Snow goose 1

6 x 8" linen on panel part of the series of small paintings started from images from last winter. Snow geese are smaller than canada geese.

Sweeping the light

Hah, spending the weekend at this venue had its merits beyond selling....because most of us did not! I am glad Pam did sell and that her work appealed to those who just love the inlets and byways of the bayside Chesapeake waterways. I got to spend times with friends, expected and not ( yeah for seeing Mary) and meet new people.

Mostly got to paint with you, Annie, always good and I think our little foray onto the Tarr's backyard was a good exercise in deciding quickly scene & composition, setting up and putting paint down. Still gotta do a start w/ umber and add color sort a thingy. Fun to paint this and I think we both got some good things going.

Hope unpacking is going well. It is such an odd job. Some places I have just loved going into. I do have to laugh at a bit of advice I got from a navy captn's wife: if you haven't unboxed a carton in three weeks, good chance you don't really need anything in it. Bit while there is truth to that, not that many have the courage to flit things off easily.

Will wrangle with Rico tomorrow, fine enough, I have not ridden the beach in ever so many years. And with soft ands, inevitable falls should not be much to concern anyone. After that the old gray and the pintaloosa come to stay here for rations of grain & hay and perhaps light work to steady them up.

Anyway nice to paint quick quick into the evening gloom!

Working with others

Okay, had two others over painting so decided to introduce some of our thoughts. Start with what gets you, the tunnel of trees and shadow patterns. Draw with the paint. Block in the mains values and large shapes. Do this in a color suitable for an underpainting.

Terra Rosa dosn't dry quickly at all, lol! We all got too thick. Keeping the one from getting to dabby dabby particular wasn't easy. They enjoyed it. If it dries enough, maybe we will use these as underpaintings. Or maybe not, just start fresh. Maybe use burnt sienna, lightly, and go directly into color afterwards.

8/25 Summer Moon

Okay, sort of gave the night painting, in the backyard, a try and it became more of a memory painting. My booklight just doesn't cut it without some additional light from somewhere. So I went in and then would run out, let eyes adjust, run in and paint, repeat, repeat....

Put out ultramarine, cobalt and prussian blues; alizaron crimson, terra rosa, permanent rose , naples yellow and white. This is 6 x 8" Took about an hour and a half. Sky at the horizon could have been a more silvery gray.

Here are the shaved go-go's helping me paint, even the cat is enthralled with my doings. Probably should have been cleaning up or prepping for tomorrow's dinner. Am having Rico and Faith and Frank Weaver and his wife Alyssia. They are in Chincoteague, a friend is getting married Friday in OC. so I get to see them tomorrow afternoon.

What have you been up to? Any time to paint?

8/20/10 morning over the soy fields

Quick, quick sketch yesterday morning, view from my backyard. This was just color straightaway, would like to do it again with more time and start with a burnt sienna value study first. Maybe tomorrow.

Also, used a limited palette: BU, pozzuoli red (its an earth red from Natural Pigments, close to eng red, or terra rosa), naples yellow, aurora yellow (think I read this is in the cobalt family), aliz crimson, smalt (Nat Pigments again, a historical blue based on glass, also think I read it was sometimes used for a base for more expensive ultramarines that were originally made with lapis), and prussian blue.

Felt a bit limited particularly mixing blues. The aurora yellow is not clean enough to make good bright greens. The smalt is lovely but compared to ultramarine, weak. Of course prussian isn't as strong as the thalos but only by a bit! So, this palette felt uneven.

Hounds redux

Okay I am going to up load a larger image and see if you can click on it to enlarge. Its is the two hound heads, worked on the muzzle of the further hound but am still not thrilled with the neck. will do more tonight.

So, using a larger file pic let's you enlarge, okay!

Study for two hounds

Worked on this today from a grisaille to color. Well, in between lunch with a friend, a doc app't and getting the go-go's to their spa. Boys now look like yellow labs with unbelievably bushy tails! Would like to work outside but painting inside catching time when I can is better than not painting at all. Not much on the calendar tomorrow so hope to get out. This is a bit dark and I can see a few places that need more work, time enough tomorrow. It is 8 x 10" on that raw linen panel. I do like these panel for these kind of studies where it can show.