I'm Back! And here are some paintings!

I have a few paintings to share:

A large watercolor painting entitled "Cliff of Spires" - in case you do not know, this is a very very small section of the gorgeous Bryce Canyon in Utah.

And, I am also back to enjoying pastel painting en plein air with my local group of artists.  This is a painting called "Cabin on Serene Lake".

And this next one I did today at Virginia City.  I call this pastel "The Tree Lives On".  In case you do not know, Virginia City, Nevada, is a wonderfully preserved mining town from the Gold Rush Days (and Silver).

Gosh - a month slipped by! Yes - I have been painting!

Wow, life sure gets busy.  Here are some recent paintings I have done in the last month.  These are all on my website now and most are for sale.  The painting "Tracks to Pasture - Winters Ranch" was painted for the Nevada Land Trust and will be for sale at their fundraisers.

9 x 12 oil "Tracks to Pasture - Winters Ranch"

8 x 10 oil "Andreas Canyon Trail"

8 x 10 oil "Winter on the River"

14 x 11 oil "Warming the Snow"

8 x 10 oil "Slowed by Ice"

11 x 14 oil "Lagoon Reflections"

Taking the advice of a master plein air painter

plein air painted in 3 greys, white and black and then just a hint of color started over the top

I recently went to a California Art Club Winter Symposium.  This was my first one and I learned so much.  The keynote speaker and demonstrator was plein air painter, Kevin Macpherson.  He demonstrated one of his methods he might use out in the field, and he recommends this to anyone who wants to nail their values down.  He used three shades of grey out of the tube, chromatic black and white when necessary.  Once he had his base painting done, he then mixed his colors, using the greys as a guide to mix the right value of color.  Then he brushed the color on over the painting (this is all wet-into-wet oil paints) as one would ice a cake.  Lay it down, then leave it alone.

Sometimes I am value-challenged.  And out in the field I thought I would try this.  Above is a painting I did at Serene Lake.  I have to admit, I really liked painting a grey scale painting!  It took all the decision making and time to mix colors out of the picture, so to speak.  We had a little time left and I started to lay some color in.  This is where I find wet-into-wet a challenge.  It was time to go, and I happily packed it home and let it dry.  (So much easier to paint over a dry painting).

Here is the next step - laying in the color and moving a snow mound back, and covering up the willow twigs that I no longer liked.

Stage 2

And here it is - done -

oil 8 x 16 "Edge of the Frozen Lake"

Nocturnes! A new challenge!

"December Nights" 12 x 9 pastel on black sanded paper

When we visited Florida in early December, a popular area to wander shops and dine in outdoor cafes was so lovely in the evening with all the holiday lights.  I tried to take photos, but it is very hard with a point-and-shoot camera.  But I got something to work from, and my memory.

The top painting was my second attempt.  My first attempt was the entire scene, as seen below:

"Holiday Nights" 9 x 12 pastel on black sanded paper

I've always wanted to try cityscapes, even though buildings and perspective are my weakest talent!  Oh my goodness, and cars are even harder!  Especially when the photographs shows no detail and everything is very dark.

This was a fun challenge and I think I learned something.

"Silently Waiting" watercolor painting

12 x 9 watercolor "Silently Waiting"

I'm happy to say this painting is done!  It has been fun taking a break from my other mediums and going back to watercolor.  This project in particular was meditative to do.  All the interesting shapes were painted separately.  Very detailed, very controlled, but done in one small shape at a time....I haven't tried Zentangle yet, but from what I have read about it - it sounds a little like what I did here with the reflections.

A New Swamp Painting in Progress

Here is another complicated one.

First, I did a black, grey and white pattern study.  Then I began the watercolor.  This is so complicated, I started to pencil in the shapes and then soon realized that if I pencil in the entire picture, I would be lost in a maze and I would no longer know what shape was what - what shape was green - what shape was brown, etc.

So I began painting the colors in the shapes after just drawing a few at a time.  I can darken them later with glazing.  At least I know what is what from the get go.

Now, I have most of the shapes blocked in on the upper half of the painting.  My hubby can't wait for me to do the alligator!  Patience....patience....

Two small, quick watercolors

The second one needs more contrast (some darker richer colors) which I will do later.