Trout Pond

...Trout Pond...

watercolor on 140# paper - 10" x 7"

This is a plein air watercolor of our beautiful WV autumn. Well, at least I tried. I have not done any watercolor painting for a long, long time, and boy, am I rusty! But there is something about the feeling of it, the downright joy of the colors, that caused me to go ahead and show it online.

Watercolors force me think in reverse from the way I have to think when painting in oils. I have to paint negative space and work light to dark, which is really an incredibly good exercise in visual thinking.

Primeval

 

...Primeval...

oil on canvas panel - 6" x 8" 

Another West Virginia landscape painting. Here is a rocky forest floor covered with moss. It was positively magical! The slanted light was just hitting the tops of the mosses, causing them to glow.

Taking my inspiration from the medieval icon painters, who painted on gold leafed panels (the gold symbolizing divinity), I covered the panel with Daniel Smith's gold gesso, and painted on top of that, hoping some of the luminescence would shine through. Sadly, I seem to have applied the paint too thickly, or perhaps the colors were too opaque. At any rate, the glow is only apparent in a few places. Here is a detail:

Even though I failed in my objective of communicating the beauty of those glowing mosses, I feel the painting still contains some of the magic and mystery of nature. I do intend to try some more paintings on gold gesso.

Purchase : $75 unframed (plus shipping). Please send me an email for availability.

See my other paintings on my website.

Framing

...Nestled In...

oil on canvas on panel - 6" x 6"

Today was damp and cold, so I stayed in and framed paintings. I have a show coming up at the end of the month, and need to get everything ready. It's amazing how much more complete the paintings look in frames! This one is in a floater frame which shows the artwork all the way to the edges. You can see the pink underpainting.

Blue Ridge Mountains II

...Blue Ridge Mountains II...
oil on canvas on board - 6" x 8"

Another misty sunset in the mountains. I used Grumbacher Copal Medium in this and really didn't like the effect this time. (It was fine when I was painting the red tulip, go figure.) But this time, every brushstroke seemed to lift the paint underneath.

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Redo--

...November Earth...
oil on canvas - 18" x 24"

This is a painting that I did last year. I decided to repaint it so there would be more muted color in the distance and the sky. Adding a new layer (scumbling) of light blue or pink in places created a pearly effect that I really like!

Early Color

...Early Color...
6" x 8" - oil on canvas

This is another plein air painting, started in the field and finished later in the studio. The leaves seem to be turning early this year, probably because it has been so dry. It is easy to get too detailed in a painting like this, especially since there is so much beautiful detail in the scene. I tried to lessen the detail by making the tree trunk on the left the same value as the foliage behind it. Not sure if it helped--It's hard to judge your own paintings when they're fresh.

While I was painting, one of my friends took my picture. Yes, I am using an umbrella in the shade! It really helped, too. There was dappled light coming through the tree above.

Falls Mill

...Falls Mill...
oil on canvas - 6" x 8"

Last week, I went out plein air painting with some friends. We went to this little waterfall. There had been a mill here long ago, but all that's left of it is part of the stone foundation. At this hour of the morning, most of the scene was in shadow. I had to work really fast and did a quick study, which I finished later in the studio from a photo.

The photo, by the way, was really boring and looked nothing like my quick study. (Did you ever take a picture of a scene you thought was really beautiful, and when you see the photo, you wonder why you took it?) I altered the photograph on my computer so that the colors and contrast would match my study. Otherwise it would not have been useful at all.

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Oh, and here is the plein air study: