Month: July 2015

Here’s a little painting from 70th and Broadway in New York. I was not planning on painting while I was there but decided to quickly build a small Pochade box and give it a shot. I had no tripod and a very limited palette, so it was a challenge to get something down. Plus, I normally hike out where I can avoid people and in New York that is impossible. The good thing is people in New York have seen it all and could care less. So I was pretty much left alone which was nice.

Here’s number 300. For this year, it marks the halfway point but it still feels like a big milestone. I’m so glad this one was No. 300 because it’s a summation of where I’ve been up to this point.

This is the largest thing I’ve ever painted Plein air, and I could not have even attempted something like this without great teachers along the way. I wanted to try an 11” x 14” because Caleb told me I should be painting larger. I was able to work through my composition and colors because of what Laurel taught me. I was able to quickly block-in and nail my underpainting because of what Barbara taught me. I’m thankful for them and everyone I’ve met during these few years. It’s so rewarding to grow and see things starting to get better.

I feel very much in the middle right now. I’ve gotten over an initial hill and can clearly see where I need to improve and what needs a lot of work. That can be overwhelming, but there is a peace that comes with finally seeing what should come next. It’s going to be a lot of work, but I’m excited to keep painting!

Here’s the color version of Truman. Moving from the underpainting to laying in opaque color is very challenging for me, so I decided to go slow. The idea was to be very deliberate about each stroke. I was drawn to this image because of the warm and cool colors, so it was important to make the tones actually be warm and cool colors, not just shades of white.

Here’s a painting of our dog, Truman. He’s always sitting on this brown leather chair and one night I snapped a shot because there was some nice warm and cool light on him. Painting a dog is so different than a landscape, so I wanted to try this once in a monotone style to get my bearings. I’ll post the color version on Thursday.

The house we were staying at in Ormond Beach had a small “artist shed” in the back and I thought that would be fun to paint. After being out in the wild for two days it was nice to hike 10 steps and be next to a pool 🙂

Here’s another from Bulow Creek State Park. It was so hot that I had to stay completely in the shade. This view had a nice patch of sunlight breaking across the path.

I was in Ormond beach for a few days and had a chance to do some plein air painting while there. After walking a mile or so through Bullow Creek State Park I came upon a nice open spot that looked out over the marsh. Getting an early start gave me some good light and it was a little cooler.