New Orleans side street - 24x24"

I began this after a week of supreme busy-ness and plein air painting squeezed in. At any rate, I felt a true desire to escape the heat and brightness so my studio (with its AC & absence of windows) was just the remedy. I am attempting to retain the looseness I have developed while painting outside this summer while working inside using photo reference.............I am liking the fact that I have given myself the opportunity to just work outside without worrying whether it is a "good" painting. 

resurrection ferns study - 10x8

When I first moved here I discovered these ferns......I didn't know what they were called and I only saw them after rain and not really very often. They grown on my live oaks and I have numerous live oaks on my property. These ferns are quite amazing - within hours after it rains heavily enough to make the oak branches wet, the ferns grow quickly. They die nearly as soon as the sun hits them or pretty quickly if there is no rain. Their visual impact is quite complicated so there is no real way to spend time drawing them.....you just have to go for the gesture and feel of them. I think this plein air is pretty successful plus I just love the name of them (my neighbor told me).

station creek landing - 14x11

I had to get out today since it's been raining so much the past week.......I left a rubbermaid pitcher on a table right before it started to rain (I was watering plants) and it's nearly full. When the sun came out this morning about 9, I was in the car. I had to work fast because of the bugs so I decided to use an old panel and not worry about drawing. I have really been looking for color anyway........hey, I didn't wipe it down.

still life update

Thought I would post an update on this painting - it has been a lot of work so far and I feel like I have learned a ton that I couldn't have learned if I had become frustrated and thrown it aside. The major problem (in my opinion) with working exclusively alla prima, plein air and the like is the sense that we must get tangible results quickly or at least in one session. I have struggled for a week now with the sense that I was "overworking" this but have found that, as long as I am working from life and really looking, that isn't likely to happen.....the effects may appear to be less spontaneous-looking but it has its own, different quality which is valuable. I have been working outside with improving results but I can rarely take it for more than an hour - August in SC is pretty intense. When the bugs invade my ears and nose and the deet has run into my eyes after mingling with my sweat, I head for the air conditioning!

still- life is cool! 16" square

As I have mentioned in prior posts, I have never had a place where I could set up a still life.............now, my rudimentary studio (with zero light) has become a place I can do that! I have been working on this for a couple of days after making some progress with plein air stuff but still not being satisfied enough to take photos or not wipe down an outdoor effort. At any rate, I have been completely enjoying working on this painting and feel like I am learning a lot. It seems that I have no true idea of the actual color of objects! I am fighting my own mind while mixing every single color.......this is way different than working outdoors or on something figurative. Or maybe it's not and I am about to discover how little I know about those things as well. I am completely excited again after getting sidetracked by moving and am actually rethinking my idea of putting in skylights! (Just kidding on that one)

adjusting - self portrait beginning -9x12"

Just an underpainting but considering I have wiped down every damn thing I have done for the past week or so, I thought I would post it anyway to get August off to a somewhat normal start. I know to expect that I will get a bit derailed after a major change in my life (like buying a house & moving) so I don't get as down on myself as I used to get when I felt like this. It's also been raining a lot here so I focused on getting into my studio rather than working outside. It is the first time I have really had a separate place to work and I love it. I haven't even remodeled it yet and it has no windows or natural light but it's awesome anyway..........well, looks like the sun might come out for the afternoon!