Friday 28 February 2014

end of February!

Wow, did this month go fast! I am liking posting multiple things at once - seems to fit me better than those daily things.................so, I'll stick with this format. House on the hill is nearly done (have to finish the windows & straighten things up a bit). Sorry about the clamp at the edge but this is on a 12x16" panel and was hard to photograph without keeping it straight up.


I began this 14x11" painting months ago and (for some odd reason) never finished it.....I had similar colors on the palette and decided there was no reason not to finish it.


I have been working on this for the last two days and am making good progress.....It's 30x24" and I am totally enjoying working this size.


Sunday 16 February 2014

finishing stuff


Thought I would intersperse text with the pictures this time! At any rate, the weather has moderated a bit (though still unseasonably cold) and I have moved back to the studio after spending several days working in the living room while the "storm" raged. I decided that I would finish some of the paintings I had put off for a period of time. Obviously the boat in underpainting is a new one.............it's 30x24" and I can't wait to get started on it. This boat lives about a mile and a quarter from me at the Gay Fish Co.


The "clouds over the marsh" hasn't been hanging around for too long and I soon figured out that I had put it aside because of something I didn't like - it seemed too cold -I warmed it up and resolved some of the transitions and am much happier with it now. This painting is 20x16" and the photo isn't too great but it is the best I can do till the weather improves a bit (way too windy today to take it outside).


This 18x24" painting has been hanging on the drying wall for nearly a year while I figured out what I was doing wrong..............I think months of doing crappy plein air studies at the marsh has helped me even though I can't really say it in words..........sort of an understanding of the structure of the land masses that the grasses grow on and the way the colors transition from their roots to their tops...........also how the groups of individual grasses form little groups of their own and merge and cross into one another.............see what I mean? It's not quite finished yet but I know where I am going now and that's half the battle!



Friday 7 February 2014

cloudy day phase 2 - 16" square


I managed to get outside to paint the other day and, despite the poor quality of what I did, felt really energized by it and happy to get back to the studio again. So, I've continued working on the several things I've been posting for the last few weeks. I am trying to retain the gesture of the figure while painting the stripes (quite difficult) and portraying the sense of solidity and saturation of color that are present in this type of light. I decided to add a grouping on the left side to assist with the composition..............it's been so cold in the studio that the paint is drying quite slowly which is good.