Bright Fog 8×10

This is my latest plein air painting.  I got out for an afternoon session the other week and there was this thick fog lying low in the valley.  My goal here was to capture the atmospheric perspective of objects becoming cooler and less defined as they recede into the distance.  The application of paint in this painting is a little different than typical for me, with a little more paint on the canvas.  I have yet to zero in on a signature style, maybe after a couple more years I will have found one.

Thanks for viewing!

Arrangement in the Basement 9×12

My wife and I spent last week traveling with our newborn to see family so once again I am posting an older painting.  This was painted in my basement where I have my studio.  I spent some time moving a few furniture pieces around until I found a composition that worked well enough.  This is a painting focused on value rather than color.  If I remember correctly I toned my canvas with raw umber, which shows through behind the white of the wall, and for the painting I used transparent oxide red, ultramarine blue, one of the yellows, and titanium white.  For me this painting works because of its use of contrast, e.g. the one heavy object on the right balanced by the multiple lighter objects on the left, the small objects among the larger ones, the more transparent and thinly applied paint of the shadow areas combined with the thicker more opaque application of the light areas, and the overall higher key of the painting balanced out by the smaller percentage of low key areas (if I understand correctly, key refers to value, which is the spectrum from light to dark, high key = light value).

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Red House 11×14

I've decided to share one of my earlier plein air paintings in order to explore a few thoughts on the process of learning.

At this point in my painting career I feel that I have reached a plateau, and quite possibly I have even regressed some.  Is this to be expected, or am I missing some critical element?  I am painting more, becoming more familiar with the work of other artists, discovering more about the subtleties of paint application and the use of edges, value and color.  In theory all of this should lead to my being able to produce more technically skilled, expressive, and powerful paintings, but in reality, the opposite seems to be occurring.  I have faith that this is partly due to simply having higher expectations and a more critical eye, and that it is also a natural part of the learning process.  I am sure that I will one day produce a piece that I like as much as that one I painted a year ago.

Thanks for viewing.