels is both a Signature Member of Oil Painters of America (OPA) and American Impressionist Society (AIS). He recently won a Landscape Painting award at the OPA National Exhibition.

Over the last two years, Nowels participated in the Brinton Museum’s Residency program and associated exhibitions in Big Horn, Wyoming.

As a workshop instructor at Scottsdale Artists’ School and Winslow Art Center as well as a private instructor, Anton teaches and explores concepts relating to representational abstraction. He teaches color from the perspective of Charles Hawthorne, Henry Hensche, Sergei Bongart, and Josef Albers and teaches design relating to illustration ideas from Andrew Loomis.

Nowels paints a variety of subjects and experiments with painting techniques. The Maynard Dixon Legacy Museum in Mt. Carmel, Utah, represents Anton’s work and has welcomed him as a guest artist at their Maynard Dixon Country events.

Nowels has studied both contemporary and fine art. At Scottsdale Artists’ School, he earned scholarships to study with Ned Mueller, Camille Przewodek, and Romel de la Torre. At Arizona State University, he studied Interdisciplinary Art and explored contemporary art practices, including performance, installation, and video.

Currently, Nowels is working on a series of large-scale paintings that integrate representational and abstract impressionism. A seascape series was recently exhibited at the Mayo Clinic Phoenix campus. Through mid-September, Mayo will display a series of Anton’s landscape paintings focused on geographically-western locations.

Supply List:

Plein Air set-up recommended.

Paint:

I use Winsor and Newton – Winton Oil Colors (Large Tubes 200ml) – Other brands are welcome.

Ivory Black
Cadmium Yellow Light
Cadmium Yellow Hue
Cadmium Red Light
Magenta
Sap Green
Viridian
Cerulean Blue Hue
French Ultramarine
Titanium White

Brushes:

Variety of small, medium, large brushes
Optional – (Robert Simmons Signet – Varies sizes. I use Flats in the sizes of 8-12)
3 inch. Wide brush – House paint brush works

Palette knives and Brayer:

RGM Large Painting Spatulas – 8010
Blick Palette knife Set – Traditional Set of 6 ( or similar)
Blick Hard Rubber Roller – 3 to 6”

Canvas or linen: (optional) Panels 16×20” or Larger (4-6) or

Blick Acrylic Primed Cotton Canvas (stretched or roll) – 16×20”or larger (at least 6)

We will also use 6×6” size canvas/panel. You can get at least 10 or use one at a template on a larger canvas

Solvents:

Weber Odorless Turpenoid

Gamblin Gamsol Odorless Mineral Spirits

Cancellation Policy

Registration and Cancellation Policies

Registration

Each student must enroll individually.
Classes must be paid in full upon registration.
Students may register online or call Sedona Arts Center Office at 928-282-3809, Ext 1 or toll free at 866-282-3809 Ext 1.
Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express are accepted or student may pay with cash or check by registering in person during office hours Monday – Friday, 9 am – 5 pm.

In-Person and Online Classes Cancellation

Payment in full is due upon registration, or a payment plan can be put in place by the student upon check-out through Sezzle.
There is a $125 Cancellation Fee for any cancellations made before October 6, 2026. Remaining balance will be refunded.
There are no refunds after October 6, 2026.
If Sedona Arts Center cancels the workshop for any reason, all payments made will be refunded in full.

Note: If traveling to Sedona, we strongly urge students to purchase refundable airline tickets or travel insurance in case of workshop cancellation due to insufficient enrollment or other unforeseen changes. Sedona Arts Center is not responsible for non-refundable ticket purchases or lodging fees.

Important Message

Sedona Arts Center is not responsible for providing make-up sessions or issuing refunds, credits, or transfers for courses missed as a result of illness, emergencies, or other events beyond our control. There are absolutely no refunds after the cut-off date for any reason, unless Sedona Arts Center has to cancel the workshop, then all fees paid will be refunded in full.

Martha Goodrich

Having taken both plein air and studio workshops with Anton, I can say the best thing is learning to explore different aspects of creativity. He helps his students be open to pursuing new avenues in their artistic endeavors, to start thinking outside the box.

Sue Parzybok

Anton was so helpful at encouraging my art work, and yet pushing me to try new techniques. We focused on color and color relationships and with Anton’s help I was able to bring my experience with color mixing to a new level which brought more focus and harmony to my paintings. I highly recommend his workshops or lessons. A fun and relaxing atmosphere made it easy and comfortable to learn!

Rita Lee

Anton teaches how to think about all the elements of painting—design, color, abstraction, and the role of memory, just to name a few. I am a more successful painter as a result of his workshops.