Backtracking

Look what I found on my iphone! I thought you might like to see "Cold Pond" at the cold pond. I was surprised to see how dark the photo is. It had really clouded up by the time I finished.

Below is my palette after finishing, partially cleaned off. Maybe some of you fellow painters would be interested in my current palette of colors. Counterclockwise from center bottom: Transparent Red Oxide, Thalo green I think, mixed green of Payne's gray and Lemon yellow, more Thalo green I don't know why, Cobalt, Thalo blue, Ultramarine blue, Alizarin, Permanent Rose, Cad red light, Cad orange, Cad yellow medium, Cad yellow light, Titanium White (2 blobs), warm white, cool white, palette sludge. That mixed green I learned from Kim English as well as the warm white (TW plus CYM), and cool white (TW plus cobalt).

And last but not least, my little malte-poo, Sandy whom I mentioned in my last post. Who could not love this sweet face?

Cold Pond -a plein air painting at Prado Regional Park

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase Our camping weekend was cold and rainy, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway. Can you see the cold in my painting? It tried to rain on me, but the clouds didn't really let loose until that night. I was interested in the branches of this tree/bush/thing and also the light on the water. There were big storks out there, so I included a few. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Prado Pond, Winter -a plein air painting in oil

oil 9x12 magnify/purchase Last day of 2014 I put soup in the crockpot and went out for some afternoon painting. The day was cold and brisk with migratory birds out and a few fishermen. Quiet and peaceful. The sun was strong and I had forgotten my hat. I ended up painting while holding a rain umbrella in my left hand to shade my eyes. I usually clean my brush with paper towels held in my left. So I wiped my brush on a folded up pad of paper towels laid next to my brushwasher instead. It wasn't a problem at all. I remember Carol Marine doing this, and Kim English doing the same, but with a terry cloth rag. In fact, it was kinda relaxing. Might try that again! It's been a while since the plein air workshop with Kim English, but I used a lot of what I learned: pre-mixing all the colors I see, no initial drawing, but rather laying in the large shapes with thinned paint. Once he said "Cover the numbers as quick as you can." I love that!

Fishing Day

oil 6x8 inches Last Saturday after painting out at Yorba/Slaughter Adobe it was still only 10am. I went home for lunch and got a chair and my little Malti-Poo, Sandy. At Prado Regional Park we plopped down under a big shady tree and really enjoyed ourselves. I consider all my plein air work practice/experimental. I'm happy with the water and distant shore. This is the first time I've tried adding moving figures to a landscape. Fun.

Prado Pond Field Study

oil on canvas panel 6x8 inches

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As I mentioned a few days ago, Susan Denison from Arizona paid me a visit just before my trip to Denver. One morning we headed over to Flo's Airport Cafe for breakfast, then Prado Regional Park to paint. The weather was terrific as was the company. Wish I'd had someone take a picture of us...too wrapped up in the painting and fun. So here's a shot of her painting in Colorado. She travels all over in her camper-van going to workshops and painting here and there. Man...she left me with a case of camper-van envy!

Prado Study

Here's the follow-up to yesterday's post. Wondering how my landscape would improve if I took a more academic approach, the next day at home


I did several value studies on paper with markers. #3 was my favorite.


Next, I did a 6x8 block in referring to my #3 value study and painting (posted yesterday).

This is the completed 6x8 study. It was a great excercise for me, but I think yesterday's work was more successful when I was just havin' fun outdoors painting what I see!

Prado Plein Air

oil on canvas panel 9x12 inches
Our weather has been beautiful lately, so yesterday I ventured over to Prado Regional Park just a mile or two from home. Standing in the middle of a huge grassy field, I looked out beyond the park's borders to this scene. The alternating rows of road and bush was what interested me most. I'm happy with the feeling of light, but I have numerous criticisms. Instead of sleeping, at 2:00 am I was asking these questions: What if I changed the green? What if I had...toned the canvas...left out more trees...done thumbnails...a value study...blocked in like you're "supposed to"...paid more attention to values??? What if I had stayed home and done a still life? Answers tomorrow. :-)