Summit Park Hike

The inspiration for this painting is from a hike in the surrounding neighborhood where we live in Utah.  I am so impressed by the work of Deb Komitor, and her beautiful paintings of the landscape that I decided to give her technique a try.  She paints her works on a black background and they are just so stunning and lovely to view.  I love how she makes the forest look so inviting, and I hope by using this technique that I can bring the same mood to my works.  Hope you ENJOY!!

RedRock Spring

A recent hike brought me by this grouping of trees and rocks that I found very pleasing.  I like how the trunks of the aspens stood out in front of the cedar trees and how the red rocks complimented the color of the surrounding greens.  Below is the finished painting, a small work that just might become a larger piece.        

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ENJOY!!

Golden Meadow

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I was inspired to paint this after a hike into the hills surrounding our home this morning.  I was scouting for a place to paint and on my way back came across a beautiful meadow full of these golden wildflowers.  The scrub oaks are just beginning to leaf out and their leaves are a pale gold/green color.  I had a purple toned board already prepared and decided to do the painting using it.
I love the structure of scrub oak trees.  They are so unlike the oaks from the midwest.  They are short trees and their oak leaves are very small.  But I love the gnarly branches and the colors of the trunks.

ENJOY!!

Spring Pasture

I was able to get out into the countryside recently to do some plein air painting.  I drove to an area known as the North Fields, an area of ranch land south of where I live in Park City.  The day was warm and blustery,  a typical spring day with lots of sounds and smells.  Rushing water was everywhere, and I'm sure the ranchers are thankful for the heavy snowfall to replenish much needed water.  I came upon this beautiful scene and set up to paint.  I loved how the spring green of the trees in the middle distance became the main area of interest and I made sure to play that up in my painting.

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I over emphasized the little stream but like the addition to the painting. I was racing to finish as the wind started blowing and a small rain storm passed through.  I tweaked it a little back in my studio but kept the composition as you see it.

ENJOY!!

NEW LOVE

Cedar Ridge Spring #2

This painting is another view from the same hike as the previous painting in an earlier post.  Another beautiful area.  For this one, I experimented with painting on a black gessoed canvas.  I was very used to working on a toned surface when I was drawing in colored pencil, so this doesn't seem as difficult as might be imagined, however, I found that I really had to push the lights and use more paint to get good coverage.  I like the feel of this painting and plan to experiment more with using a dark background.

ENJOY!!

Study, Study, Study

 Storm Brewing, pencil sketch

Storm Brewing, color Study

Here are two photos showing my thought process behind the development of a painting.  I love stormy skies, and the photo I used for my reference was very dark.  I began with a rough sketch, making notes about values.  The little painting is a quickie, getting the color and values of the various elements.  I like most of the painting, but might add more buildings as shown in the sketch.  I might also make this a vertical piece since I'd like to add more of that stormy sky. This may or may not become a finished painting, but the ideas and values are there if and when I decide to paint it.

PLEIN AIR ON A SUMMER DAY

SUMMER WETLAND

Last weekend, the Central Ohio Plein Air group met at a metropark south of Columbus called Pickerington Ponds. The day promised to be a hot one, so many people arrived very early to get their paintings started.  Unfortunately, I was not one of them.  I did stand in a shelter to get this view, but had to put up my umbrella to keep my easel and palette in the shade. I needed the shade to be comfortable and to judge my colors on the palette, but the shade proved to be too dark to judge my colors on an already dark toned canvas. I ended up with a really dark painting and had to lighten it up when I got home.  Another lesson learned.  Always take a variety of toned and untoned canvases along- you never know what conditions will be upon arrival at your destination.