What's Inside?

What's Inside?

Plein air Oil  11" x 14"

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$395.00 + shipping

I love old western barns.  I wonder about their age, the animals, tools, old "things" that might be inside of them.  They seem to tell a story of the present and the past.  I wonder how long they've been standing and how much longer they'll stand.  

This barn was on a road outside of Florence, CO.  I posted the plein air start of the piece earlier this fall.  I parked nearby to set up to paint.  There were horses in the corral.  The ranch seemed friendly, and no one might not have cared if I walked up and peeked inside.  But, I didn't.  Would you have?

Paint The Town Plein Air Event, Florence, CO

I recently participated in the "Paint The Town" Plein Air Event in Florence, CO.  Florence is 

about 35 miles south of us.  It is most known for its' antique stores in the downtown area 

and for having several prisons (including max-security!)

Here are pictures of the locations for my first 3 paintings. 

The week started out with cold and snow and finished with warm, 65 degree days!

   

I've painted lots of old barns.  I love their character, age, and color varieties.  Every time

 I paint an old barn or aging structure, I wonder about all of the stories that are hidden 

within the walls.

  I also wonder how long these relics will be standing.

With the ease of immediate posting on Instagram, I find myself posting less on my blog.  

I'm going to "try" to remedy that!

Barn Door

Barn Door

plein air oil  12" x 12"

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$395.00 + $10. s/h

This painting was done the last day of the recent South Park Plein Air Arts Celebration, Fairplay, CO  during the "Quick Draw" on the final morning.  For a "quick draw" you are usually limited to an area in which to paint, in this case Front Street or the South Park City Museum.  Also, you are limited to time, we had from 10:00 a.m. to 12.  We were allowed to walk around scouting a location from 9 on.  This barn is in the museum:  a street of old western buildings from around Colorado which have been moved to this outdoor museum.

I try to do a value study before I begin a painting.  That way, as the light changes I can use my study as a reference.  Because of the 2 hour time constraints, I did a very quick study (as you can see here.) Because of the study I realized that the center of interest, the stable rails in the light, were almost right in the center of the piece.  That became noticeable when I drew in my 1/3rd lines.  So, (in my head) I cropped the door, moved the light to the right, and the center of interest was now on the 1/3rd line and not in the middle.  All of that took me about 5 minutes, but saved my painting.  

Green With Envy

Green With Envy
plein air oil  12" x 12"
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$395.00 + $10. s/h

This tractor is the 4th painting that I did in the recent South Park Plein Air Arts Celebration, Fairplay, CO.  I had spotted it the first evening when I was walking up and down the alley off of Front Street in Fairplay.  I loved the complementary colors, but there was no light on it in the evening.  I decided to head back to it earlier in the day on another day.

I used a bit of artistic license and shortened the body just a bit because I wanted to use a square canvas.  One of the challenges of a plein air event is the planning that goes in to it in advance.  You have to decide how many and what size canvases to take.  The canvases all get stamped on the back before the painting begins.  Each canvas has to be framed upon "turn it."  So, you have to pack the right size frames, hardware and tools.  Additionally, you have to be able to frame a painting quickly, and often from the back of your car.

Hidden Barn

Hidden Barn
plein air oil  9" x 12"
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$295.00 + $10. s/h

This is another of the paintings from the recent Littleton, CO. Paint-Out.  The afternoon was very hot and I was looking for a cool spot along the river.  This barn was hidden a bit behind a hill, but visible from a parking lot.  And, luckily for me there was a tree that provided enough shade for me and it was right next to the parking lot.  How easy was that for a hot day!

I have to admit that I changed the barn colors from a dreary, faded tannish to a much brighter, nicer color.  I find cool spring greens, which you see here, a bit harder to mix and paint than beautiful, warm fall greens.  They're a bit bolder, brighter and sometimes seem too bright.  But, they've been dormant all winter and want to get out and express themselves!

Hillside of Poppies

Hillside of Poppies
Oil  9" x 12"
$195.00 + $10. s/h
SOLD

This is another piece from our March trip to California.  I have my husband to thank for this one.  We spent almost a week in Sonoma county, which, if you've never been, should be on every one's trip list!  It's beautiful!  Flowers were blooming every where.  My husband saw this farm and pulled over for me to take a picture before I had even seen the poppies.  He knows what makes a great painting!  I love how the poppies created a natural  movement into the piece and up and over to the barn.

I'm lucky that our daughter lives in San Francisco.  It's a great excuse to head to that city as well as all of the gorgeous surrounding areas.

Loafing Shed -- Day 3, Painting 1 South Park Plein Air Arts Celebration

Loafing Shed

Day 3, Painting 1 South Park Plein Air Arts Celebration, Fairplay, Colorado

Day 14 of the 30 in 30 Days Challenge

Oil  12" x 16"

$295.00 + $10. s/h

Day 3 of the South Park Plein Air Arts Celebration started out very cold and rainy.  At about 10,00 feet you have to be prepared for all types of weather.  So, instead of standing outside in the mist to paint, I set up inside this loafing shed.  I was protected from the elements, but had on a hat, a hoodie (with the hood up over my hat), and a jacket.   I loved the way the cloudy light filtered in between the wood and the bit of a view out the livestock window.  I took artistic license with the floor of the shed.  When I drew it in slanted, it just didn't read well, it looked like my perspective was way wrong.  So, I made the floor and roof a little straighter.  

Gray Afternoon -- Day 2, Painting 2 South Park Plein Air Arts Celebration

Gray Afternoon

Oil  11" x 14"

Day 2, Painting 2 South Park Plein Air Arts Celebration, FairPlay, Colorado

Day 12 of the 30 in 30 Challenge

After lunch, delivered to us out at Bartle Lakes, I went into Jefferson to paint.  Jefferson isn't much more than a cross roads surrounded by ranches.  I thought the barns on this ranch made a great painting.

Every afternoon of the plein air event we turned in 2 framed paintings to the gallery in Fairplay at 4:00.  I think I worked on this piece from about 2 - 3:30, then drove the 20 minutes from Jefferson to Fairplay and framed the piece from the back of my car.  Luckily I had framed my morning painting right before lunch.  Every day was fun but hectic!

I'm contemplating making changes to this painting as it's a bit gray....of course, it was a gray day!  I'll think about it for awhile.

Standing Vacant

Standing Vacant
Oil  11" x 14"
$295.00 + $10. s/h

This barn isn't too far from my house.  But, it sits way back at the far end of a lot and is hardly noticeable.  I painted there last week.  As often happens when out plein air painting, something occurs.  This wasn't too bad, but I came home with burrs everywhere on my shoes and socks!  Luckily, no bugs!

Vermont Barn - Finale

Vermont Barn - The Finale!
Oil 20" x 20"
$595.00 + $20. s/h

Day 25 in the 30 in 30 Days Challenge

I made the few changes that I talked about in the last post...darks here and there, adjusted some lights, painted the cupola.  I'm happy with the way the painting turned out.  One odd thing, the photo here on blogger came out a bit bluer than the photo in Iphoto.  Not sure why.  I've removed and reloaded this and for some reason, it's a bit too blue.  I don't like having a photo here that's not accurate.  Not sure why this is happening.  Frustrating.  Please imagine that the blues in the roof and the silo are a bit grayer, not quite so bright blue.  Otherwise, I like this!  Now, on to some painting from life.

Vermont Barn - Step 5

Vermont Barn Step 5
Oil  20" x 20"

Day 24 in the 30 in 30 Days Challenge

At this point I'm nearing the end.  With the sky painted in I can really look at the barn and all the color notes around the sky to see if they read correctly.  I've worked a bit more on the shrubs in the front.  The way the lightest, tallest shrub breaks up the long building helps the composition.  The shadow side of the silo needs a bit of darkening.  The grass in the shade needs a little more shade.  The lightest spots on the lighter side of the barn are a bit too light.  The cupola hasn't yet been painted.  I'll work on all of those, then look at it all again for several days.  Then fix what needs to be fixed, look at it some more and then I'll be done!

Vermont Barn - Step 4

Vermont Barn - Step 4
Oil  20" x 20"

Day 23 in the 30 in 30 Days Challenge

I've started laying in some of the darker colors in the trees.  Even thought the trees are turning shades of light green and golds, darker colors and shades are in the back of the trees and create depth.  I've got the bushes in the front of the barn in.  I think they should be a bit darker because they're in the shadow.  In the photo and in my original sketches there are some small shrubs headed into the piece on the lower left.  They then curve down the slope.  I've decided that those need to be changed and/or removed as they take your eye down away from the barn and off the painting.  The focal point of the painting is the barn, and the curving shrubs not only draw the viewers eye away from that, but are somewhat distracting.  With just a soft, grassy slope in front of the barn there is a calm feeling looking up the slope.  I think it also makes a better composition with most of the main subject in the top of the piece.

Even though I planned and drew a value sketch to start out, there are constantly decisions that need to be thought about through out the painting of the piece.  That's all part of the fun and challenge of a painting.

Vermont Barn - Step 3

Vermont Barn - Step 3
Oil  20" x 20"

Day 22 in the 30 in 30 Days Challenge

At this point I've started adding color to the barn.  I painted the largest dark mass first, which is the shadow side of the barn.  Then I painted the light side of the barn.  This side has light as well as  shadow from the silo.  I'm not sure if the light side is light enough, even though it's pretty close to the value.  Since a color mass is not accurate until seen in relationship to the color next to it,  I'll have to wait until the sky and roof are in to know for sure if the light side is light enough.

When looking at the value study, I decided that even thought the trees and bushes on the right of the barn created one large shape, it wasn't working.  So I removed those and added a shed, or barn continuation onto that side.  (That was an easy remodel!)  Now the building and composition work better due to the continuation off the page.

To be continued...

Vermont Barn - Step 2

Vermont Barn - Step 2
Value Sketch
Oil 20" x 20"

Day 21 in the 30 in 30 Days Challenge

The steps in this weeks' barn painting are pretty similar to the steps in last weeks' farm painting.  Yesterday I posted sketches and ideas for a close-up view of a barn.  In Step 2 I drew in the painting with a brush, then roughed in the values in a thin coat of paint.  Again, my palette for the values was a mixture of my previous gray pile.  At the end of the day, if I have quite a big mixture of a color on my palette, which is glass, I'll scrape it into the corner.  Sometimes it gets used, and sometimes after a few days it's dry and it gets scraped off.  But, for this step it was great for my values.  Some artists might paint the whole canvas with values, but I just put in what I needed for my future reference.  The grass in the front isn't really quite as light a value as the roof top, but since I know that, it wasn't necessary for me to paint that in.  I just noted where some darker grasses and were.

As I said last week, if the values in a painting are correct, it doesn't really matter what colors you use.  At this point this could be a red barn, green barn, or old gray faded barn.  Actually, it's none of those!  If you paint the values fairly thin you often can just start painting right on top of them without the colors mixing too much.

I don't always do preliminary value sketches like these last two.  Value is the relative degree of light and dark, or grayness from black to white.  Sometimes that can be confusing because we don't see things in shades of gray, but in light and dark colors.  So sometimes it's just as easy to block shapes in as colors.  Both of these are great learning steps and something all artists do at different points.

I recently mentioned Kevin MacPherson's Fill Your Oil Paintings With Light & Color.  It is filled with so much great information and exercises.  He talks about doing many, many color studies.  I highly recommend it.

Vermont Barn - Composition and Value

Vermont Barn - Composition and Value

Day 20 in the 30 in 30 Days Challenge

I loved the Vermont Farm that I recently painted.  I felt that the composition and colors all worked.  Sometimes that happens and it's a great feeling.  So, I wanted to paint another Vermont farm or barn from our fall trip.  I looked back at the composition and value sketches that I'd done for that piece, (click here for that blog post) and the other three didn't jump out at me.  I went back to my photos and started looking at the close-ups that I'd taken of barns.  I wrote down the numbers of the ones that seemed like they could be good paintings.  Then went back through this list again, looking at and cropping and editing until I came up with four that I really liked.  That took way over an hour.  Those four became these sketches.  Sketching took over an hour.  Because drawing the angles, etc of the architecture matters, I used a grid for the sketches.  Now, I'll look at these for awhile and soon begin the painting.

Vermont Farm - Finale!

Vermont Farm - Finale!
Oil  20" x 20"
$595.00 + $20. s/h

Day 16 in the 30 in 30 Days Challenge

 The farm painting is finished and I'm really happy with the end result.  I like the looseness of the crops, the light and shadows on the buildings, and the values in the trees.  After looking at the piece for a few days I did end up slightly darkening the shadow side of the silo (although I don't think it really shows in the photo), finishing up the buildings on the far right, and doing small touch ups here and there that probably only I would notice.  

I want to thank everyone for all of the comments, likes, etc. throughout the process.  It was fun as well as helpful for me to share my step by step thoughts....Now, onto a new piece!

Vermont Farm Step 5

Vermont Farm Step 5

Oil  20" x 20"

Day 13 in the 30 in 30 Days Challenge

At this point I've blocked in the rest of the barns and the trees.  As I said, I needed to see the color masses next to each other to know if they work.  I like the strong contrast between the light and dark of the barn, but still think the silo shadow side needs to be a bit darker.  I didn't get to the two small houses at the far end, or  the top of the far silo, they are still the original value tone.  The trees need another pass with the lights.  I think the light green in the back of the field could use a bit more light.  I'll work on all of that today, then let the piece sit for several days while I look at it and make small changes before I say that it's all done.