Plein Air 4-29-11

I went out this morning to paint knowing the sun was actually forecast to shine today. I feel like this spring has been horrible with nothing but cold, rainy, gray days. Gotta take the sunny ones while we can. 6x8, oil. Plein air.

Figure Drawing 4-26-11

Figure drawing tonight was kind of rough. We didn't have any sessions for a couple weeks. Anyway, here is one that turned out ok.

Sketch of Sargent's paiting, 'Study of a Nude Egyptian Girl'

Preliminary pencil sketch I did yesterday of Sargent's, 'Study of a Nude Egyptian Girl' painting. Hope to do a painted copy soon. 24x7 11/16.

Plein Air 4-18-11

This morning we woke up to an inch or two of snow on the ground. Quite depressing figuring we've only had one nice spring day it seems and we're closing in on May. The snow melted rapidly and I went out to paint what was left of it this afternoon. 8x10, oil. Plein air 4-18-11.

Collected Elm Bonsai #2

Here is an elm I collected yesterday. I wish I knew whether it's an American Elm (Ulmus americana), Slippery Elm (Ulmus rubra), or Siberian Elm (Ulmus pumila). I hope to properly identify it one of these days. It is one short fat ugly thing but it intrigues me because of the fat gnarly base.

New Trident Maple

Here is a Trident Maple (Acer buergeranum) that I acquired just a few days ago. It is promising and has a nice base.

Large Barberry Bonsai

Here is a barberry that I collected last spring. This past week I chopped two large limbs and potted it in a cheap Chinese pot. I love the bark on this one, however I do not like the reverse taper created in the bulbous top half where one of the large limbs originated. I did some grinding to eliminate some of the bulge but kept it conservative as the wood is rather punky. I can picture this tree being shortened in half to eliminate this region and give it better proportions but I think I'll sit on this one for a growing season or two to see what comes of it. In the meantime I will be searching out smaller and shallower pots...perhaps a drum pot.

Plein Air 4-7-11

I went out to paint today with a larger than normal panel (12x10). I brought it out the other day but the painting was so bad, I scraped it. Today, I went out with intentions of always keeping in mind, simplification. It's a lot of surface to cover with paint in a small amount of time especially when I'm used to 6x8 or 8x10. There was a very heavy fog this morning. In fact I think there was more clarity through the water than the air. 12x10, oil on linen panel.

Barberry literati bonsai

This is the smallest of 3 barberries that I collected last year. When I got it out of the ground last year, it had virtually no roots under it's base. Yesterday I took a peak at the roots and saw that it threw out an amazing amount of healthy roots and so decided to try it out in a bonsai pot yesterday. About a week ago I eliminated a few of the other trunks that emerged out of the base and decided to style it as a literati. I'm excited to see what new growth appears this year to see what direction the apex will take. No branches have been wired yet and may not be wired because of the nature of them as they are full of thorns and are brittle. I might try some guy wires to pull the apex down some and shape it through clip-and-grow. I love the rugged bark, small leaves and berries, and fall color of an old barberry. However, they don't appeal to me much in the landscape ironically. Pot handmade by Chuck Iker.