Blanco River

 

"Blanco River Crossing"

9 x 12

This is a scene from Fredericksburg, TX . I painted this for a good friend that has been vacationing with her family at this same spot for the last twenty something years. I'm happy to say I will be relaxing in this river with my family this weekend, but I hope I can squeeze in some more painting!

Come into the light children...

"Green, Green Grass..."

10 x 20 Oil

I tried a more ambitious painting at least size wise. I thought the subject matter would allow me to paint larger than normal and it did. Unfortunately I chose a very windy day and a back lit subject to do this. When, it came time to lay in the grass, I did everything I could to try and duplicate to glowing color I was seeing and I think I accomplished this. You can see in the photo of me working that the color really looked like that! This is one of the reasons that plein air painting is worth the effort. If I had painted this from a photo  back home in the studio, I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to make the grass and light glow like this because I wouldn't have seen it the same way.

 

Photo of subject, but from a slightly different angle.

Looking into the light for a long time can make mixing colors difficult.

Detail of brushwork,

The orange glow is the tinted board showing through.

Sometimes letting the board show is the best way to keep a glow.

KEEP OUT

 "Hay Stacks"

9' x 12"

Went out with a couple of my painting buddies for some more punishment. You can just feel the heat radiating out of these photos and it was only 9 am! I did get some nice shadows and despite the heat had a lot of fun. We meet a man named Mannie that was working for real that day driving a forklift. He spoke only broken English, but was very excited to see our paintings. We found out Mannie was an artist himself after he showed us a large rock that he had decorated with a sharpie drawing various cowboy related doodles. I encouraged him to drop the sharpie and pick up some brushes. Hopefully Mannie will be starting his own Blog soon.

Glimpse of my palette

Wow, I'm dedicated!

Mountain Studio Painting

"Purple Mountains Majesty"

10" x 20"

This was painted from a photo I took in Colorado somewhere between Rico and Delores. If anyone recognizes this location by name, please let me know. It was an unbelievably gorgeous spot.

This was my first attempt using a monochromatic block-in. I let it dry for three days before adding color. I really dropped the ball by not taking progress photos, but I was totally absorbed and fascinated by the technique. I have seen other painter use this method, but to tell the truth it sounded kinda tedious to me. Why paint everything, just to repaint it again with more color? Now I understand and have become very intrigued to try it again. It was much easier establishing my values by using only a dark and middle tone and letting the board show though for my lightest light, than using all the colors on my palette, especially on a much larger than my normal size painting. After I had my values clearly established it was so easy to put on the color. I was able to add color very quickly and it came to life before my eyes. The speed of the coloring process made this studio painting feel closer to my plein air work.

Painting is so fascinating to me. There are so many different methods to apply paint to canvas.

Colorado Red Mountains

"Colorado Red Mountains"   

10 x 10

This was my first plein air painting from my recent trip to Colorado. I packed the basics only and encountered problems when the Titanium White I brought was extremely gummy. I had never used this tube and it acted like it was 100 years old. I'm not sure where I bought this paint, but it's the first time I have ever had this problem. I lucked out and found a new tube in Ouray.

With that said I'm happy with the final product.

Downtown Ouray Colorado

"Mount Abrams from Downtown Ouray"   

6" x 12" 

I just got back from spending a week in Colorado with my family. Colorado is beautiful and we saw countless waterfalls and mountain peaks. I didn't want to shortchange my family, so I woke up extra early each day to get in some painting time and let them take their time getting up. You don't have to go far to find a great view, so I just set up my easel downtown and had 360 degrees of paintable mountains. Texas is not known for giant mountains, so I was jumping at a chance to paint some. Even a quick rain shower didn't ruin the moment. One thing I learned was the light changes and shadows come and go quickly this high up.

 



Roadtrip Anyone?

"Hill Country Roadside"    9" x 12"

Painted this on a recent road trip to the Texas hill country around the Marble Falls area. The sun was setting and I found some beautiful blues hidden in the shadows.

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