Lowden Farm 6×8

I've decided to change my approach to outdoor painting.  After too many unsuccessful attempts my new strategy is to scout potential sites with my camera.  I will then come home and sort through my photographs, making pencil sketches of the ones I like and working on composition and value.  At a later date I will return to the field with my painting supplies and a clear vision of what I want to achieve.  The painting process should be much more enjoyable, I should be much more relaxed in knowing where I'm going to set up, what my basic design will look like, and what my values will be.  The only thing left to do will be to place the right pigment in the right place.  How hard can that be?

This is a painting I did from a photograph.  It's of a very picturesque farm located just west of Walla Walla, WA.

Thanks for viewing!

Homestead 8×10

I got up very early the other morning to go painting.  I ended up at the site of this homestead and when I left the scene my painting looked nothing like it does here.  What happened?  When I got home I decided to make one minor adjustment; of course all things are connected so this one adjustment led me to another, and another, and so on.  I am really starting to understand the importance of having a clear concept or vision in mind before starting a painting.  You know what you are after and you think critically about how best to achieve it, and when you leave the scene the painting is done, you don't have to go home and attack it with the palette knife.

Thanks for viewing!

Snow in the Blues 7×14

This was painted west of town (Walla Walla, WA) on a road that typically has cattle scattered about on either side.  My hope was to paint some cattle, but they were all grouped around a feed area that I just wasn't inspired to paint.  So I chose this scene, empty cattle shelters with the Blue Mountains in the distance.

Thanks for viewing!