One day with David

SPIN spoke with David Langevin, who will be instructing a one-day painting workshop on Sept. 17 in Sun Peaks,  while he was in the middle of working on an oil based painting collection that won’t be ready until Christmas. 

The workshop will take place at the Sun Peaks skating rink from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and cost $100 for Sun Peaks ArtZone members, and $120 for non-members.

The upcoming event has been “upcoming” for some time now, after being pushed back several times over the past two years due to COVID-19 provincial health restrictions.

Students will be required to bring their own acrylic paint (heavy body and fluid if possible), brushes, rags, water container, palettes, two canvases or boards approximately 16 by 20 inches in size and gloss or Golden Sac 500 mediums.

However, no previous experience is required of the students.

Langevin, who is known for his glazes, veils and layering, will guide students through the difficulties of using those techniques to add water, whether it be a flat lake or dynamic waterfall, into their own art pieces.

“The advantage with acrylic [paints], especially for a workshop like this, is they dry much faster than oil [paints],” Langevin explained.

This means the acrylic paintings can be completed in a single day, perfect for the one-day workshop.

“I can do demonstrations of the glazing, veiling and multiple layering techniques quickly with the acrylic paint, with oil it would take days to dry.”

Langevin has depth of experience in the art realm. He holds a degree in Fine Arts, he self taught some of “the old masters” techniques from the Renaissance period, has several years of teaching high school art classes and 30 years of teaching workshops.

“I’ve been teaching all of the kind of stuff that I wish I would have learned when I was in art school,” Langevin said. “ I didn’t really enjoy my experience in school getting a degree in Fine Arts. It was a brutal waste of time because I didn’t learn how to be a better painter and I didn’t learn how to make a living at it.”

Langevin developed a central theme surrounding western landscapes which initially proved a difficult commodity to sell while living in eastern Canada.

“I came out west 30 years ago because of my style. I started painting these funky tree portraits, rocks, trees, stuff like that. I wasn’t getting my art career going very [well] in Montreal; a couple galleries said I’d probably do better out west.”

Langevin took their advice to heart and immediately relocated to continue painting his well known tree portraits as well as mountains, water and waterfalls which imitate western landscapes.

While the snow covered trees of Sun Peaks has been a regular motivation for Langevin, he admits he’s not the best skier, even though this year his art will be featured on a pair of skis from a company called J Skis, based out of the U.S.

“They took a cross section of one of my paintings, put them on some limited edition skis which just became available this month. They also sent me a pair, which I’m going to bring up to Sun Peaks and try out.”

To find out more about Langevin, visit his website at davidlangevin.com or follow him on Instagram @langevin_david. To get your hands on a pair of skis featuring his artwork visit jskis.com and find the ‘Larches David Langevin x J Collab’ model.

Langevin’s work can also be found at the Lone Wolf Gallery in Sun Peaks’ village core.

ArtZone Sun Peaks is also holding a Macrame Workshop with local Susana Vijaya in late September. Additional information can be found at artzonesunpeaks.com/events.