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.

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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.

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Spring is Coming 6×10

The fields have turned green here in Walla Walla.  This was painted around the first of March on an overcast day.  Looking at it now I like the composition, I feel there is a sense of balance and that the eye does not immediately leave the painting, but rather circles its way around to different points of interest within the painting.  I'm reading a book on composition right now and am excited to practice the different theories out in the field.  My problem, however, is that when I arrive at a painting location I find it extremely difficult to slow down and consider various compositions.  Instead, fearing that the scene will suddenly blow away, I find myself in a semi-controlled frenzy, rushing to start painting, and only later do I consider the success or failure of my arrangement.

Thank for viewing!

Art Exhibit

I had my first public art display in February at our local coffee roaster.  After a few years of regular painting and a few months of frame constructing I had enough pieces to make for a decent exhibit.  It was very satisfying and to keep the ball rolling I put up another display at our local Patisserie just yesterday!  So if you are in the area it will be up through March and I believe a couple weeks into April.

Westward 8×12

Came across this location a few weeks ago.  Seemed like a great spot from which to paint.  It had many things going for it, an obvious focal point, some interesting linear perspective with the undulating dirt road, and maybe best of all, it was quiet and peaceful, just occasional gun shots in the distance.  Being that I was so focused on the painting, however, there was only a small portion of my brain considering the possibility of being shot while plein air painting.

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Foggy Morning 8×10

I've been neglecting my blog lately, I guess I just lost the momentum.  Here is a painting that I painted about a month ago, end of January/ beginning of February.  When I left our house it was a blue sky day but as I drove west, descending slightly into the Walla Walla valley, I was engulfed in fog.  When I came to this spot on the Walla Walla river I walked around in circles for about thirty minutes trying to determine a vantage point.  I had a hard time deciding because it was all the same: fog, fog, and more fog.  I ended up going with this one, it seemed to offer a bit of variety with the curve of the river, the bridge, and the tall trees on the right.

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Two Clouds 8×10

I painted this the other day.  It was a balmy 50 degrees and the farmers were burning their fields off in the distance.  As soon as I got my easel prepared a single small brilliant white cloud appeared, I did my best to capture it right away before it disappeared, but then another one appeared, then another (I decided to keep it at two).  This allowed me to relax a little.  That is the thing about painting from nature, there is a push to rush and get it down before it changes.  The trick is to work fast enough to capture some of those brilliant but fleeting effects, but not so fast that your painting becomes a record of every change that occurred.

Thanks for viewing.

Winter 9×12

Here is my most recent painting.  I was able to get outside for this one and it was a bit chilly.  Thankfully I have a very thick down jacket, I'm almost embarrassed to wear it it's so thick, I look extremely top heavy, especially when the hood is up.  I am grateful that I finally have a use for it: standing still in a snow storm for 2.5 hours.  This was a very picturesque scene looking across the valley toward the Blue Mountains with a group of cows in the foreground.  I think I need to work on my painting of leafless trees a bit, but overall I'm pleased with the result.

By the way, I know there are at least two followers of my blog who live in Walla Walla, so for the two of you, and possibly more, I will be displaying a selection of landscape and still life paintings at the Walla Walla Roastery for the month of February.

Thanks for viewing!

October 6×6

I had a short 2-hour window the other morning and decided on a whim to paint this small 6×6 landscape from a photograph.  My experience so far with photographs is that I have a tendency to over work the painting.  Without the moving sun and changing light there is far too much time to think and fuss, which for me leads to a loss of spontaneity, and a dull and static feel to the painting.  I am not suggesting that this painting is full of life, but I am pleased with the result.  To me it has qualities that I desire in a painting.

Thanks for viewing!