Thomas Jefferson Kitts at work during Plein Air Curacao in September, 2011

Thomas Jefferson Kitts is a native Oregonian, who, after earning a BFA at the Kansas City Art Institute in 1984, returned home to paint en plein air in the Pacific Northwest. He is inspired and exhilarated by how light plays across the landscape and he has devoted nearly 30 years of his life to capturing it in oil. Thomas is an active member of the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, the California Art Club, and the Oil Painters of America. He has recently been featured in PleinAir magazine for having won the Best New Artist award at Plein Air Easton, the Best International Artist award during Plein Air Curacao, and the Best of Show and Mayor’s Choice awards during the Carmel Arts Festival.

Kitts has been working with Gamblin Artists Colors to expand the palette of the company’s FastMatte™ alkyd colors and he will demonstrate why these paints are well suited for outdoor painters who want their paintings to dry faster. “They were originally designed as a fast-drying underpainting for classical painters, but now the line includes the entire spectrum of colors — including those important earth colors — making FastMatte™ a realistic option for both the alla prima and plein air painter,” he recently wrote. Kitts will be demonstrating his painting technique with this paint in Zone 5 at the 1st Annual Plein Air Convention & Expo this April.

“The Venezuelan Floating Market,” by Thomas Jefferson Kitts, 2011, oil, 11 x 14. This painting was created in Willemstadt, Curacao and was a finalist in the December 2011 RayMar competition judged by John Burton

“The Sentinal,” by Thomas Jefferson Kitts, 2011, oil, 16 x 20. This was painted near South Laguna Beach, California during the 13th Annual Laguna Beach Plein Air Invitational in 2011

Kitts spends much of his time participating in major plein air festivals and teaching workshops that focus on outdoor landscape painting and the alla prima method. In fact, he has a workshop scheduled for February 24-26, 2012 at the Sowa Studios in North Portland, Oregon that will focus on ways to improve the handling of the human form. Of particular interest is that Kitts will discuss the various systems artists can use to improve the accuracy of their drawings and paintings.

Kitts painting near the mission in Carmel, California

“Ghosts in the Morning, 17 Mile Drive, Pebble Beach, Carmel, CA, by Thomas Jefferson Kitts, 2011, oil, 12 x 16. This painting was awarded both the First Place & Mayor’s Choice prizes in the 2011 Carmel Arts Festival that was judged by Jean Stern, Executive Director of the Irvine Museum

“Last Brother Standing, Easton Shore, Maryland,” by Thomas Jefferson Kitts, 2011, oil, 18 x 24. This painted received the Best New Artist award during the 2011 Plein Air Easton event

Kitts is an expert on teaching the sight-size method, a procedure that was traditionally followed by academic painters that is now being used by artists when developing both outdoor landscapes and studio paintings. The idea is that artists make all their important judgments about the placement, proportions, scale, and color from a measured distance away from their easel and the subject and not when they are right next to the canvas. The objective is to have both the subject and the painted image appear to be exactly the same size from that measured distance. Other useful techniques Kitts teaches include the use of a plumb line, various alla prima painting strategies, and the value of expressive brushwork.
Kitts maintains an active exhibition and collection history which notably includes the Laguna Art Museum, Oil Painters of America, Arts For the Parks Top 100, the Mariott Corporation, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, and the Kaiser-Permanente Collection. For more information, visit his website at www.thomaskitts.com or read his blog at http://thomaskitts.blogspot.com.