Hi Pati,
I liked your blog post too. I really enjoyed his workshop. He is an amazing artist, sensitive teacher and very nice guy. I found your post interesting in that you felt it sped up your process in painting. I had the opposite experience. I am a plein air painter with out any formal training and much of my portrait work was developed around the raising of small children so I have learned to be a very fast alla prima painter. In the workshop I learned to slow down and really consider the large values in the simplest masses possible, and to not move forward until the shapes are true and sound. He helped me push the contrast and use a hatch brush stroke
to soften the areas of transition.

I have taken very few workshops so I felt like a kid in a candy store the entire time!