Morning Shadows and Red Bud

Morning Shadows, oil on gessoed paper, 12x9"

I was walking my dog this morning on this cold, clear day and returned to find the sun blasting my neighbors garage. I ran inside, grabbed a piece of gessoed watercolor paper, brushes, turp and medium, and I threw some paint on my palette. I moved quickly because I didn't want to lose the light.  Twenty minutes later (I was moving really quickly!) and with frozen hands and legs (I was standing in shorts) I finished this little painting. I am quite happy about a few things here: that I was able to pull this off so fast - actually the majority of my life has been pretty spontaneous so I shouldn't be so surprised, and that I improvised in a few ways I wasn't used to and it still worked. My hands have warmed up enough to type so I will just say, maybe another quick painting later today.

Fixin' it Up

Fixin' it Up, oil on gessoed watercolor paper, 6x8"

Every Sunday my daughter Barrett has rehearsal with the Louisville Youth Orchestra. The location of the rehearsal is the high school that my older children attended.  It is situated in the "Old Louisville" historic neighborhood, so there are plenty of places to walk, look and photograph during a three hour period of the day.  Last week, I decided to take my painting gear and venture out, expecting to get about 2 1/2 hours worth of work done. After all, it was a beautiful day.  I set up to paint these beautiful, smaller homes of the typically Victorian neighborhood and within thirty minutes, after basically accomplishing a loose sketch, the wind had gotten the best of me.  I started packing up and was approached by a very nice, curious young man named RJ, who admired my painting and eventually revealed he owned the yellow house.  He said he was doing a lot of work to it, because it had been a "fixer upper" when he bought it.  

Cordoned

Cordoned, oil on gessoed watercolor paper, 4x6"

day 22, 30 paintings/30 day challenge

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I went from the largest work on paper that I've done so far, yesterday, to the smallest for today. Actually, the small size came from my inability to read a ruler and making the wrong cut. Oh well, it made for a nice quick study of a much larger scene.  I will use it later on a bigger, more complete painting. 

Red

Red, oil on gessoed watercolor paper, 6"x8"

Day 20, 30 paintings/30 days

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I started this painting late last night to post for today, and I'm not really a late night person (anymore). The redeeming factor was I that I am very pleased with it.  I took the reference photo while taking my son back to college, and in that fleeting second, captured a scene I was thrilled with. So much so, I may do a version 2.

Sloped

Sloped, oil on gessoed watercolor paper, 8x6"

Day 18  30 paintings/30 days

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When you are standing in a vineyard, you can easily become mesmerized by the neatly organized rows, and how they can lead your eyes back to the layers in the distance.  I attempted to capture this in Sloped.

Farther

Farther, oil on gessoed watercolor paper, 6x8"

Day 17, 30 paintings/30 days

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These cliffs of slowly wind-eroding rocks from southeast Utah have become a favorite of mine to paint.  I took hundreds of photos when I was there at the end of the summer, but after careful examination stored them in a file after returning, due to a few failed attempts at painting them. They are so complex, one's first instinct is to try and capture every nook and cranny, which isn't possible. My interpretation took on a new freshness when I took a broader mindset, so to speak. The theme of this challenge has been "Looser", and that certainly applies to Farther.

Blanketed

Blanketed, oil on gessoed watercolor paper, 9x12"

day 16, 30 paintings/30 days

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I felt the need to resurrect myself after being unhappy with the results of yesterday's painting post. I worked bigger and looser on Blanketed. I feel like I am half-way to the point in painting of where I would like to be, as far as loose application and brushstrokes  I guess the answer to that is to keep painting!

Overlap

Overlap, oil on gessoed watercolor paper, 6x8"

day 15  30 paintings/30 days

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I worked and reworked this little painting, and I am just not satisfied with it. I did not want to scrap it because I love the composition contained in the reference photo, but somehow could not interpret it quite how I envisioned. But, I decided to post it as-is, to show that I painted for day 15, even though the end result was not up to par.

Contrast

Contrast, oil on gessoed watercolor paper, 9x12"

day 14, 30 paintings, 30 days

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The dark blue under the clouds was actually the stormy sky breaking through under the swift clouds. My kind of scene!

Single

Single, oil on gessoed watercolor paper, 6x8"
Day 13, 30 paintings/30 days
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A wide open space with a designated single lane. I always see these when driving around and want to turn onto them to see where I will end up. But in the end, I respect the fact that it's someone's personal property, and just admire from a distance.

Distance

Distance, oil on gessoed watercolor paper, 6x8"

Day 12,  30 paintings/30 days

I can't remember where I took this picture, but it did not get lost in the shuffle of the plethora of pics I took at the end of the summer. It signifies the vast, vast area of the American West. I would have named it Vast, but I've already used that title on another painting from the series :-)

Capital Reef Cow 2

Capital Reef Cow 2, oil on gessoed watercolor paper, 9x12"

day 11, 30 paintings/30 days

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I zoomed in on a magnificently vast scene to create this painting. Capital Reef National park has many signs throughout its boundaries informing visitors of free-range cows, which is something I found fascinating. To me it signified no boundaries, literally and figuratively, an idea that I love, especially when it comes to finding a place to paint.

Unoccupied

Unoccupied, oil on gessoed watercolor paper, 6x9"

Day 10, 30 paintings/30 days

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I am 1/3 of the way done with the challenge and I must say, compared to the challenge I did at this time last year, I am truly enjoying it!!  Last year, I had the best intentions but shortly after the it started, I realized I was not enjoying myself.  I do think what I produced was quality work, but I was too concerned about getting a painting done for posting purposes rather then enjoying the challenge of improving my painting or stretching myself artistically.

This year, I have so much more going on in my busy schedule, but I am finding the time for thought and effort  with each painting I am doing.

Fruitful

Fruitful, oil on gessoed watercolor paper, 6x9"

Day 9, 30 paintings/30 Days

I switched gears with this one. I tried to stay loose and use purposeful organic marks. I am happy because this is the direction I have been working towards!

Harvest

Harvest, oil on gessoed watercolor paper, 6x6"

day 8,  30 paintings in 30 days

This is the first painting I have done with this color palette and it felt very foreign to me. I actually enjoyed working through the issues I was having and liked having to twist my brain a bit.  

Solo Silo

Solo Silo, oil on gessoed watercolor paper, 9x6"

I changed this composition quite a bit from the photo reference I used, and I like the way it turned out.  I have had this photo tagged to paint for over a year now, coming back to it until it finally shouted at me long and hard. It portrays late fall, early winter ....perfect for a cold January new year.

Groomed

Groomed, oil on gessoed watercolor paper, 9x12"

day 6, 30 paintings/30 days

 This photo reference was taken was from the northern part of Sonoma County in California's wine country, near Healdsburg. It a wonderful place to visit. I would love to set up and paint en plein air soon, as those endless rows would put me in a painter's trance.

Collection

Collection, oil on gessoed watercolor paper, 12x9"

Day 5, 30 paintings/30 days

Cattail collections are becoming some of my favorite subject matter.  Perhaps it has to do with plant matter, or being at the waters edge, or standing in the beautiful, reflective light or the fact that every time I work on a cattail painting, the color palette is so calm and appealing.  

Remote

Remote, oil on gessoed watercolor paper, 9x6"

Day 4, 30 paintings/30 days

One of my goals when I signed up for another 30 paintings challenge was to paint in a looser or "free-er" style.  Painting on paper has been interesting as well, and I am enjoying it. It is forcing me to use different styles of brushwork. It's all good!  With Remote, I feel as if this is all beginning to come together.  I painted a different version of this image a while back, and the two look nothing alike.  I am also pleased with the color scheme. Kind of mood provoking or "Rothko-esque" if I do say so myself.

Zion

Zion, oil on watercolor paper, 9x6"

Day 3 30 paintings/30 days.

What can I say?  I would live in the National Park if they would let me! :-)