Plein Air 10-6-11

10x12, oil. This one is from this morning.

Figure Drawing 10-4-11

A few figure drawings from tonight. One is of a fellow artist whom we sketched while we waited for the model.

Salt Fork River Art Festival

I participated in the Salt Fork River Art Festival with my mom at Sleepy Creek Vineyard down in Oakwood, IL this past Saturday and Sunday, sharing a booth. We had some very turbulent weather between the cold, wet, fog, and clouds. I did get a chance to do some painting since it was rather slow at times. Here are some pics. This small study is looking through at Frontenac grape vines at the vineyard. 8x6, oil.

Raccoon skull study II

Here's another raccoon skull study I finished up today. 4.25"x8.5", graphite pencil. This one, along with another skull, and one of my nocturne paintings will be in a local halloween exhibit. I'm having a real difficult time photographing my drawings. The darks always tend to photo a bit grainy, the mid-tones end up being one value, and the lights end up being too dark...closer to the lighter mid-tones. The drawings all have a close value range for the most part but it gets frustrating. My assumption is that since graphite has a metallic looking luster, it has a reflective quality. That, along with the fact that this is on a smooth hot-press bristol (reflective also), my marks are bouncing light around in a strange way.

Plein Air 9-22-11

This is from this morning and is more or less an experiment. I'm trying out some different brushes along with still using the old ones. My old ones are long mongoose flats which do a great job with thin fluid paint as they are soft long hairs. The new ones are bristle flats. These are coarse hog bristles which are much shorter than the others. They have more spring and can lay down impasto brush strokes. I think working with these will help me with confidence out there, both in color mixing and in application on the surface. The other brushes, I usually tried to sneak up on things with gradual washes. Anyway, I'd like to try to incorporate both types of brushes into my arsenal to get the effects I want. 8x6, oil.

Plein Air 9-15-11

From this morning at the Fox River. 6x8, oil.

Plein Air 9-1-11

Plein air, oil. 8x6. Did this one this morning.

Raccoon skull study

Here's a little skull study of a raccoon I finished today in graphite pencil.

Plein Air 8-29-11

This one is from this morning. 8x6, oil. 8-29-11. Same limited palette as recent days.

Plein Air 8-28-11

Plein air 8-28-11. Oil, 8x6. I did this one at sunrise this morning. A lot of purple for me but I didn't mind. I used the limited palette again and this ended up only being about a 40 minute painting. Very simple, but that was my approach. I worked on keeping the design simple, the number of colors simple but still harmonious and then painted what was in front me. I haven't painted one I've like since July so I'm rather pleased. Ask me again tomorrow and I might hate it!

Plein Air 8-25-11

Here's an 8x10 plein air oil from this morning. I'm still trying out the limited palette (white, cadmium yellow, alizarin crimson, and ultramarine blue).

Lake Geneva Art in the Park

This past weekend, Saturday and Sunday, I participated in Art in the Park. I've never done an art fair before. It was pretty exhausting and overall a good experience. I ended up receiving a certificate of merit for my work. I was the only painter to receive an award so that felt good.

Figure Drawing 8-16-11

Quick sketch from tonight's figure drawing.

Plein Air 8-3-11

8x8, oil. Plein air 8-3-11. Quick sketch from this evening.

Plein Air 7-30-11

8x10, oil. Plein air 7-30-11. From this afternoon. I'm not sure why I went with this scene today as it's rather blah, mid-day lighting. The field was full of Queen Anne's Lace which I liked because it helped add depth to the rather flat lighting. The sun for the most part was straight up but slightly to the left and behind me.

Door County, WI Plein Air Festival

This weekend (Thursday-Sunday) I took my family to Door County, WI for a big plein air event. It was actually a week long adventure for the featured artists there.


8x6, oil. Plein air 7-21-11. First night Door County, WI.

12x10, oil. Plein air 7-22-11. Peninsula State Park.

8x6, oil. Plein air 7-22-11, right before dusk.

8x10, oil. Plein air 7-23-11 (Door County, WI). My rock study at the dock-side quick paint competition. 2 hours start to finish and frame. A very humbling, exciting, and intense time. I rarely run into people while painting.....during this, hundreds walked by and dozens stopped to chat. Got through it and enjoyed the experience. Once in the zone it's difficult not to just paint. I felt star-struck meeting a lot of artists I look up to and it was exciting to see all their great work.

Plein Air 7-18-11

8x6, oil. Plein air 7-18-11. Gray, wet morning but super hot and humid.

Plein Air 7-11-11

12x10, oil. Plein air 7-11-11. This one was done from 8 to 8:40 pm tonight during which lighting changed dramatically. It was a race against the clock.

Plein Air 7-4-11

6x8, oil. Plein air 7-4-11. Early morning at the river with a nice fog lifting. Happy 4th!!

Plein Air 7-1-11

8x10, oil. Plein air 7-1-11. Study of a Silver Maple at the river's edge this morning.